QUOTES!

Well, two anyway. This is Larry C. Johnson, former CIA analyst and deputy director of the State Department's Office of Counterterrorism.

"I call the color-coded system the 'terrorism mood ring.' Security isn't green, yellow and purple. This is a public relations ploy, run by people who are making decisions on security who don't really know what they're doing. They make statements that aren't backed up by any real data or empirical evidence. It's faith-based security.

"They continue to insist that this is the greatest threat we've ever faced, and that's just ludicrous. I don't want to minimize the terrible losses of 9/11, and we have to take the terror threat seriously. But let's be real: We've heard the likes of Gen. [Richard] Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, say that terrorism is the greatest threat we've faced perhaps since the Civil War. Are you kidding me? There were more than a half million deaths in that war. There were nuclear missiles pointed at us by the Soviet Union during the Cold War that could've incinerated millions instantly. Terrorists on their best day can't kill millions."

Indeed.

These quotes came from this Salon article, which is an illustration as to how and why the Bush Administration continues to press the fear button.

If it's Christmas, go to threat level Ernie.