Amish tech Support fisks the Houston Chronicle's panic scare over a terrorist nuke in downtown Houston. This statement...
Stunned and injured, those who can walk among the approximately 15,000 survivors downtown stagger away from ground zero covered with invisible and deadly particles of radiation and dust from crumbled buildings.
...reminds of the same looniness that was going on in the early 80's. Hollywood had it's panties in a bunch over Reagan's election and was preparing to release a spate a of doomsday movies. The Administration played into the scare when FEMA pressured states and cities to prepare evacuation plans and hold drills.
SF Bay Area had many primary military targets. The Pentagon's "Blue Cube in Sunnyvale alone made us toast. Readily available kill charts and first strike maps estimated that we would get oh...say...200-300 warheads incoming.
Mayor Dianne Feinstein pretty much ignored the whole kafuffle until the Reaganites made it a political issue and "Testament" that dreadful Jane Alexander doomsday sob story set in Marin county was released panicking the Dem's party faithful (read: donors) north of the GG Bridge.
Mayor DiFi held a press conference in front of target/kilo-tonnage maps. After she explained the maps she asked exactly what and whom they (the Feds) thought might be left to evacuate as her city was in the vaporized zone. No drills, funding or further discussion required.
Mayor DiFi had cajones, then her Pod ripened and the rest as they say; is history.
Footnote: An interesting aside is that the above-mentioned charts & maps are no longer available. Green Peace once plastered them around SF like mandarin pancakes in a dim sum parlor. We have made progress.
Posted by feste at December 15, 2002 03:49 PMMuch like Orson Well's War of the Worlds. A much simpler time.
Posted by: Al Bee at December 18, 2002 02:58 PM