Who Needs Terrorists?
Who needs terrorists? We can scare the shit out of ourselves, thank you very much.
We have Bush's wet dream of an End Times scenario where he would like to usher in World War III before, according to him, the Persians, start some trouble in a few years.
We have Rudy Kazootie telling us that untold hoards of dark skinned demons are out to kill us all and we better elect him so he can incinerate them over the next eight years.
We have Michele Malkin, who prefers going house to house to threaten and scare the sneaky wretches who need assistance with exorbitant medical costs. How dare they!
We have the banks and credit card companies that make it easy to borrow and spend and allow people to obtain suspicious loans to buy houses only to discover to their horror that they are in over their heads and will lose everything and be indebted for forever.
Most people are afraid the country is going in the wrong direction. The Republican candidates only seem to care about a certain minority of people who are frightened by the secular world (and who, in turn, frighten the secular world). The Democratic candidates are scarily making no promises to end the Iraq occupation.
These are among the many reasons why foreign terrorist can just sit back and watch us scare the shit out of ourselves and each other. Thank you very much!
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
"Understand the procedure now? Just stop a few of their machines..
"I understand this 'Maple Street' is a typical one?"
"One or two usually have different patterns, but for the most part, it is the same."
Exerpt from the Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street". You can draw correlations to what has been going on in America since 9/11 to the message of the episode. Since the attacks we've basically have been our own worst enemies, introverting the country and its principles, with our clueless leader and his cabal using the fear tactic as a means to control everything.
Slayer, you read my mind. Stop that right now!
http://en.
It's as though Orwell speaks from the grave
So... why can't we try the crowded stadium hate-athon method to solve the BushCo problem? Remember that old Twilight Zone episode where criminals were executed in a huge amphitheatre by an audience focussing en masse intently on their demise? Hmmmmmm?
I'm sure there are folks already hard at work on this as you speak...
Americans have a better chance winning the million dollar lottery than becoming victim of terorists, but that doesn't stop the sheeple from giving into their fears.
EXACTLY!!!
WE ARE ALL MORE AFRAID OF BUSH AND CHENEY THAN ANY FREAKIN TERRORIST.
EVERYONE SAYS NO ONE PROTESTS BECAUSE THERE IS NO DRAFT - that might be a tiny part, but - THE REAL REASON NO ONE HITS THE STREET IS BECAUSE THE CIA/FBI/WHITE HOUSE/GONZ
GET THE DRAFT GOING-on our side!!
There will be peace marches on Oct 27 throughout the country. If you have not marched in one, it is time you start. Check out the website United for Peace.
Exactly!!!!!
You have a better change to get hit by a drunk driver, slip in the shower, or get robbed or mugged or homeinvasi
If there is a world left for anybody to read his memoirs, that is
Darth Vader police costumes and Soldiers dressed as the Borg, just a coincidence.
Bush suggested to Vladimir Putin he might extend his term in office.
Why not? The Democrats in congress would welcome another four years of lordship of George Bush.
Bush can just dissolve congress and call off the election due to a Republican
Then they can just deploy Blackwater.
Anyone who wants to be free better create their own private militia.
Well then Blackwater will be in for a surprise. It would be very difficult to control 300 Million people. The police cope because we go along with them. This dirty bunch will hopefully get their just rewards.
"It would be very difficult to control 300 Million people."
Hasn't that been happening for the past 6 years? Fear = control. BBC's Century Of Self is fantastic for learning about this side of American history which didn't start with Bush.
If you really believe that, think again. The military junta ruling Myanmar have a total of 450,000 troops. The population of Myanmar is 45 million. One would think that the people could just swarm all over the military and take them out. But you see what happened there. The military just shots a few, rounds up and disappears a thousand or so and everybody goes docile again. See, it is human nature to want to be free but it is also human nature to not want to be in front when the shooting starts!
Remember Kent State when the National Guard killed and wounded peacefully protesting students? Do you remember what happened afterwards? Absolutely nothing! What do you think should have happened! You need to study history a lot more!
This is a nation of cowards and cowardice has been elevated to hero status by the Republicans. I'm afraid you are way wrong, we are a nation of sheep. We've been convinced that our narcissistic consumerist gluttony are the acts of heroes and that shopping is our security.
It is one thing to to use the fear of imperfection to sell a product (better use this toothpaste or you won't get laid!), it is another thing altogether to use fear to gain power and destroy liberties. The use of fear by Bush and gang to push a war that costs American lives and is destroying our economy, to use fear to usurp liberties and centralize power for themselves closes in on treason. They are consciously using fear as a tool to twist the country and the Constitution to benefit themselves. Too true is that it is very effective and has been very successful for them.
