We've discussed the Bush administration's predilection for using fear and the threat of terror attacks to keep the 'murican sheep in line. The other day, Dick Cheney took it to an extreme - implying that if John Kerry is elected, surely terrorists will parachute right in your back yard and shove a dirty bomb up your ass. With a short fuse. And then behead you (with videotape rolling, of course) before the firecracker goes off.
Oh, and wouldn't it be a shame if your kids were home when all of this happened?
Ok, so that's a bit extreme, and I apologize in advance if I offended your sensibilities. But that's the picture TeamCheney is trying to paint.
Yes, threats and fear have been used by governments since the beginning of time. Stoking the fires of jingoism in nation-states is the coin of the realm for most leaders. It's the only way that many stay in power. That, and bribery, and patronage.
Anyway, Judd Legum and David Sirota have penned a great article for the latest issue of The Nation. Highly recommended and informative - here's an excerpt:
Vote for Bush or Die
On August 11, John Kerry criticized the Bush Administration for blocking a bipartisan plan to give seniors access to lower-priced prescription drugs from Canada. With almost 80 percent of Medicare recipients supporting Kerry's position, the Bush campaign was faced with the prospect of defending a politically unpopular position.Doesn't everyone find it quite strange that we now expect Tom Ridge to hastily call a news conference after every bit of bad news for BushCo?
That same day, in an interview with the Associated Press, FDA Acting Commissioner Lester Crawford said terrorist 'cues from chatter' led him to believe Al Qaeda may try to attack Americans by contaminating imported prescription drugs. Crawford refused to provide any details to substantiate his claims.
Asked about Crawford's comments, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security was forced to concede, 'We have no specific information now about any Al Qaeda threats to our food or drug supply.' The Administration had brazenly used Americans' justifiable fears of a future terrorist attack to parry a routine criticism of its policies...
And that some folks are absolutely certain that such scare tactics will be attempted to be used in vote supression on Nov. 2, 2004?
That we've been conditioned to think about such warnings as purely bullshit is scarier than the worst of the fearmongering that BushCo's done to date.
