Anthrax, and such.

Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11^th, 2001, a second front (believed by the media, at least) was commenced against the United States of America. In October/November, letters were mailed to various “important” political figures in the US Congress, most notably, Senate Majority Leader Tom Dashel. It was not determined how many letters with anthrax were actually mailed, or even existed, BUT the country was put into a state of high anxiety (apologies to Mel Brooks) with the nightly reporting of the national media. During November, four people died from inhalation anthrax, allegedly contracted via the mail (some were postal workers, most were not), and it became apparent, shortly, that the hysteria created by the media was un-quell able as few, if any, real facts were available.

In January it became known that the analysis of the anthrax showed it was, in fact, a product of a secret U.S. Government project that had been re-started after the Gulf War with Iraq in the hope to provide some level of defense against a possible germ warfare attack by Iraq, should we go to war with them again. Not surprisingly, the story of the anthrax attack upon the United States of America dried up. The Hart Senate Office Building was “deloused”, so to speak, and at this writing, January 16^th, 2002, there are NO suspects and no answers to who sent these letters (still unknown how many were sent, or from where), and governmental directives are “working on it”.

This episode just reinforced my feeling that the media in this country continues to be irresponsible. They create hysteria for the sake of headlines and hide behind freedom of the press, and I think that people like Edward R. Morrow, or Walter Cronkite would not inflict stories of hysteria upon society unless, no until, they had a story that was of substance. It’s a fine line here, but I think silence in the face of mass hysteria is in the best interest of the country, rather than hysteria for the sake of headlines, or attention to a network or two. It sure was “the” story to make noise on until it became apparent that our own government may, probably was, involved, and then NOTHING. I would have thought that’s when journalism was required to step in and get to the bottom of the issues, but that, I suppose, is too difficult these days and certainly not as much fun as just scaring people without responsible follow-up.

At this date, March 25^th, 2002, there have been NO further “investigations”, made public anyways, that have uncovered the source, or sources of this anthrax and the possibility of our own government manufacturing these bugs and these bugs being mailed by a “domestic terrorist” (isn’t that a horrible phrase?) have neither been confirmed nor denied. The investigation continues.

I’ll keep you posted on how this comes out.