Failed terror bombings portend "dangerous shift"

According to a Reuters story entitled "Times Square bomb plot spotlights larger U.S. fear," former Homeland Security adviser Frances Townsend is speaking out about a new threat:

Frances Townsend, homeland security adviser under former President George W. Bush, pointed to what she called a "dangerous shift" from simultaneous, mass-casualty plots to "higher probability but lower consequence events" that are more difficult to detect and disrupt.

While serving Vice President Cheney in 2007, Frances Townsend told CNN that she thought al Qaeda might target the 2008 presidential elections.  When Townsend said that "no specific intelligence"  supported her statement, several bloggers cried foul.

We think it goes without saying that nothing ought to stand between the fears of senior government officials and the American people.  Our leaders need to speak their minds.  We should not wish for them to self-censor their gut feelings.

From the perspective of DoF, Frances Townsend is a "fear pioneer" -- a veritable role model for public officials in these threatening times.