Watch this video at The Guardian about Rudy Giuliani. While candidates politicize terrorism to their own ends the rest of the world rightly perceives us as a bunch of scaredy cats. Notwithstanding the obvious anti-Muslim sentiments expressed by Rudy supporters and Giuliani himself, feeding a frenzy of fear only weakens us in the eyes of the world.
Our leaders are ambassadors to the greater world, even locally, perceptions about the community we live in are encapsulated by the behavior, conduct and decisions of our leaders because surely their followers are no different. From city council members to county commissioners the perceptions of Coquille or Coos County borne of the impressions left by elected officials.