The "no terrorist attacks since 9/11" fallacy

Forget about the fact that Republican claims that they're doing a great job because America hasn't been the target of a terrorist attack since 9/11 is a completely bogus argument. While it might be true that we haven't been attacked since then, it proves nothing about their ability. Sort of like saying "No one has dared to test my kung fu skills since I signed up for lessons, so I must be a total badass." Oh, and it isn't even true.

Perhaps the single most common refrain from the White House and the president's allies is that there have been no terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001. That's incorrect — about a month after 9/11, someone sent weaponized anthrax to two Democratic senators and several news outlets. Five Americans were killed and 17 more suffered serious illnesses.

For reasons that I've never been able to explain, the incident — I suppose one should call it an "attack" — is hardly ever mentioned. No one knows where the anthrax came from, who sent it, or why. It was a horrifying incident, immediately on the heels of another horrifying incident, but five years later, it's almost as if the episode never happened.

One woman in Florida who was widowed by the attack is still waiting for some answers, and she's willing to go to court to get them.