by David Heiller,
Argus News Editor

Weíve all got a case of the national jitters.

That was the term a radio commentator used on July 14, and it works for me.

Even the good old Caledonia Argus is joining the fray. A headline in last weekís papers said ìCounty board looking at bio-terrorism plan.î

I hate that headline, and I wrote it!

Why is the Houston County Board of Commissioners hearing about how local officials will deal with bio-terrorism? The only chemical warfare we are likely to see is between two kids with a can of bug spray.

Biological warfare in Houston County? You have a better chance of winning the lottery than seeing that happening.

Yet it is filtering down to our level, because yes, it could happen. So public health officials have to set up dispensing sites of medications and supplies in case of a terrorist attack.

Cities all across the United States are setting up their own Strategic National Stockpiles (SNS) as dictated by the federal government. Think of the cost of that.

That gives me the jitters more than a terrorist attack.

There is a parallel here to the preparation we went through in the 1950s and 1960s for a nuclear attack. The basement of the Askov American, a newspaper that my wife and I used to own, was a fallout shelter in case of nuclear attack. It was stocked with crackers and medical supplies and even big cans that could be fitted with toilet seats, which were also supplied.

The federal government set up thousands of shelters like that in the event of a nuclear attack. And we lived in fear of it. In the back of our minds, we had some national jitters, which finally went away when we came to our senses and realized that it probably was not going to happen.

Will our new jitters go away soon? I would like to think so. But thatís where the parallel ends. Unfortunately, the world is much less safe than it was in 1999, when the SNS plan was first distributed. Itís probably less safe today than it was at the height of the cold war.

Back then we had what was called a balance of power. World leaders understood that concept, and the consequences of pushing the button.

That kind of diplomacy is gone now, thanks in part to terrorists, and in part to our misguided response to those terrorists.

The world is much less safe than it was four years ago, and itís becoming less stable by the hour.

Thatís a subject for another time. Meanwhile, keep reading The Caledonia Argus for updates on bio-terrorism.

About unsigned letters

On a related note (kind of), I received an unsigned letter to the editor last week. I did not read the letter. I do not read unsigned letters. If you canít sign your name when voicing an opinion, hold your breath and your pen.

We live in a free country. We should not be afraid (thereís that word again) to voice our opinions.

The Argus encourages your letters, signed of course. Send them to P.O. Box 227, Caledonia, MN 55921, or e-mail them to david.heiller@ecm-inc.com.

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Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475

E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com