December 13, 2007 Issue

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” FDR

No rational person likes to cause others to be afraid. The wide-eyed stare of fear seen in scared children or in the confused elderly is a sad look. President Bush has done everything in his power to instill that look in our people.

The specter of mushroom clouds, yellow-red-orange terror alerts, crazed Muslims in the Midwest, and World War III have all been rolled out by this president. Tedious measures at airports resulting in interminable lines while guards search for shoe bombs and explosives in shampoo bottles and toothpaste don’t give us a sense of security; they just seem tiresome and odd.

The intelligence used to justify these trumped up horrors is generated by agencies that are characterized not by secret agents like James Bond, but rather by bumblers like Inspector Clouseau or lawmen like Barney Fife. However, they lack humor.

Our country doesn’t do well with manufactured threats. Or with wars bearing catchy names such as The War on Terror, Shock and Awe, and Desert Storm. For that matter, the war on drugs is another manufactured threat.

The war on drugs was rolled out during Bush Sr.’s presidency. Hard on the heels of Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign, the war on drugs hasn’t been much of a war. Drugs are more plentiful and potent than ever. The casualties of this “war” fill jail cells and graveyards around the country.

The War on Terror was actually re-named two years ago. That un-winnable battle became The Struggle Against Global Extremism. This administration can change names a lot quicker than they can win wars. The Iraq War has now lasted longer than WWII.

It is becoming hard for Americans to concentrate on the potential terror of Iran and North Korea when they can’t pay their mortgage or the insurance or the taxes on their homes. Our people don’t have to watch CNN’s coverage of the suicide bombers in Baghdad to see violence. There is plenty of senseless violence in the malls, universities, and federal buildings of our own country. President Bush doesn’t need to scare us with images of crazed Jihadists wreaking violence in Omaha. We saw an American teenager do that last week.

The conflict in Iraq was started on the erroneous premise of “weapons of mass destruction.” As this war halfway around the world makes shambles of our economy at home, one of the few bright spots in a country that produces and manufactures fewer goods every year, is our own production of weapons of mass destruction. Companies like Halliburton, Blackwater and Raytheon are enjoying record profits.

There is an old saying: “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” This country is running out of friends and our enemies are becoming more mysterious and emboldened every day. Not only has diplomacy been replaced with belligerence, threats and torture; common sense has been replaced with poor intelligence.

Fear has a place in this world and in everyone’s life. Without a modicum of caution we would not have survived as a people or as a country. But as this pitiful president peddles paranoia and terror because it is all he has left to offer, we should not be fearful.

We should just be sad.

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