Using Our Fear (WP Op-Ed)

[Up2Late]

(Great stuff! "...Rove...gave the Republican National Committee its positioning statement for the fall elections:
Vote for us or die....")

Using Our Fear

By Eugene Robinson

Friday, January 27, 2006; Page A23

Once upon a time we had a great wartime president who told Americans they had nothing to fear but fear itself. Now we have George W. Bush, who uses fear as a tool of executive power and as a political weapon against his opponents.

Franklin D. Roosevelt tried his best to allay his nation's fears in the midst of an epic struggle against fascism. Bush, as he leads the country in a war whose nature he is constantly redefining, keeps fear alive because it has been so useful. His political grand vizier, Karl Rove, was perfectly transparent the other day when he emerged from wherever he's been hiding the past few months -- consulting omens, reading entrails -- and gave the Republican National Committee its positioning statement for the fall elections: Vote for us or die.

Democrats "have a pre-9/11 worldview" of national security that is "deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong," Rove said. The clear subtext was that Americans would court mortal danger by electing Democrats. Go forth and scare the bejesus out of them, Rove was telling his party, because the more frightened they are, the better our chances.

To cultivate fear for partisan gain is never a political tactic to be proud of, but Rove's prescription of naked fearmongering is just plain reprehensible when the nation faces a shifting array of genuine, serious threats. This is a moment for ethical politicians -- and, yes, these days that seems like an oxymoron -- to speak honestly about what dangers have receded, what new dangers have emerged, and how the imperatives of liberty and security can be balanced.

(more at link below)

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/26/AR2006012601478.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns>

[AX10]

1. KICK

recomened!

[janedoe]

2. Ditto! (n/t)

[firefox]

3. It is the government for the wealthy I want protection from. nt

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. The 'War on Terror" is a pretext for a power grab and a move to a fascist

dictatorship. It's worked before and it's been working all too well for the Bushies so far. There are real terrorists, but the response to Katrina showed very clearly that the "preparation" by the Bushies is utterly useless against a real threat, even if it is standing water that was warned about in advance. And the Bushies had the opportunity to grab Osama bin Laden and passed it up. We are far LESS safe now, but that's not their real interest anyway.

This is all about a move from the remnants of democracy to a full-blown fascist dictatorship. Fear is the motivating force used to grease the slide.

[EST]

7. Egg-zact-lee!

Had they actually grabbed bin Laden, any pretext for trying to intimidate America into accepting their shell game.
When, and if, America wakes up to the fact that we have managed to get the entire world ganged up against us, then we may have something to fear.

There is no war on terror! There is just terror and the bush gang are the terrorists of the world. Shame.

[bettyellen]

5. Correction: we have a "Post Katrina" world view.

[EST]

6. Let's face it-we are a nation of chicken shits.

The reason people aren't lining up to enlist in the armed forces is not because we are, by and large, against the liars and thieves who are running things, of course there are tens of millions of us who are, but because we are too scared to be the ones thrown to the wolves so as to allow the rest to get away.
All the bullying and chest beating that goes on at some of the r/w bluster boards is just an act to attempt to distract anyone from noticing that we, as a group, are simply petrified that we might actually be called upon to sacrifice for the greater good.

Remember 9/11? When that cowardly Georgy porgy actually ran away! He took off for the safest place he could think of. I wish I had been privy to the conversations that went on in order to to convince him that the action was all over and he needed to be seen. What an absolute chickenshit!

I am not a hero. My brother is. We both volunteered to go to do what we could to take a whack at the Taliban and bin Laden, never mind the fact that we are both far beyond the time of life that we could serve as much more than anchors-or maybe being stuck behind a machine gun with orders to do what ever was necessary to stop anyone from passing that point. Perhaps that was the point, exactly. I knew that the likelihood of being asked to do anything like that was very slim but it's for sure we could not have run away--nor, I like to think, would we have.

This cringing squeal that we must be protected, mainly emanating from right wing "heroes," at all costs, by a chickenshit president and his chickenshit toadies, who did everything they could to avoid being called to be physically brave when their time came, is so ludicrous and insulting it makes me want to puke!

[caligirl]

8. Give Eugene a million bucks. The guy deserves it for writing truth.

[thecai]

9. Fear No Evil

KNOW your enemy.
We know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall set us free.

[bettyellen]

10. K+R

[Up2Late]

11. kick n/t

:kick:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

12. how eloquent!

Your attitudes match the front page copy of our local Dem site, which I wrote (only not as well.)

LET COURAGE RING
by Patrick Lancaster,
14th of January, 2006

Though the Liberty Bell rings no more, Denny Chimes still sings of local courage. Dedicated in 1929, the chimes seem to echo our long-term need for responsible educational funding in Tuscaloosa County. A desire to honor Alabama students who died in World War I, gave rise to plans for a campus bell tower but scarce funding doomed the project. Ten years later, students at Alabama, upon hearing a rumor that University president George H. Denny might return to Virginia, gather enough money to build the landmark in his honor. Starting after 1940, modifications at the base of Denny Chimes began to display the Alabama Football Captain’s Walk of Fame, which features hand and foot imprints of each courageous Crimson Tide leader.

Your Tuscaloosa Democratic Party believes that if we heed the historic ringing of freedom and truth, it will silence taunting terrors of the heart. Much like Divine greatness, which teaches us to FEAR NOT, a great American once said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” All great leaders focus on faithful illumination and openness, not dark deceptions or fear.

While faith offers true redemption, are there legitimate fears? Certainly, many families in Tuscaloosa County dread news of a loved one dying for Iraqi freedom but even these brave souls walk in the light of faith, as our prayers march beside them.

To families anxious about skyrocketing fuel costs, high taxes, failing schools and our fastest growing export, American jobs, we say, “Fear not,” because salvation is attainable. With your help, the Democratic Party will bring a new openness to government that will offset your reasonable concerns.

Now is the time to take a stand and become active in the only political party that represents true reform. The Democratic Party in Tuscaloosa, unlike the opposition, is not an exclusive club for only the elite. We welcome everyone to take part in our efforts to preserve your rights and dignity.

Tuscaloosa County Democrats believe that protecting basic liberties endowed to us by God and our Founders will bestow a legacy of freedom to your children. We invite all Americans to join us in bringing traditional values back into a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

http://www.tuscaloosademocrats.org/