BOO! Just kiddin'... BOO!

Imagine I came up to you and said this:

"I have received uncorroborated reports that lightning is expected in your neighborhood tonight and there is some probability that you will be struck by lightning sometime over the next few hours. I encourage you to be diligent, but not to worry. Go about your business as usual. I'm not going to let the threat of lightning deter me from my everyday affairs."

Wouldn't you wonder what the hell I was talking about? You can tell by looking out the window that there may be lightning. You don't need my nosy ass coming around telling you what to do about it. You deal with thunderstorms all the time.

If you really thought about it, what purpose could I have in telling you something like this? It's not to warn you about the threat. You can tell yourself that there may be lightning. It's not to affect your affairs - I explicitly told you not to alter your plans. Maybe the reason I made this announcement to you is to highten your anticipatory anxiety a bit, and to demonstrate to you that I'm looking out for you. Maybe while I'm cranking up your fear a notch, I'm setting in sharp relief my steely resolve, my courage in the face of the threat.

But then why would I do that? It's not like I'm running for office or anything.

As it turns out, the NYC subway threat was a hoax. As it turns out, the threat was suspect from the beginning, being uncorroborated and far from worrisome to any federal officials. As it turns out, New Yorkers are keenly aware of the threats to their environment every day because of our country's foreign policy decisions, even if you don't go to the trouble of holding a press conference to tell them. As it turns out, none of this will stop a campaigning Mayor Bloomberg from broadcasting the threat from the rooftops.

See how you should be afraid? See how Mike's looking out for you? See how courageous he is?