Pop quiz.  Which of the following statements did a hijacker make on 9/11?

(a)“America of Dirty Thieves!”

(b)“Our God is the Only Answer!” 

(c)“Freedom, Freedom, I’ll die for Freedom!”

Sorry, trick question.  Correct answer is none of the above.

Though, each stated by terrorists, they were the words of a new American breed that now flood our informational landscapes – the (drum roll please) “Information Terrorist.” 

Webster’s dictionary defines terrorism as: “violent or destructive acts committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands.” 

Utilizing our futile fear spectrum, we reached “Red” this summer for Information Terrorism.  The Tea Partiers, Birthers and Sarah Palin’s death panels spawned an infestation of Information Terror that stole the reigns from the media and hijacked the health care debate. 

How has myth and magniloquence substituted debating the welfare of our own people? 

As extremists garner attention by blowing up buildings, information terrorists stage absurd scenarios and dispense emotion-evoking rhetoric.  How else could they get attention during a debate heavily weighed in favor of the opposition?

Sarah Palin’s death panels are the quintessential example of Information Terrorism.  Her fabricated claim that her “baby with Down Syndrome” would have to appear before Obama’s death panel captured the nation's attention during a time when lawmakers should have been analyzing the intricacies of health care and the media reporting the proposals’ legitimate objections. 

Instead, Palin’s facebook outburst seized mainstream media attention ranging in debunking reports from Good Morning America to the Associated Press. The debunking, however, only added fuel to the fire. 

With each google hit and lead-in story, death panels infiltrated national conversation.  From Senator Grassley’s legitimization of her claims to President Obama’s grassroots campaign denouncing her, Palin’s reign of Information Terror succeeded. 

Suddenly, we are a society noted for tea partiers with a “Communist, Nazi president” instead of our recent progressive policy changes. 

If freedom isn't free, neither should be speech.  Journalists have a responsibility to report on fact-checked information, not coercing terror talk--despite how many people may tune in.  The stakes are too high.  Such terrorism is destructive to our public discourse.

My plea to rational Americans keeping up with the facts is to ignore these antics.

As the wise-beyond-his-knowledge George W. Bush once said, “if we pay attention to them, the terrorists will have won.”