Terrorist Attack in the Heartland

Two weeks ago, terrorists struck New York City. No one was too surprised, as it is New York City, after all. But yesterday terrorists struck Minneapolis, collapsing a major bridge that's responsible for 200,000 cars a day. At this point, only 9 people have died, and there is no clear number on the injuries.

But these aren't the terrorists that the media keeps warning us about. These are not the terrorists who come from a foreign country or "foreign" religion to wage war against a nation which has devastates their economy and people daily. These are the terrorists that sit on city and county governing bodies, deciding to cut funding to basic infrastructure and deny necessary maintenance. These are the terrorists who make the conscious decisions to undermine public health and safety by closing down hospitals. These are the terrorists that, despite record profits and booming economies, see the need to keep the corporations in power even more firmly entrenched in power down to every last penny.

Reports by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2001 indicated problems with the bridge, particularly with steel joints because of "unanticipated out of plane distortion" of girders. The report also noted a lack of redundancy in the main truss system, indicating that a single point of failure could collapse the bridge. A 2005 report recommended replacement of the bridge, though the decision was made to avoid that option.

Even if this collapsed bridge on the I-35W turns out to be a fluke, it remains emblematic of the collapsing infrastructure all around us. The ruling class is carrying out a war, and they don't care who the casualties are.