Taking a lesson from Bush

Terror attacks aren't tragedies--they're opportunities for totalitarianism! George Bush knew this after 9/11, and Vladimir Putin knows it after Beslan:

Responding to a series of deadly terror attacks, President Vladimir Putin on Monday moved to significantly strengthen the Kremlin's grip on power, with new measures that include the naming of regional governors and an overhaul of the electoral system.

Putin told Cabinet members and security officials convened in special session that the future of Russia was at stake and urged the creation of a central, powerful anti-terror agency.

"The organizers and perpetrators of the terror attack are aiming at the disintegration of the state, the breakup of Russia," he said. "We need a single organization capable of not only dealing with terror attacks but also working to avert them, destroy criminals in their hideouts, and if necessary, abroad."

Great. Now, if you travel abroad, the locals, the Americans, AND the Russians will be arguing over who gets to arrest and/or shoot you. All in the name of the "Global War on Terrorism," of course.