TV has a financial stake in frightening elderly, low-information voters– which might explain why Americans feel more terrorized than ever– even as terrorist acts have fallen to the lowest level in…ever.

To put this in perspective, here are some terrorist attacks from 1981 to 1988– just imagine the panicked media frenzy if any of this occurred today:

1981

• Puerto Rico guard base bombing – Radical Puerto Rican Extremists blow up planes at Muniz Air National Guard base.
• JFK airport bombing – Radical Puerto Rican Extremism at it again.
• The Pope gets shot – Imagine how Hannity would react to this today.
• Reagan assassination attempt – Imagine how Hannity would react to this today.
• Indonesia Flight 206 hijacked
• Austrian pro-Israel politician assassinated
• Tehran, Iran Islamic Republican Party HQ bombing – 73 killed.
• Vienna, Austria synagogue attacked by grenades and machine guns – lolwut
• Pase, France Turkish consulate taken hostage
• Egyptian President assassinated
• Antwerp, Belgium bombed
• Damascus, Syria car bombing – 200+ killed.
• Iraqi embassy car bombing – 61 killed, ~100 injured.

1982

• Pope, 2nd assassination attempt – This time, a bayonet-wielding cleric.
• Oslo train station bombing
• Esenboğa International Airport attack
• Paris, France Jewish restaurant attack – Grenades and machine guns in Paris.
• Pan Am Flight 830 bombing
• Brussels synagogue attacked
• Italy synagogue attacked
• Lebanon Israeli HQ bombing
• Sydney, Australia Israeli Consulate bombing

1983

• Korean Air Lines Flight 902 – Soviets shoot down airliner after mistaking it for NATO.
• US Beirut embassy bombing
• US marine barracks in Beirut – 241 Americans killed.
• Lucanamarca, Peru massacre – 69 villagers massacred by communists.
• South Africa Church Street car bombing
• Paris Orly Airport bombing – Armenians attack Turkish Airlines counter.
• Turkish diplomat assassinated
• Turkish embassy attack in Lisbon
• US Senate bombing – Imagine the Hannity extravaganza if this happened today.
• Aeroflot Flight 6833 hijacked
• Kuwait US and French embassies bombing
• IRA bombs London Harrods

1984

• Bhopal, India gas leak – 3,000 to 6,000 killed.
• Indira Gandhi assassinated
• El Salvador train bombing
• IRA bombs a bunch of shit
• Israel bus bombing
• Jerusalem mall machine gun attack
• Huambo bombing Anti-communists kill ~100, including Soviet citizens and Cuban officers (wtf?).
• Brighton, England hotel bombing – Nearly killing Margaret Thatcher.
• Baghdad truck bombing
• Tehran, Iran railroad station bombing
• Italy Train 904 bombing – 17 killed, 267 injured.
• Valparaíso, Chile police bombing
• Sri Lanka Kent and Dollar Farm massacres – 62 killed.
• Sri Lanka Mannar massacre

1985

• Ethiopia Famine – Human rights abuses and famine kill between 400k to 1 million.
• Dian Fossey murdered – Famed gorilla researcher killed w/ a machete.
• TWA Flight 847 hijacking
• Sri Lanka train bombing
• Paris Marks & Spencer bombing
• Beirut car bombing – 83 killed, ~200 injured.
• Paris Jewish film festival bombing
• World’s first female suicide bomber – Not hot.
• El Descanso restaurant bombing – 17 dead, 72 injured
• Anuradhapura massacre
• Zona Rosa nightclub shooting – Left-wing guerillas kill 12, including 6 Americans.
• Frankfurt, Germany airport bombing
• Nepal bombings
• Air India Flight 182 bombing – 329 killed.
• Copenhagen bombings
• Fucking pirates – No, seriously.
• Ras Burqa massacre
• Achille Lauro hijacking – Palestinian Liberation Front.
• Palace of Justice siege – 98 killed
• EgyptAir Flight 648 hijacking – 58 killed.
• Italy airport shooting – 19 killed, 138 injured.

1986

• LTTE explodes a mine – 40 killed.
• Damascus, Syria car bombing – 60 killed.
• Damascus, Syria car bombing – 144 killed.
• Melbourne, Australia car bombing
• TWA Flight 840 mid-flight bombing
• West Germany disco bombing targeting US soldiers
• LTTE bomb explodes aboard Air Lanka
• Madrid, Spain car bombing targets police
• Istanbul, Turkey gunmen open fire on synagogue – 21 killed.
• Iraqi Airways Flight 163 hijacking – 63 killed.
• Puerto Rico Dupont Plaza Hotel arson – 98 killed.

1987

• Aluth Oya massacre – 127 killed.
• Sri Lanka car bombing – 150 killed.
• Greek Air Force bus carrying US military bombing
• Aranthalawa Massacre – 34 monks massacred
• Barcelona, Spain car bombing – 21 killed, 45 injured.
• Haryana, India massacre – 38 Hindus massacred
• Haryana, India massacre – 34 Hindus massacred
• Ireland Remembrance Day bombing
• Zaragoza, Spain barracks bombing
• Sri Lanka, Kathankadu massacre

1988

• South Africa Barclays bank car bombing – 27 killed, 70 injured.
• Aroer, Israel bus hijacking – 150 killed.
• Belfast, Ireland funeral grenade attack lolwut?
• Two British soldiers stabbed and beaten by Irish mob – lolwut?
• Cannes, France immigrant hostel bombing
• IRA shoots down British helicopter – lolwut?
• Lisburn, Ireland car bombing of British soldiers
• Athens, Greence mass shooting of cruise ship
• IRA bomb British military transport – 8 soldiers killed, 28 injured.
• Pan Am Flight 103 explosion – 259 killed.

You’ve probably never heard of any of these attacks– and who could blame you? Most Americans at the time hardly noticed.

In those days, people just went on with their lives.

The difference between then and now is the democratization of media that allows ratings-starved TV hosts, faux-intellectual pundits, and low-IQ voters to rant incessantly about “radical X, Y, or Z” w/out any historical context.