Whatever happened to the Terror Alert system?

[JFN1]

I haven't seen it, as far as I remember, since the 2004 election. And I've not heard a word about it since President Obama took office.

Does anyone know what became of it? Is there an official announcement I missed? Does it even still exist? If so, is it being monitored so we can be alerted?

Or was the alert system simply a political tool? And if if it was merely a political tool used to influence the public during the 2004 election, shouldn't someone go to jail for misusing our government in this way? Is anyone in our government investigating this? Should they? Or is it something I should just let go of, even though it still pisses me off and I cannot stand the thought of letting this go without someone being called to account?

[daninthemoon]

1. it went away after the 2004 election. it served it's purpose.

[JFN1]

4. I know

but where did it go?

[valerief]

2. Someone should go to jail for a helluva lot more than terror charts nobody believed anyway. nt

[aquart]

3. We're pretending the silly worthless thing never existed.

And of course it was a political tool. Who believed otherwise?

[NeedleCast]

5. Its still around I think

I see it posted occasionally at airports or government offices. I think it's permanently set at "Orange" at this point.

[CJCRANE]

6. Terrorism was defeated in Bush's first term

according to John Ashcroft's retirement speech after the election.

Social Security reform was meant to be the big theme of the second term.

On edit: Here's the quote -

His hand-written resignation letter, dated November 2 <2004>, stated: "The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved."<10>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ashcroft#U.S._Attorney_General

[Wildewolfe]

7. It never moved off orange

After a while people got tired of it being halloween all the time and stopped caring.

[trof]

8. Terror Alert is now at: BEIGE

That is all.

[Still Sensible]

9. Of course it was just a political tool

It was an important part of the "Keep America Scared" program that helped make a sure-fire one-term president re-electable.