Freakonomics Author Sticks Foot in Mouth

Steven D. Levitt, author of the best seller "Freakonomics," took freedom of speech down a road similar to those who have felt obliged to burn the American flag in the past; apparently he's the type to use outrageous actions or discourse to draw attention to his cause.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure what his cause is, nor do I think he has a firm grasp on it. Mr. Levitt, of course, asked in his blog recently (found on the N.Y. Times web site under Freakonomics) for readers to respond with possible acts of terror that would, no doubt, insight terror throughout the U.S. population. He provided a scenario of resources that these supposed terrorists would have at their disposal and then asked the average reader to come up with creative ways of using them.

The backlash was inevitable with most readers wondering why he should pose such a question; "was he out of his mind?" Steve's attempt at crisis management was weak at best, somehow trying to play it off as an educational process for our national security folks.

The fact is, I'm more than certain terrorists can come up with their own creative ideas for spreading fear if given the chance -- they don't need Steve's or anyone else's help. And to infer his blog was done to help our homeland security heads prevent such attacks was just plain ignorant. I don't know who believed him, other than the handful of folks who believed Clinton put the joint to his mouth but never inhaled.

Mr. Levitt is first and foremost an economist and, given his book's stint on the best seller list, I gather a pretty good one. As for me, I tend to think six economists in a room will have seven theories as to where the economy is headed when they're finished chitchatting. So I see no reason for Steve to venture into the world of terrorism -- fictional or otherwise.

Next he'll be asking readers to suggest ways for terrorists to raise money for attacks. A scary thought given his background.