As if Americans didn't need more proof that the world is a drastically different place than it was before Sept. 11, 2001, then ricin, a deadly toxin that is lethal in small amounts, was found Monday in the mailroom at the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Sources also revealed that a letter addressed to the White House was found laced with ricin.
The discovery of ricin caused the Senate to close down for two days, coming back in session Wednesday. The Dirksen, Hart and Russell Senate Office buildings will be closed for a few more days.
In the last two years, and since the Homeland Security Advisory System was implemented, Americans have gotten used to hearing reports from the media about the terror level being raised to orange but never getting answers about what the threat is or where it's coming from. The discovery of ricin, however, is a direct threat to the safety of Americans. We know what the threat is, even if we don't know where it's coming from. Americans who are becoming cynical to the empty, unknown threats of violence against other Americans are getting a wake-up call that the dangers are still out there and that there are still people in the world and in this country who want to hurt us.
In these times of fear and panic,however, we must realize that many terrorist attacks aren't going to come from Iraq and other countries. These attacks are most likely to come from within America, reminding us that many times the enemy comes from within.
Americans have gotten used to the fear. They have gotten used to hearing constant threats coming from the media every day. Most of the time we think nothing of it because we can't, we have to keep going on living our lives despite the threats and fear.
We need to understand the ricin scare and take it for what it is - a reminder that the world still has people in it who want to do harm. But we also need to keep living our lives and working every day to create a better, safer world for everyone to live in, a world of tolerance and acceptance, a world without domestic or international terrorism.
