When I began this blog in 2001, I was appalled by President Bush's headlong rush to an illegal war (we were not in fact under attack). As time wore on and Bush began his assault on the Constitution and any people bold enough to criticize, I believed that "the republic is endangered more by actions of our own government than by those of any terrorist." With the election of a high-minded, compassionate, intelligent man like Barack Obama, my fears have ceased.
"Honor them with peace, not war"
United for Peace
Sunday, August 31, 2003
Rightwing tyranny is often preceded by creation of an atmosphere of fear, so that unpalatable, even draconian, measures seem necessary. The Portsmouth Herald ran an editorial Saturday decrying fear-based politics.
The editorial lays the paralysis of our citizenry at the feet of these fear-mongering politicians and their echoes, the news media who report nothing but bad news, no matter how far afield they have to reach for it. There are so many things wrong it's impossible for people to know where to turn or what to do, so we do nothing.
Says the Herald: "It is time to disavow those who cry doom and gloom, who prey on our fears and use their own subtle forms of terror to undermine our accomplishments for their own financial or political gains."
I agree.
Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
Politics of fear
Rightwing tyranny is often preceded by creation of an atmosphere of fear, so that unpalatable, even draconian, measures seem necessary. The Portsmouth Herald ran an editorial Saturday decrying fear-based politics.
If there is one thing that’s wrong with this country it is the atmosphere of fear that permeates virtually every area of our existence.
We are afraid of terrorists, we are afraid of criminals, we are afraid of growing old - heck, after Columbine, we are even afraid of our own children. And politicians on both sides of the proverbial aisle not only have done little to alleviate that fear, they are actually trying to capitalize on it.
President Bush’s entire foreign and domestic policy is based on maintaining and increasing this level of fear. We need to give up our basic constitutional rights, his attorney general claims, in order to protect ourselves from a repeat of the Sept. 11 attacks. We have to step back from our environmental protections so corporations will have the money to continue to employ us.
The editorial lays the paralysis of our citizenry at the feet of these fear-mongering politicians and their echoes, the news media who report nothing but bad news, no matter how far afield they have to reach for it. There are so many things wrong it's impossible for people to know where to turn or what to do, so we do nothing.
Says the Herald: "It is time to disavow those who cry doom and gloom, who prey on our fears and use their own subtle forms of terror to undermine our accomplishments for their own financial or political gains."
I agree.
Palema
5:45 AM
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Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
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