Fear and Loathing in America

(with apologies to the ghost of Hunter Thompson)

The "fear factor" was initiated immediately after 9/11 in America, and never faded. In fact, it’s stronger than ever right now.

First it was fear of the evil Taliban, then the dreaded Saddam Hussein and his "smoking nuclear gun and WMDs", the torture rooms and the threat to his neighbors, the world and especially the US of A...all B.S., of course.

Then came the clever color coding gimmic, always starting with Yellow (never below), then into the very unnerving Orange and occasionally into the heady range into
Red!...of course it’s effectiveness diminished quickly, So the Bush administration began to talk about suitcase nukes, chem/bio attacks, and insisting on passing the Patriot Acts. No problem. The American public, cringing and crawling with trepidation...just like in WW II with images of the dreaded "Huns" raping our wives and daughters....gladly gave up some important freedoms for the sake of "safety" in the endless war on terror.

After a while the jaded public wouldn’t jump anymore, so the Bushies began the yack about how we had to "fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here" Pure unmitigated nonsense but surprisingly the public lapped it up like fresh cream (not the sour counterpart it so obviously was).

US citizens grew tired of the usual rhetoric, so the administration started talking about the Bird flu and Mad Cow disease and whatever other threat which did not eminate from terrorists. Well, that didn’t fly either. At least not for long and not for most subjects of the realm.

So what next? More fear? You bet. Now the president decided he was free to wiretap, to spy on internet and phone communications, and basically to access any and all medical and banking records of anyone, anywhere, anytime! Now that IS scary!

And now they’re all over the "liberal" press (notably the New York Times) for leaking "classified, top secret information", but they fail to note the detailed, identical story told by their favorite RIGHT WING rag, the Wall Street Journal. Certain Republican Congressmen (Pete King et al) have gone so far as to suggest that any journalist who reveals "questionable" information in "time of war" (read: for ever and ever)...be arrested, tried and imprisoned for treason! How’s THAT for fearsome?

These days I think that those of us who put down our thoughts on daily blogs and via emails to friends...those of us who are progressives, that is, live in quiet but genuine fear that Big Brother...a la 1984...is looking over our collective shoulders and making cold and calculated decisions as to whether or not we present a threat to the "system".

Oh..and the loathing? (see title)..what about that?..How’s this?....I LOATHE THIS ADMINISTRATION.