Marble Composition

You Should Be Scared

I'd like to go back to an op-ed piece I referenced before and highlight something that's really important. Two former highly ranked military officers wrote the following in the Washington Post:

The American people are understandably fearful about another attack like the one we sustained on Sept. 11, 2001. But it is the duty of the commander in chief to lead the country away from the grip of fear, not into its grasp.

President Bush recently told NBC White House Correspondent David Gregory the following:

"...But they're dangerous, and I can't put it any more plainly. They're dangerous. And we -- and I can't put it any more plainly to the American people and to them. We will stay on the offense. It's better to fight them there than here.

And this concept about, well, maybe, you know, let us kind of just leave them alone and maybe they'll be all right, is naive. These people attacked us before we were in Iraq. They viciously attacked us before we were in Iraq, and they have been attacking every since. They are a threat to your children, David. And whoever's in that Oval Office, better understand it and take measures necessary to protect the American people."

In my studies of American history, I've never heard a president warn a reporter that a specific group of people are coming to this country to kill his children. Of course, the fear mongering of Bush's administrations, especially the first one, is no secret and has been well documented. Has anyone noticed we don't have a color coded terrorism alert scale anymore? Let's recall that back in 2003 the head of Homeland Security told us we should have duct tape and plastic covering on hand to protect us against chemical and biological weapons:

This includes stashing a three-day supply of water, food and medicine, Ridge said. Among other things, the government-recommended "kit" also includes duct tape and plastic sheeting Ridge said could be used to seal off a room in the event of a chemical or biological release.

"Stash away the duct tape — don't use it!" Ridge said.

Hardly unique, this document provides a blueprint on how Americans can live in constant fear.

Now, because we have Republican presidential debates, fear is back. Because these candidates feel they need to please the 28 to 35% of the public that still approves of the president, they're embracing fear in new way. They need more. Of all of their candidates, former New York city Mayor Rudy Guiliani has grabbed the torch and ran with it:

Look, it's real simple what happened. These people came here and killed us because of our freedom of religion, because of our freedom for women, because they hate us. And all we have to do is look at last week and these people in Fort Dix who are still here planning to kill us, three of them illegal immigrants, the other three here in other ways.

But the reality is, if you are confused about this, I think you put our country in much greater jeopardy. The reality is, these people are planning to kill us because, and this is hard for people to recognize, I usually hear this on the Democratic side. Don't usually hear it on the Republican side. You have got to face reality. If you can't face reality, you can't lead.

He piled on even more in the third GOP debate:

MR. BLITZER: Mayor Giuliani, same question to you. Was it — knowing what you know right now, was it a good decision?

MR. GIULIANI: Absolutely the right thing to do. It’s unthinkable that you would leave Saddam Hussein in charge of Iraq and be able to fight the war on terror. And the problem is that we see Iraq in a vacuum. Iraq should not be seen in a vacuum. Iraq is part of the overall terrorist war against the United States.

Facts be damned, the message is clear here: They are coming to kill you.

My question here is: Will any of this work? Can a presidential campaign designed to exploit domestic vulnerabilities succeed in modern American politics? Can fear drive us to elect someone who wants to make us more afraid? These aren't rhetorical exercises; I'm genuinely curious. I'd like to believe Americans are sick of this kind of rhetoric, and will heartily reject it, but I'm not altogether sure.

posted by FuzzFinger @ 6/06/2007 08:10:00 PM