A bad idea might return (07/31/03)

It was an idea too bad to be true.

But it was true.

At first encounter on the wire, the story out of Washington about a Pentagon-sponsored “futures market” where people could bet on terrorism sounded like a pure hoax.

Somebody, we decided, was pulling the nation’s leg. Create an opportunity to make money by betting on the likelihood of bloodshed and mayhem?

Surely, nobody would be that crazy or that insensitive.

But they were.

Couched in high-flying plans to develop intelligence and gather insights into the thinking of terrorists, potential terrorists, hangers-on, and other low-lifes, the concept had actually been set in motion before it was pulled out of the shadows and into the sun.

There, as politicians stumbled over one another to denounce the idea, it died a quick death. But its demise may only be temporary.

Remarkably, some in the Bush defense-planning machinery still defend the project. Others in the administration suggest the idea might be resurrected at some later date.

To that we can only say, it’s time for some folks to find another line of work. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]