“I wonder whether the politicians who are using fear to get themselves elected would stop if they knew the harm they may be doing to people’s health. Real physical harm. Making people sick. Perhaps even killing them. Not intentionally, of course, or knowingly. But this kind of ‘be afraid’ message does more than encourage people to think that you are the candidate who will make them safe. It creates stress and may be at least as much of a threat to public health as terrorism itself.” — David Ropeik, director of risk communication at Harvard University’s Center for Risk Analysis (LA Times op-ed)