The Monsters Are at JFK and LAX: Terror Disruptions with No Terrorists Needing to Show Up

            Concerning the recent disruptions from false alarms of gunshots and/or attacks at Kennedy Airport and LAX: It would be well if a large number of Americans watched or re-watched the Cold War Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" (1960) and its terrorism remake, "The Monsters Are On Maple Street" (2003).

            More Americans need to "Red Team" terrorism threats — thinking them through from the terrorist viewpoint — and realize that the most efficient way to undermine the US is to attack our economy and daily lives with the tactic, "Say something, and Americans will see something": false reports eliciting full-bore armed responses to them will cause disruption and, with luck for the terrorists (or pranksters), panic and residual fear.

            "If you see something, say something" needs to be supplemented with "Stay calm / And carry on." US civilians are in a war this far: There will be casualties, and some of those casualties need to be accepted as necessary for fulfilling an important mission that should be easy and, as wartime missions go, very safe: getting on with our lives, not panicking, contributing as we can to achieve a robust economy and civic engagement.