Sometimes a politician says something so sensible you wonder why everbody
doesn't say it:
There are lots of threats to you in the world. There’s the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can’t sit there and worry about everything. Get a life.
You have a much greater danger of being hit by lightning than being struck by a terrorist.
In terms of what you as individual on the streets should worry about is not whether the person sitting next to you on the subway is a terrorist. The likelihood of that is so small it is not something you should worry about.
—Buzz Over Mayor’s ‘Get a Life’ Remark, By Sewell Chan, Empire Zone, June 6, 2007, 9:46 am
The outlet that originally quoted Bloomberg, wcbstv.com, quotes several people as saying terrorism is a big threat. However, it also points out that New York City is the safest city in America, with violent crime in general low and decreasing. Maybe if that TV station and others reported that more often, instead of constant, irrational fear, more people would understand what Bloomberg is saying.
However, neither the original outlet nor the other one above referenced any data to determine whether Bloomberg is actually right. (he is). The closest they come is the original outlet discussing violent crime rates, because that's the nearest frame that was available to a TV news reporter. Heaven forbid we should let the facts get in the way of spinning the story as Aristotelian conflict: "Bloomberg finally weighed in, but his response was not what some would have expected."
Meanwhile, if you're the average American, you'd improve your chances of survival more if you changed your diet to eat less sugar and lose weight than if you did just about anything regarding terrorism.
-jsq
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