Orange alert, sheilds up, charge phasers... - Terrorism bullshit alert going up.

[FollowThisLogic]

FYI, they didn't have this system until after 9/11.

I'm aware of that. No one ever even thought of terrorism before that day, now you can't escape it. My point is, I think the system was designed to make people FEEL safe in a situation we actually don't have any control over. My 9/10 comment basically means, if this system actually did anything at all, if it actually made a difference and was NOT invented to make people feel better, it would have been in place for a long time.

If something god forbid were to happen and the terror alert was not raised, the American public would want to know why they weren't warned.

And if the terrorism warning goes to orange or even red, and something happens anyway, like a dirty bomb or nuke levels DC, people will wonder why it wasn't prevented, and will have no faith in the alert system anymore. To extend that line of thinking, I think they probably raise the level at times they're fairly sure NOTHING is going to happen, to make it look like the system is actually working.