postponing elections
abraham lincoln on the 1864 elections [national park service]We can not have free government without elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.
probably the most interesting point of contact on this story is barlow. and don’t miss the comments there.
i just want to note that i still think that the elections in spain were more influenced by the deception in the wake of the attack (blaming the local terrorists without reliable intelligence) than the attack itself.
on the one hand, i appreciate the idea that the government is planning for worst-case scenarios (something they seem to have avoided completely when it comes to iraq and cuba. the problem, of course, is that we didn’t do this three years ago, so whatever plan gets cooked up under crisis is going to have about as much credibility as everything else the administration has been cooking for these years. there will be no public debate. there will be no airing of opinions. the administration will craft a plan and execute that plan. then we will deal with the fallout for generations.
update: more here.