Will terrorists kill innocent civilians in the years to come? Of course…. But there is no way to completely eliminate terrorism.

How we will live with that threat? We have created …. a national psychology of fear that Al Qaeda could never have achieved on its own. More Americans will die in car crashes, of gunshot wounds inflicted by family members and by falling off ladders than from any attack by al Qaeda.

There is always the nightmare of terrorists acquiring and using a weapon of mass destruction. But nothing would give our terrorist enemies greater satisfaction than that we focus obsessively on that remote possibility, and restrict our lives and liberties accordingly.
(An abbreviated version of an article by Ted Koppel in the Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2013 “America’s Chronic Overreaction to Terrorism”)..

The problem is that Republicans can’t wait for a terrorist attack with which to flay Obama, and Obama knows it. So every future President will have to maintain the preposterous “national security” apparatus or face accusations of incompetence and un-americanism.

Epicurus, were he alive today, would call for moderation. But how would he, given the viscious politics, deal with this problem? Probably by throwing his hands up and returning to his Garden.