There is to be a test of the Emergency Alert system on Sunday, and the right wing commentariat seem to have lost their minds over it. A couple of quick thoughts:
- If you're going to have an Emergency Alert system, it really does need tested occasionally, for the same reason all our employers have to have periodic fire drills - it's not enough to assume that these things work, or even to show that they work in theory. If they're important enough then they need to be tested, in real life, before we find ourselves having to rely on them.
- The reason for the Emergency Alert system itself should really be one that that right wing commentariat should be able to appreciate: it's basically a replacement for the old air raid sirens from their beloved Blitz. Basically, if we find ourselves in a situation where something is liable to go wrong at short and unpredicatable notice (such as, heaven forbid, we are once again subject to bombing raids), we will probably appreciate having an alert system in place.
Of course, I stand ready to revise my opinion if the government of the day decides to start misusing it (sending alerts for any and all nonsense at their whim). But if that does happen, it's easy enough to switch off.
As it is, having a one-off test of the system is quite a good idea, really.
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