Schmedlap,

Whatever their public reasoning, at bottom, it's not really about fear of terrorists. It's about fear of voters and their own job security. They're looking at this through the lens of: How can my primary or general election opponent use this against me in the media?

Congressman Schmedlap is envisioning a TV ad where his opponent says, "I opposed bringing dangerous terrorists to our neighborhoods. But Congressman Schmedlap was so concerned about protecting the rights of those who attacked us on 9/11 that he helped bring them here to our peaceful district." It's a stupid argument, but no politician wants to deal with that--that is, when they have an apprehensive, easily manipulated electorate. But in the process of avoiding that situation, these reps are humiliating themselves with all the "we're scared of terrorists" talk.