# Michael Scheuer, on Glen Beck, dreams of terrorist WMD attack on U.S. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 6, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046 "2009-07-06T03:31:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/21 "2009-07-06T14:09:45Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > I really don’t understand what this guy wants. Does he want us to get blasted to bits or not? I’m not following the logic of “the only chance we have to protect ourselves from terrorism is to have a million people get killed by terrorists”. No, what he’s saying is, “The only chance we have to protect ourselves from **illegal immigration** is to have a million people get killed by terrorists.” The logic of **that** is self-evident, surely? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/22 "2009-07-06T14:11:28Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > I guarantee you if any public figure/former public servant popped up on UK TV talking this level of crazy the would be loudly and publicly mocked. Or else elected to the European Parliament . . . ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/23 "2009-07-06T14:20:37Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Be honest: would you _really_ mind if Cincinnati wasn’t there tomorrow? Since I am typing this from a desk in Cincinnati right now, yes, yes I would. Please use Cleveland and/or Pittsburgh from now on. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/24 "2009-07-06T14:24:28Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > I really don’t understand what this guy wants. Does he want us to get blasted to bits or not? I’m not following the logic of “the only chance we have to protect ourselves from terrorism is to have a million people get killed by terrorists”. It’s just the continual creep of reality catching up with Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea’s paranioa parody, _Illuminatus!_ (1972): > [@](#): > > “Everything is infiltrated. At present rate, within the next few years the Illuminati will have the American people under tighter surveillance than Hitler had the Germans. And the beauty of it is, the majority of the Americans will have been so frightened by Illuminati-backed terrorist incidents that they will beg to be controlled as a masochist begs for the whip.” This is attractive toa fella like that: “Our only hope [for people to allow us to do _our_ way], is…” ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/25 "2009-07-06T14:33:08Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Since I am typing this from a desk in Cincinnati right now, yes, yes I would. Please use Cleveland and/or Pittsburgh from now on. Hey! What’d we ever do to you? And please don’t use Cleveland. I’d have to drive further to buy wine from Trader Joe’s (do NOT get me started on the idiocy that is Pennsylvania liquor laws) if anything happened to Cleveland, and I wouldn’t like that. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/26 "2009-07-06T14:35:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > No, what he’s saying is, “The only chance we have to protect ourselves from **illegal immigration** is to have a million people get killed by terrorists.” The logic of **that** is self-evident, surely? Well, if nothing else, it ought to leave more room for the illegals, right? ETA: Fine, I won’t use any city in the Midwest- I’ll amend it to Newark. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/27 "2009-07-06T14:38:07Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Bah. I’ve been hearing these mooks, and others like them, moan about the terrorist hordes walking into the States from the Sonoran Desert for close to a decade. Since not a single fucking one seems to have shown up by that route in all that time, I feel reasonably confident in my conclusion that apparently it’s not as easy as all that. > > As for the bit about “using as much violence as necessary”, are we back to the “nuke Mecca” argument, or what? The guy (Scheuer) _is_ a former CIA operative, so he may know some stuff. The book mentioned in the OP is actually a pretty decent read. Don’t know where he gets off thinking that another massive terrorist attack is “just the thing we need”, though. That’s pretty batty. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/28 "2009-07-06T14:43:45Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Or else elected to the European Parliament . . . Not even the BNP are that crazy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/29 "2009-07-06T14:44:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > ETA: Fine, I won’t use any city in the Midwest- I’ll amend it to Newark. I’d like to offer up Bakersfield as a target we can all agree on. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/30 "2009-07-06T14:47:21Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > The guy (Scheuer) _is_ a former CIA operative, so he may know some stuff. He was tasked _only_ with finding Osama bin Laden for eight years. A CIA operative he may have been, but apparently he wasn’t a very competent one. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/31 "2009-07-06T14:47:24Z")
What city does Michael or Glenn live in? That could at least help a little. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/32 "2009-07-06T15:05:52Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Hey! What’d we ever do to you? Two words: Pittsburgh Steelers. Okay, I’m going to have to admit that I am a rabid Bengals fan, and I have NFL franchise envy. Can we settle for a smaller terrorist strike that just takes out the Steelers? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/33 "2009-07-06T15:37:37Z")
I plan to move from Cincinnati a little later this year. After that, it’s fair game. Fucking chili-eaters. (Just kidding, of course. Cincinnati is a great town.) ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/34 "2009-07-06T16:01:04Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I plan to move from Cincinnati a little later this year. After that, it’s fair game. Fucking chili-eaters. > (Just kidding, of course. Cincinnati is a great town.) Maybe we can have a targeted attack only taking out the Skyline and Gold Star chili parlors? That stuff is a WMD right there. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/35 "2009-07-06T16:41:41Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Maybe we can have a targeted attack only taking out the Skyline and Gold Star chili parlors? > > That stuff is a WMD right there. I assume you mean a Weapon of Mass _Deliciousness._ ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/36 "2009-07-06T16:48:59Z")
Can we take out Gary, Indiana? I mean, whatever the terrorists do to it can’t possibly make the smell any _worse_. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/37 "2009-07-06T16:54:44Z")
Scheuer’s an interesting character. I’ve been to a couple of his lectures and even had the opportunity to talk to him in-person following the release of _Through Our Enemies’ Eyes_. He really does know his stuff. It’s just too bad he’s a sociopath. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/38 "2009-07-06T17:07:22Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Uhhh…yeah 'cause that worked so well the _last_ time we faced a catastrophic terrorist attack. That’s why we don’t need to have these kinds of conversations in a post-9/11 world… Well, it “worked” in that we tightened up airport security, and I don’t think another 9/11 could happen now. The thing is, I’m not entirely sure that Scheuer is wrong. If there were some sort of catastrophic terrorist attack that came from smuggling a nuclear bomb, say, over the border, America’s borders would be sealed so tightly, nobody could get in. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/39 "2009-07-06T17:36:04Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Well, it “worked” in that we tightened up airport security, and I don’t think another 9/11 could happen now. The thing is, I’m not entirely sure that Scheuer is wrong. If there were some sort of catastrophic terrorist attack that came from smuggling a nuclear bomb, say, over the border, America’s borders would be sealed so tightly, nobody could get in. **Of course** he’s right – except in his assumptions that that would be (1) a good thing and (2) worth the price in carnage. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/40 "2009-07-06T17:38:33Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > He’s saying that the only way the leaders of the country will get serious about protecting the borders is if some massive terrorist attack in our country leads the American people to stop being complacent about national security and demand it. This is clearly the new Republican logic. The only way to prevent a terrorist attack is to have one. The only way to show you’re not a quitter is to quit. Is there anyone left in that party with an IQ higher than a Twinkie? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046.md?page=3)