Life is a State of Mind

So I have been seeing short spots on NewsChannel 8 (DC Area 24 hour news channel, owned by ABC and having a strong moderate conservative tone) that I am not sure are paid advertisements or public service announcements… but I smell a rat.

These are short commercials trying to point out the very laudible goal of having a plan for your own family in the event of disaster (natural or otherwise). That seems good enough, but the entire tone of the ~90 second spots is all about fear. The ad points viewers to makeaplan.org which is clearly operated by the department for home land security. I also notice that this ad, spreading fear of terrorist attack is being aired only during the Virginia political season. I smell a rat.

Are tax-payer dollars being used to fund public service announcements that have a political agenda during the election season? Is this legal or ethical? Am I just overly paranoid?

Having said all that - the clear message is a good one. Half of surviving any accident or disaster is being able to act quickly on a good comprehensive plan. I just wish I did not think we were having a repeat of those ever-changing national alert levels that only changed during the election cycles of the past…

Update: A whois search reveals the website is registered to “Emergency Management Agency” in Washington, DC. Part of FEMA and therefore Homeland Security I think.