Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Politics of Fear

During President Bushes second term we began hearing a great deal about the "politics of fear". We were told, time and time again, how the Republicans under Bush were expert at manipulating the American public by playing on their fears. When the Patriot Act was first proposed to combat terrorism we were told by those opposed to it that it was a legislative attempt to control the government by making us irrationally afraid of what might happen if we did not pass it. President Obama, who was still a Senator at the time, gave us speeches about the evil of the "politics of fear". I found a clip on You Tube of one of his speeches saying exactly that (I put it below so you can listen to him for yourself).

The irony here is that now, when those same people are in positions of trust and power, now, when they have an opportunity to control that same government, now those tactics are no longer the subject of their speeches - they are the methodology of choice. President Obama now assails us almost daily with speeches in which he plays on our fears by warning us that if we loose our jobs or our income, we will get sick and be unable to care for ourselves or, what really scares us, be unable to care for our children. He tries to tell us that if you have a serious illness right now, the insurance companies will drop whatever coverage you already have - so you must support this legislation or risk loosing your home! He tells us that an open competitive market can not be trusted to control the cost of insurance premiums - the only sure way to control those is with a "public option" controlled by the government.

Fear mongering is wrong no matter which party uses it and no matter what cause it supports. It plays on the good aspects of peoples character and our sense of responsibility. It creates monsters under the bed -when in fact the only monsters are the ones giving the speeches.

The next time President Obama or Speaker Pelosi stand there and try to scare you into supporting them in their bid to take control of your lives, Don't let them get away with it. Just say "What a minute". Start asking questions. Ask why a competitive market won't work. Ask why they assume you are going to loose your job. Ask why they assume that you'll loose your coverage if you get sick - and then ask why there aren't laws to prevent it. Why does the government have to run it? The government is there to protect us - it is there to regulate - Not control. Democracy works -but only when you do your part and ask questions --and keep asking until they explain it to you so you can understand it! Stop being afraid of the monsters under the bed -in the light of day those monsters are just dust balls.

We are Americans - we don't follow blindly.
We are Americans - we are one people that got where we are by not being afraid to ask "Why".


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