Exploiting American anxiety

[rodeodance]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002996462_robinson16.html

Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM


Eugene Robinson / Syndicated columnist
Exploiting American anxiety

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But while Bush takes every advantage of this sour and apprehensive mood, he didn't conjure it out of thin air. And sometimes it spins out of his control — as evidenced by the immigration debate, in which he is having to scramble to keep the House Republican leadership, running scared in an election year, from insisting on a program of mass deportation that would resemble a latter-day Trail of Tears.

Domestic electronic surveillance and the influx of undocumented immigrants seem like disparate issues, but I believe they have the same origin — a kind of generalized anxiety that stems in part from the 9/11 attacks but has other components as well.

If a psychiatrist were to put the nation on the couch, the shrink's notes would read something like this: "Patient feels vulnerable to attack; cannot remember having experienced similar feeling before. Patient accustomed to being in control; now feels buffeted by outside forces beyond grasp. Patient believes livelihood and prosperity being usurped by others (repeatedly mentions China). Patient seeks scapegoats for personal failings (immigrants, Muslims, civil libertarians). Patient is by far most powerful nation in world, yet feels powerless. Patient is full of unfocused anger."

It's shameful to watch Bush and his minions take advantage of these acute symptoms. And if the immigration issue didn't threaten to disrupt so many people's lives, it would be amusing to witness Bush's attempts to calm the irrational fears he has so often encouraged.

And it's at least somew

[lyonn]

1. Analysis appears accurate