Just Imagine...

Friday, September 1, 2006

Here we are...the first day of September...midterm elections are a mere two months and a week away. The Republican Party's campaign to maintain it's vise-like grip on all three branhes of government is well underway. By some pundit's reckoning...a week earlier then the prior after Labor Day onset to the campaign as in previous years. It is obvious that Karl Rove, et al, have decided to use the same theme as in 2004 and 2002...the focus on terrorism. They have, however, added a new dimension by beefing up the rhetoric with the use of stigmatizing language meant to shame the public into returning them to Congress. Not the least of these tactics is to compare dissent with Nazi appeasement.

With that in mind, I have created an "imaginary" scenario...reminiscent of the days preceding World War Two and Hitler's rise to power.

Imagine a country where the goverment in power has relied upon nationalistic fervor to set its agenda. The appeal to patriotism is a dominant theme and it's incessant use creates a sense of urgency. Imagine, in this scenario, that the country uses paranoia as a tool to enhance the nationalistic impulses of their agenda. The people are fed a steady diet of reasons to live in fear and a litany of demonstrative examples to show them that, in fact, their very lives are threatened by "the enemy", whomever that might be. This government creates an atmosphere which is highly charged and the tool of divide and conquer is used to make the point: You are either with us or against us. Disagreement is discouraged and couched in language that creates the belief that those who dissent are collaborators.

This imaginary country uses propaganda, half truths and mis and dis infomation to bolster its arguments in order to create the palpable fear needed by the government to maintain and extend its control. There is enough truth to ensure that the public "takes the bait", but, because the populace has been so stirred up by the nationalistic rhetoric, few make the effort to fully examine those statements issued by the leaders. Those who do, again, are lambasted and relegated to those who give aid and comfort to the enemy. The propaganda machine dredges up old villains to be used as examples with which to describe our ememy and to portray those who dissent. They are characterized in the most vile terms...they are despicable, evil, and detrimental to the well being of society.

Again, in this imaginary land, there is a natural division of its peoples, some who are considered to be on the "A" list...everyone would LOVE to be there...and those considered to be on the "B"...list...the pariahs, the outcasts, those deserving of blame. If only "those people" were not here to spoil this wonderful world for all of us "A" people!! The government manages to marginalize them, to disenfranchise them, and, regardless of how loudly they speak, the population's sight line is focused on that nationalistic zeal that has swept them into a tide patriotism. The condition of the "B's" goes unnoticed and unaddressed. The divide between the "haves' and "have nots" is visceral.

Does this not seem despotic and, perhaps, totalitarian? Perhaps this is the beginning of a fascist regime, which could be measured by the strength of the ruling party and the state, as well as its consolidation of power. Any predilection towards hegemony in the region, or in other regions, or attempts at neocolonialism might be clues that this government is imperialistic. They might use the excuse that they are in dire need of natural resources to maintain their way of life. This regime may feel the need to spy on its citizens, to detain them without just cause, to invade their privacy. These actions would be rationalized by that ever present appeal to fear: that, unless our government is strong and takes these necessary measures, we will be overun by the enemy. We must take the fight to them...otherwise, they will bring the fight to us. The terror that we will be attacked is the driving force behind all of this government's actions. It may say that these measures are unfortunate, but necessary.

This imaginary country might appear to some as a nightmare scenario...opposed to everything that the United States stands for: freedom of expression, due process, equal rights under the law for ALL citizens. Unfortunately...this IS the United States as it exists today and as this administration maintains it must be. Many have expressed the opinion that the Bush Administration has threatened the very fabric of our Constitution, and that the effort to extend executive power will serve to undo the rights our founding fathers fought so desperately to create. It's use of fear as a motivator, it's litany of half truths and untruths, it's cherry picking of information to bolster its agenda, its spying on its own citizens, it's pandering to wealth...these are all tactics that a depotic and totalitarian regime might avail itself.

It is imperative that the American public sees through this illusion that George Bush and his team have conjured. Yes...there is an ever present threat to world peace by religius extremiests, but not all of them are practicing Muslims. Extemism, in the name of religious fervor, is nothing new and has been used effectively by ALL faiths throughout history. We can, however, stem the tide of converts to this zealotism by refusing to occupy other nations, by not forcing our standards upon them, by not making the art of negotiation all but extinct and by maintaining equal and fair trade with other nations.

We need a new strategy...the old one is not only ineffective, but is counter productive to world peace and, in reality, is hastening the conflict. We must let the Bush Administration know we want change and the first place to do that will be by returning Congress to the sane care of the Democratic Party.

trickster108