Election 2008

I just finished watching both conventions and to see first hand a comparison of the "politics of fear" compared to the "politics of hope". I chose C-SPAN, rather than network to reduce the possibility of any commentator's bias.
The politics of fear has played a huge role throughout the history of mankind. It is nearly always a tool of the group "in power" at the time. It is a strategy that has clear roots back to the time of the Spanish Inquisition and the Witch Hunts throughout Europe. This was a time in the history of mankind when the Church of Rome was attempting to consolidate their power, both secular and spiritual, under the control of the Church. The common people of that time were undergoing extremely hard times, with the control of the wealth and the land primarily in the hands of a few favored families of aristocrats. The Church also wanted to expand its power and control over the masses. However their attempts at an effort to convert the masses was hindered by the fact that many were not eager or willing to give up the "old ways" that had been brought down through their ancestors. How better, then, than to build their own power base by blaming all the hardships of the common people to these "witches" who consorted with the devil and brought drought to the land and disease to the livestock? Bad weather? Blame it on the witches. Unfaithful or cruel spouse? Blame it on the witches Drought? Flooding rain? Blame it on the witches, and let the power of the power of the Church overcome these creatures of the devil. And the suffering common people did just that. In fear, they brought anyone that they thought might be trying to harm them or do them evil before the magistrates of the Church, and the Church protected them from these "evil doers".
Now, just jump ahead a few centuries, and find yourself in Germany, just after World War I. Your nation has been defeated and decimated. Both food and shelter and food, along with other necessities are extremely scarce. Inflation is rising so fast that even should you find something, you can't afford it. Then comes along an individual who wants to take control of this country for himself, and a chosen few that he has chosen. He, along with a small group of like-hearted individuals find it very easy to find a scapegoat for all of this misery - the Jews. Thus, he provides an outlet for all the frustrations of the German people suffering from the war's outcomes by blaming the Jews (as well as the Communists and the Homosexual - ANYONE who could be defined as "different") for all of their hardships. And once he has brought them under his control by capitalizing on this fear he is able to use them in his grand scheme of gaining control over all of Europe, and eventually the world.
Jump ahead again to our present day and time. On 9/11/01, this country was attacked by terrorists. The Nation was stunned. How could such a thing have happened right here in our own country. Of course, even before the terror died down at all, this country started to look for those responsible for the attack. The blame was taken and accepted by a group known as the Taliban, under Ossama Bin Laden and our forces were mobilized to neutralize this force and to take Bin Laden into custody. However, the administration saw the opportunity to take advantage of our fear to proceed was ith other plans that they had been developing to ensure our access to foreign oil. Thus, the country's immediate fear of terrorist acts was used to justify a pre-emptive strike against a middle eastern country. That invasion was based on evidence which later proved to have been completely false, and was based on the administration's claim that Iraq was inextricably linked to the terrorist organization that had attacked us.

It was interesting, and somewhat frightening to see how the Republicans continued to try to manipulate the American electorate with their "Politics of Fear".  Today, the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center is a most appropriate time to examine how it has been used to foster fear among the American people. Ossama Bin Laden admitted to being the mastermind of the attack. He was known to be in Afghanistan, with the core of the Taliban forces. The United States went into Afghanistan , and went a long way to breaking up those forces. They declared that country to be under control, and moved on to Iraq. There was no known link to the Taliban in Iraq at that time, and, in fact, it would have been highly unlikely, given that Saddam Hussain was a toyalitarian dictator, and not likely to share his power. However, the President opened a campaign of fear by creating a threat of WMD as well as chemical and biological weapons to justify an attack on Iraq for the stated purpose of protecting the United States from further terrorist attacks. Further, and in the long run far more dangerous, was the enactment of the Patriot Act, under which any person, citizen or not, could be wiretapped and have their financial records, as well as all other personal records investigated on the presumptive basis of possible activity which could be defined as potentially aiding or abetting possible future terrorist attacks. A warning system was established so that if the possibility of an attack was predicted, the country would be warned by a red alert. Lower probabilities might warrant a reduction to an orange alert. I do not recall any situations where the warnings were reduced from red to orange, or from orange. Red alerts, when announced went on perpetually, and were updated every time it appeared that the citizens were losing the edge of fear that was being placed on them. This edge of fear permitted the executive branch to hide under a cloak of secrecy "for the good of the country". Further, it permitted more and more erosion of the basic rights of all citizens guaranteed to them under the Bill of Rights.