Reply #58: Two points: [View All]

1) markses: "All recent precedent has shown that populations of Western/Westernized countries under terrorist threat behave more rather than less conservative."

sam7: Until now.

Proplem w/ accepting the "rational actors" premise and the notion of precedent but dismissing w/ an "until now." The "document" you site does not bridge the gap. Even if real? How did the bombers know precedent wouldn't follow?


2) sam7: "And having been successful look for more attempts to effect elections with bombs. "

If the election had been swayed to the PP side, would you still have a problem with the fact that the "election was effected"? Or are the results a problem?

In addition, I feel an overlooked aspect of this entire episode is turnout. What, 79% of reg voters voted, as opposed to 63% in previous election? It's possible that patriotism and national unity spurred the Spanish people to vote in large numbers. In the US, what party would win if 80% showed up to vote?