As our nation faces the greatest challenge it has ever been confronted with we shall be subjected once again to the basic “con” that has been so successful for nearly a decade – security, and although that concept is a real one it will once again be presented in an unreal sense.
Security, as presented is to tell us in 2008 that we need to be protected from the 'unknowns' in the world, those who want to do us harm, those who terrorize. We are told that Islamic extremists are out to get us and they continue to gain members and they are trying to get nuclear weaponry and they are only a couple months away from being able to wipe us off the face of the Earth and on and on. As soon as we might begin to doubt this all is taking place we are reminded of 9/11 and the mass murders of some 3000 people. We are continually reminded to be afraid, very afraid, because they will be coming again if we choose wrongly at the voting polls.
In the past seven years America has been under siege by forces from within as we have seen our freedoms stripped from us. We have seen where we do not have the right to have our vote counted, as it was deemed by our own Supreme Court. We have seen where we can only protest in certain areas which are marked off and far away from where those protests may be seen or we will be arrested. We have seen where we do not have the right to privacy in our telephone conversations, our emails, or even our web browsing practices for fear of being incarcerated. Yes, the telephone companies were told by the Bush/Cheney administration they were to 'eavesdrop' on their customers in February 2001, only Qwest refused and they lost a very lucrative government contract as a result, plus their CEO was found guilty of insider trading because he sold a block of his stock when this occurred. Seems a little Gestapoesque, doesn't it? When one realizes these were all taken away prior to 9/11, one should be afraid, very afraid.
We are constantly being told in order to be secure we must continue to have these same people in office so they can continue to protect us. These same people who have totally dismantled our Constitution to the point where it really is nothing more than what George W Bush told us; “Just a Goddammed piece of paper.”(1) McCain has already boasted how he is the one to make us secure. Clinton has attacked Obama on the premise that he is weak. Cheney has been bantering about how if Democrats are put in office we will certainly be attacked again. At least he has not used the phrase “serious consequences” yet. In the past when he has used those terms bad things have happened. We illegally invaded Iraq and Paul Wellstone was killed just to name two. The corporate media continues to give the constant barrage of how we should be afraid, very afraid.
Although the present administration has vastly weakened our image around the globe, the truth is the primary threat to the security for Americans comes from within. No foreign government has placed our military troops in harm's way, no external terrorist group has stripped our Constitution to the point of its being meaningless. No foreign government has placed wiretaps illegally on all American phones and Internet connections. No external terrorist group has falsely arrested Americans. No external terrorist group has destroyed our economy. No external terrorist group has destroyed the process of our government by making the Legislative Branch moot and the Judicial Branch nothing more than an order taker from the Executive Branch.
External terrorists did not impose the USA PATRIOT Act on us, nor did they force us into illegally invading Iraq, not to mention the illegal invasion of Afghanistan.
According to the Mayo Clinic peanut allergy affects approximately 1.5 million people in the United States. As the most common cause of life-threatening allergic reactions (anaphylaxis), peanut allergies account for 80 percent of fatal or near-fatal allergic reactions each year. From this statistic it would appear we should be more fearful of peanuts than external terrorists.
I am still awaiting any candidate to tell us they are going to fix our government. Getting promises of health care, lower taxes, and all of the other hype is fine, but unless we get our democracy back nothing else will matter.
