Far be it for President Bush's outgoing Homeland Security Advisor, Frances Fragos Townsend, to leave with dignity. This morning, Townsend told reporters that al Qaeda may target the United States around next year's elections, since "we know that al Qaeda views these periods as being a particularly vulnerable period." She cites the Madrid train bombings in 2003 as an example (ultimately, the PSOE's candidate, who was against the Iraq War, José Luis Zapatero, beat the conservative candidate, incumbent prime minister José Maria Aznar).

Sounds bad! Surely you must have some credible intelligence telling you that there might be attacks. I mean, after all, pretty much everyone knows that an organization like al Qaeda would try to influence voters by timing an attack with our election. That's sort of a given, and that's sort of what terrorists do: they instill fear in the civilian population in order to get what they want from the government. Al Qaeda would want to blow something up around election time so that we get frightened enough to elect a leader who will remain tough on terrorism -- tougher, even, than President Bush -- and thus validate al Qaeda's continued existence and mission.

So, Frances, back to that credible intelligence.

"We don’t have any specific information."

Oh. So, you're saying that al Qaeda might attack us next fall based on "our experience and what we know"? I see. And this has nothing to do with scare-mongering? You're sure this is about security? It's the same focus on security Dick Cheney had when he said, in 2004, that electing John Kerry might mean that we would be attacked again? You're only saying this out of a desire to keep us safe by giving us a warning ... a year in advance? I'll set iCal to "remind me again in 10 months."