Katie Couric's Notebook: Terror
You're probably thinking, huh?
It was seven years ago. Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge unveiled a color-coded advisory system meant to indicate how high the risk was for a terrorist attack.
Red, orange, yellow, blue and green -- a full spectrum from low risk to severe.
Since 2006, though, the level has been yellow -- meaning elevated -- and barely mentioned at all.
In fact, the new head of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, didn't say the words "terrorism" or "9/11" in her first congressional testimony. President Obama avoided referencing 9/11 in his address to Congress last month while his predecessor, George Bush, frequently mentioned the date that truly transformed his presidency.
None of us will forget the events of 9/11. But perhaps we no longer need a color chart, a kind of mood ring to tell us what shade our fear is.
That's a page from my notebook.