As a journalist, I came of age in the 9/11 era, when to be conservative and Republican was to talk of terrorism as nothing less than an "existential threat" and support turning the world upside and shaking it by the ankles to get the bad guys. 1/x

I spent years trying to understand how otherwise intelligent people could so badly inflate the risk that they were willing to launch wars, commit terrible crimes, undermine civil liberties, and spend trillions of dollars to fight it. (See the chapter in Risk, 2008.) 2/x

Almost 20 years later, we face another shocking, seemingly new threat. Except the evidence that this threat is vastly greater than the threat of terrorism is overwhelming -- from history to epidemiology to a death toll that is already orders of magnitude greater. 3/x

So what are most of those who insisted terrorism was an existential threat saying now?

"Meh. No biggie. What's everyone so worked up about? Everybody calm down and go shopping."

I am genuinely stunned every time I hear it. Somebody should write a book... 4/x

Imagine: Many of those who supported war, surveillance, and torture to fight terrorism are furious they should be asked to wear a mask for the 30 seconds it takes to buy milk at the 7/11 to fight a pandemic that will soon have killed a quarter million Americans. 5/x

"Waterboarding and drone strikes are one thing but I draw the line at wearing a mask while I push my shopping cart around. Give me liberty or give me death!"