VIRGINIA POSTREL: “When I was in New York a few weeks ago, a friend in the magazine business told me he thinks the ferocious Bush hating that he sees in New York is a way of calming the haters’ fears of terrorism.”

UPDATE: Alex Bensky emails:

I happen to be a fan of Ms. Postrel–and of you, for that matter–but is her comment about hatred of Bush being a way of displacing fear of terrorism supposed to be some sort of keen insight? It’s been obvious and this is not the first issue on which this sort of defense mechanism has been used.

During the Cold War, whenever I heard someone talk about nuclear weapons causing fear and distorting our society, I would point out that the United Kingdom had a sizable arsenal and effective delivery systems for its nuclear weaponry. The UK could, if it wished, cause incalculable damage to the United States and there wasn’t a soul in the U.S. whose sleep was troubled by British atomic bombs. The problem wasn’t nuclear weapons; it was who had them.

I’m upset and scared too by the fact of an implacably hostile and maniacal Islamist movement that cannot be mollified, is not susceptible to negotiation, and since I am an American and a Jew has targeted me twice over.

I sure wish I could decide that the problem was George Bush and not millions of savage Islamists. I sure wish Lucy Lawless was about to ring my doorbell and ask if she could come up and get out of these wet things.

The point may be obvious, but it’s not often publicly stated. However — except for substituting Salma Hayek for Lucy Lawless — I agree with the rest.