It was just a few weeks ago that President Barack Obama told his Vox.com fan club that he “absolutely” agreed with the premise that the threat of terrorism was over-hyped by the media. That is, the President of the United States saw terrorist violence as an exaggerated threat when compared to such pressing challenges as catastrophic climate change.

“What’s the famous saying about local newscasts, right? If it bleeds, it leads, right?” Obama remarked derisively to an adoring Matt Yglesias. Well, the potential for a lot of bleeding has once again captured the imaginations of the nation’s reporters. The press apparently remains utterly unconcerned with real threats, and is instead focused on transient episodes like today’s arrest of an American National Guardsman and his cousin, both of whom allegedly sought to execute a terrorist attack on his fellow servicemen and women and join ISIS.

A National Guardsman arrested for supporting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria had allegedly planned an attack on a military post in Illinois, the Justice Department said Thursday.

Army National Guard Spc. Hasan Edmonds, 22, was arrested at Chicago Midway International Airport Wednesday night while he was attempting to fly to Cairo, the department said in a statement.

Members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Chicago also arrested Edmonds’ cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 29, a member of the Illinois Army National Guard, at his home in Aurora, Illinois.

The Department of Justice’s press release on the criminal complaint against Edmonds and his cousin is chilling. It revealed that Edmonds and his cousin wanted to use United States Army uniforms and their knowledge of an Illinois National Guard post in order to infiltrate the facility and stage an attack in ISIS’s name.

“According to the charges filed today, the defendants allegedly conspired to provide material support to ISIL and planned to travel overseas to support the terrorist organization,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “In addition, they plotted to attack members of our military within the United States. Disturbingly, one of the defendants currently wears the same uniform of those they allegedly planned to attack. I want to thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for disrupting the threat posed by these defendants.”

“We will pursue and prosecute with vigor those who support ISIL and its agenda of ruthless violence,” said U.S. Attorney Fardon. “Anyone who threatens to harm our citizens and allies, whether abroad or here at home, will face the full force of justice.”

“The arrests today are the culmination of a successful investigation that involved a great deal of coordination and communication with our law enforcement and military partners,” said Special Agent in Charge Holley. “Throughout the course of this investigation, the defendants were closely and carefully monitored to ensure the safety of the public and our service men and women.”

It is just this kind of acute threat to American national security that keeps climate change off of the front pages, where Obama and his progressive acolytes believe that matter belongs.