Terrorism has always been around, from the anarchists around the turn of the century . 40,000 people die every year from car accidents, only 3,000 died on 9/11. The fact is, terrorism isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. It's an issue, but it's not a big issue. It should be death with in the same way that it was dealt with during the Clinton administration- as a crime problem.
Are there people that want to kill Americans? Yes. Are there white supremacist Americans that want to kill Americans? Yes! There are lots of people that want to kill lots of people, and that's a problem. However, it shouldn't be the driving force behind our foreign and domestic policy- that just leads to the erosion of civil liberties. Those who would give up freedom for security deserve neither.
When people say they want to kill us, it's stupid not to take that seriously.