The Kingdom of Crude never had support from the Left, but now there are signs that they are losing support from the Right. Conservative Chicago Tribune columnist Jimmy Greenfield adds to the growing evidence:
Scared yet? Well, you may be soon.

What we almost certainly will see in aftermath of the alleged plot to blow up several planes en route to the U.S. is a thunderous response from President Bush and other Republican leaders.

With the midterm elections less than three months away, they will attempt to scare Americans into re-electing Republicans or risk facing instant annihilation at the hands of an evil and murderous enemy.

Choose us and live. Choose them and die. Your call.

Nice way to end the summer, isn't it?

Believe it or not, Thursday was actually a good day. Everybody in his or her right mind knows there are always terrorists plotting to attack the U.S., so it didn't bother me that some people were discovered to be doing just that.

What made it a good day was that at least one government, even if it was the British government, knew how to foil a massive terrorist plot.

But back to the fear. President Bush gave a brief speech Thursday on an airport tarmac in Green Bay. In the speech he brought up 9/11, which, of course, for him, is a synonym for fear.

Then he moved on to the real point he was trying to make, which is some people (read: Democrats) think the world is made up of sugar and spice and everything nice.

"It is a mistake to believe there is no threat to the United States of America," he said. "And that is why we have given our officials the tools they need to protect our people."

Scaring the public has worked so well for so long that you can't blame him, really. Except when you consider that it's immoral and unpatriotic.

Now, even if you're a great admirer of President Bush, do you really think Democrats or any adult in this country believes that "there is no threat to the United States of America" from terrorists?

It's a patently absurd statement, but with just a short time allotted for his speech, President Bush chose to try to scare the public into believing that Democrats, if in charge, would fight terrorists with love beads instead of guns.

The good news is Bush doesn't have the political leverage to scare Democrats into rolling over anymore. Just nine days after the 9/11 attacks, South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, then the Democratic leader in the Senate, said: "We want President Bush to know—we want the world to know—that he can depend on us. We will take up the president's initiatives with speed. We may encounter differences of opinion along the way, but there is no difference in our aim."

On Thursday, current Senate Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), said: "The Iraq war has diverted our focus and more than $300 billion in resources from the war on terrorism and has created a rallying cry for international terrorists. This latest plot demonstrates the need for the Bush administration and the Congress to change course in Iraq and ensure that we are taking all the steps necessary to protect Americans at home and across the world.''

Hard to believe the contrast, isn't it? The Democrats, at least ones not named Joe Lieberman, know better than to trust President Bush ever again. I don't think the public will get fooled again by Bush's scare tactics.

But like it or not, it's the Bush administration that is most responsible for keeping us safe from terrorists right now. It's also our job to keep an eye on the Bush administration.

Don't ever forget that, no matter how scared you get.
Article By Jimmy Greenfield Chicago Tribune