We need to recognize that these fears are facades, that these are manufactured fears for the sheer purpose of fear mongering. Our democratic legislators need to get over the fear of being called names ("you are not supporting the troops!") - hell, most of us got over that level of stuff in third grade - remember 'sticks and stones...?
While I agree with your first statement, I think that the preying on our insecurities by marketing professionals has actually made people more apathetic towards what has been going on in this country by a) rampant consumerism = huge distraction and b) low self-esteem, low self-confidence = people feeling ineffectual and like what they say/think/feel, who they are doesn't matter (anything on the inside rather than the outside) and so they can't be leaders and stand up. I'm not sure if it's any kind of plan or conspiracy to make people feel that way for political control but it sure helps and is dangerous.
Our new Attorney General?
"Waterboarding is torture, and anyone who is unwilling to identify it as such is not qualified to be the chief legal officer of the United States of America. If I were in the U.S. Senate, I would vote against Mukasey unless he denounces such specific forms of torture."
From a statement issued today by Bill Richardson:
http://www
If Governor Bill doesn't get the Presidential nomination, I sincerely hope he will take the Senate seat to be vacated by Mr. Domenici. He would win that seat without a second thought.
Something positive to consider in the near future. If things shake out right we can expect at least a 6 vote swing in the Democrats favor very soon.
If Richardson takes Domenici's seat, that's one.
John Warner is also retiring in Virginia. The word is Mark Warner may go for that seat, and that would be a slam dunk. That's two.
The Man, Al Franken, is going to crush Norm Coleman in Minnesota, to complete the trifecta.
A spot of good news in these times of darkness.
I second that. Bill Richardson is great and so will be Al Franken.
well, that's the thing, belz -and if you go over to keith olbermann's site on msnbc, he did a special comment about the nexus of terrorism and fear, etc. but you're right on the money. you left out the frightening weather forecasts, too. ooooooooooooh, big storms, batten down. oh whoops. all i can think of is a character on SCTV - joe, whosis, anyhow, used to just be dracula, veddddddy scarrrrry! if we live in fear, we'll buy whatever crapola these morons are selling. too bad they control the media and just keep at it. change the channel!
News 24/7. They've got to fill up the hours.
We need not fear. Jesus is coming back to save us all. Hell's bells, he should be here any minute! I'm sure he will! And just think, he'll heal all the sick, (so what's the big deal about the veto of children's health care?) He'll fix everything from global warming to ridding us of unbelievers! We'll have the planet all to ourselves. Oh the profit we will make! It will be like heaven!
What is that funny odor? Does heaven smell like thermate? Help, help, the terrorists are out to kill me!!
Excuse me, I need to go vomit.
"Jesus is coming back to save us all. Hell's bells, he should be here any minute! I'm sure he will! And just think, he'll heal all the sick, (so what's the big deal about the veto of children's health care?)."
UNFORTUNATELY there are many many people that really believe this.
One basic precept they leave out about god: stewardship, take care of your sick, feed the hungry, take care of the planet we call home.
I think you guys are forgetting the power that religious conviction had as a motivating factor in the civil rights movements and the anti-vietnam movement. These movements championed left causes while having more then just the watered down jesus says feed the children approached to religion. They had fervent conviction that segregation, racial inequality, and the vietnam war were an afront to god himself.
I am an atheist, but i have no illusions about the power of real religious conviction to affect radical social change, both for better and worse. There is a clear correlation between the rise of the religious right of as a political force(rightist evangelicals prior to the 70's were largely apolitical) and the decline in the acceptance of religious conviction on the left.
I am from Germany and my parents lived through WWII and I always listened to their stories.
There is not much difference here and now from 1933 Germany, when a minority used fear and patriotism, while a majority stood by silently. Guess what, it didn't work for Hitler in the long run and I hope the hell this country wakes up in time before everybody has to live with the consequences of one idiot with delusions of gran deur
On that note...Fra
"The longer we stand idly by, the more we resemble "Good Germans."
Chris Floyd's blog Empire Burlesque has an excellent discussion today of this very thing.
Wasn't it that sage philosopher "Pogo" who observed:
"We have met the enemy and it is us."
This reminds me of an episode from the classic Twilight Zone television series. "The Monsters are Due on Maple St." In it, we see an idyllic American neighborhood with children playing and their parents engaging in neighborly conversation. Soon the power goes out, the lights go out, cars don't start, and the telephones stop working. The adults gather together to see what is going on when a young boy says it is aliens (the Martian kind) who are messing with us. He believes this because he read it in a comic book.
A few unexplained happenings occur – one neighbor’s car starts on its own, another neighbor’s lights come on while the others remain dark. One man sees a silhouette walking down the street. He grabs his gun and kills the man, only to find the man was a neighbor. Soon the neighborhood is rioting, fighting each other. The camera pans back and we see two Martian observers watching the riot below. One Martian says to the other, "Understand the procedure now? Just stop a few of their machines..
