.
"It has become conventional wisdom, repeated by President Obama at the nuclear summit meeting this week, that the cold war danger of huge strikes by thousands of nuclear missiles has given way to a new threat: terrorists killing tens of thousands of Americans with a stolen or homemade nuclear device. A broad range of security experts agree that nuclear terrorism may well be the most serious danger the United States faces today." (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/world/16memo.html?th&emc=th)
.
It's very simple as: "conventional wisdom" and a "broad range of security experts agree," that with the threat of "terrorists killing tens of thousands," there's no time to ask, a la Butch Cassidy of Sundance, "Who are those guys?" or "What's their complaint?" They're just bad actors intent upon slaughtering us all, and to stop this we need to do everything that's necessary.
.
Wars are necessary. Suspension of the Bill of Rights is necessary. Government lying is necessary. "Closed sessions" of congressional committees are necessary. Police brutality is necessary. Tapping our phones is necessary. Gifting crooked bankers our treasury is necessary. Exporting our jobs is necessary. Allowing our infrastructure to crumble is necessary. Torture is necessary. Future wars are necessary. And the security state is most necessary.
.
A nun in full habit in Toledo, Ohio, preparing to board a plane to Dayton, passes through the security gate. In an adjacent booth, a gum-chewing uniformed thug peers into a screen that lays bare the details of the nun's pelvis. It's necessary.
.
The language of the "necessary" is interesting. Not before but often now, especially in gov-speak, "America" becomes "the Homeland," in much the same manner as the Nazis employed "das Heimatland" rather than the name of their country running up to WWII.
