Small rural and suburban communities -- some with few structures taller than a good-sized maple tree -- might be unlikely targets for terrorists, but many of them are protecting their police stations and water towers with terrorism insurance. The extra coverage is relatively inexpensive -- for a small village it can amount to less than $100 a year -- and in many cases it's a standard feature of government insurance pools. But some question whether it is necessary. In April, leaders of West Baraboo, a Wisconsin village of 1,200, debated whether to purchase terrorism coverage.... "If terrorists got this far into the country, there wouldn't be anyone to make the claim anyway," said village clerk Mary Klingenmeyer. But the village board voted 5-2 to pay $87 annually for the coverage.
OK, I suppose it's possible. Yes, an insidious plot by terrorists (or American-hating Librul Democrats) could well bring terrorism to the front doors of good, God-fearing White Folk in East Bumfuck, USA. I get that. But terrorism insurance? For a town that most Americans couldn't find if you hand them printed directions from Mapquest? Jeebus, gimme a break, willya??
If 9.11 accomplished anything, it's managed to turn a lot of normally clear-thinking, well-meaning people into spineless sheep scared of their own shadows and those who look, think, and behave differently. Terrorism, by it's very nature, is a random and usually unpredictable undertaking. Accordingly, you can choose to live in fear or you can get on with your life. While I understand the nature and reality of terrorism (I've been to Ground Zero, and I lived in the Middle East for a year), I simply cannot understand how a reasonable, rational individual can allow their lives to be dominated and consumed by fear of the unknown. It would appear that the terrorists have long since achieved the victory we've sought to deny them.
Terrorism insurance? Some might argue that it's merely a prudent nod to the realities of the world we live in. From where I sit, though, it's seems little more than a way for some enterprising businesses to make a few bucks off fear...and there are far too many people willing to hop on this train.
I'm not certain what $87 a year buys, but if makes some small-town patriots feel as if they're doing their part to fight the evil Islamofascist terrorist menace...well, more power to you, I suppose. It's not a tremendous amount of money, but what concerns me is what it represents- the lingering, unfocused fear of swarthy bogeymen with bombs in their shoes. Yikes....
Jeebus Krispix, people...get a grip....