This is an extreme comparison, I know, but whenever I read or hear of someone saying that the terrorists don’t need to do anything because we’ll do it ourselves, I am reminded of this episode. The terrorists are winning. Our present Administration is the proxy for their terror. We are losing our rights, our freedoms, our privacy, and the politicians use scare tactics. Isn’t losing that which we hold dear what the terrorists want?
Thank you for your post, Mr. Belzer. As always, right on target.
This reminds me more of Orwell's 1984 where the government lobs missiles into its own country and blames it on "the enemy du joir". It still has the same effect as what the Martians of the Twilight Zone episode you mentioned had, but this is even more sinister.
We have always been at war with Eastasia..
"Animal Farm" - with nothing but pigs. At least Orwell (as much as I disagree with a lot of his writing & life) had the guts to fight in Spain.
Maybe Bush and Cheney might have fought in Vietnam if they had had some Blackwater "troopers" for themselves at the time. Nah, probably not.
Hey, Belz.
BOO!
Earthlings Unite!
W has found a way of getting rid of old people on Social Security. He scares the shit out of us alte cockers with his henny penny, "The sky is falling.", warnings about terrorists. If you manage to live through W's, aka henny penny, tales of terrorist doom by Tue, W tries to make you feel guilty about still being alive.
My curiosity about how POTUS #44 will manage to find new ways to fuck up the USA & the world keeps me alive.
W reassures by saying, "Cheer up. It could be worse.". W then makes it much worse.
The Democraps aren't creative anymore. How could her Hillaryship or the others screw up bigger than W & his handlers? They don't make 'em like W anymore, I hope. Maybe her Hillaryship will bore me to death.
Henny Penny is right! So many of the things we fear can be corrected if only we had a true leader. Every single day another thing is thrown at us by the Bush Administration; fear, fear, fear, and more fear is all they got. It's to late to correct for them or they feel it will destroy their legacy of FEAR.
How many of us are truly afraid? Really!
Its absurd to believe that Americans can't fight "at home" anything that comes from without.
Our massive gun collection and olde cowboy genes would kick in on anything really threatening. Its the steady drip drip drip of the Bushco water/terror seeping creeping across the land that is claiming we are all in fear...WE ARE NOT!
i agree completely with this article. I still have a copy of U.S.A. Today from Dec. 31 1999. The doom forecast would bring about last times. All computers would crash. I was in Oregon for the new year and everyone was cringing. Look at all the days where nothing bad has happened. That's how to set your moods.
Y2K is a great example of an oncoming event that threatened to cause serious problems that was thought out and solved prior to the event. Many people regard it as a non-event, but as someone who worked many hours to "secure my post", I can tell you that it was a serious, but potential threat, had nothing been done about it.
Steering a ship into the coast is a serious and potential threat, but if you turn the wheel or call the the engine room to reverse engines, the threat can be avoided. What we are experiencing (to continue the metaphor) is a crew and captain that shouts over the intercom that the coast is looming closer and closer, but refuses to realize that the proper move is to correct course, but instead insists that everyone get into the brig to protect themselves since the brig is reinforced.
Well said.
excellent.
As Pete Seeger said once,
"Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on."
I think you can find it as free music from a number of sites.
Well, talk about the word 'terror' for a minute, back to the Websters, here:
1: a state of intense fear
2 a: one that inspires fear : scourge b: a frightening aspect c: a cause of anxiety : worry d: an appalling person or thing; especially : brat
3: reign of terror
4: violent or destructive acts (as bombing) committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands
Definition 4 seems to have the most relevance,
there, and in some ways you could just about
accuse some of these PAC's of trying to
terrorize people, the desired outcome there
is More Government Doughnuts For The People
Sponsoring That, Enron might meet the definition
of a terrorist organization for screwing around
with the electricity for financial gain, and
what do you call it when there's a strike?
Mainly I think people are STUPID, well not all
people, but a sizable chunk, well maybe not even
stupid, maybe the right word there is childish,
and when a kid doesn't get what they want,
sometimes the reaction there is to bust up
their toys OR your stereo, anyway, when
people don't get what they want, they can
become violent malcontents if properly motivated
and stuff. Then you get into agit-prop, that
whole game, and then you've got a bunch of
angry stupid people who can be lied to and
mobilized. Oh, what fun! Kind of like a Baptist
meeting, except without the larceny...
there's other 'fun' games that people play,
like racism, like exploitation, they
don't call that stuff on TV 'programming' by
accident..
People will do a lot of stupid things to get
out of an honest day's work, that's for sure...
This Administration counts on fear and the Republican Party in general uses fear to secure it's base. Makes you wonder if they can even fathom the meaning of "the only thing to fear is fear itself". I think now the only thing we need to fear is that these pussies will stay in control.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
