The Title does it make you think of the Tom Clancy book? Part of the Ryanverse which started with Patriot Games.

True difference between "A Clear And Present Danger" and "Clear And Present Danger" is A.

While the plots are overly different both opening starts at a kidnapping attempt.

In this case an Ice Queen instead of the Prince and Princess of Britain.

With no hero on sight. Oh wait there are heroes but they are drugged up by the US Government.

And a family man doing what he can to protect his family espeacially his little girl.

Not to mention some international abduction though instead of a femme fetale wanted by the French it's a heroic Japanese geek wanted by the US.

Yes I'm having fun with the coincidences.

I do think of the book/movie (and Harrison Ford *sigh*), but I also think of the Supreme Court test for upholding laws regulating otherwise protected speech that tends to incite others to commit a crime.

<nerd alert>

I didn't think of all of those parallels between the plots. Nice catch.

Of course, Clancy's book dealt with the war on drugs and an assassination of a high level CIA operative and a few hundred other things that aren't even remotely linked to the episode.

A Clear And Present Danger is the verbage required by, I think, the Constitution, for the President to make a declaration of war.

There is no standard, stated in the Constitution, for declaring war. Case law maybe, but I don't remember ever reading a case dealing with it. The Constitution is online here.

An interesting tidbit I found on Heroeswiki:

"The phrase "clear and present danger" refers to language used by the Supreme Court in its ruling on Schenck vs. the United States. Under this ruling, the government could restrict someone's right to free speech if, by their actions, they presented a "clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." Subsequent Supreme Court cases have changed the standards for judging whether restricting free speech is acceptable. "

source: http://heroeswiki.com/A_Clear_and_Present_Danger

For the record, the book (and movie) you're thinking of is Patriot Games.