The Politics of Fear

Last night watching Hardball on MSNBC I heard something I have been waiting to hear for nearly 4 years. Chris Matthews finally spoke the truth.

He stated that those politicians like Guliani who use the spector of another terrorist attack to gain support are playing into the enemies hands. Check out the video here. This is something that I have felt for so long now. Perhaps I dont know everything in this world, but I do know that I take the PATH train into the World Trade Center station every morning. At first I was mesmerized every morning looking at the destruction in which 19 terrorists have caused. Looking out at the empty hole in the ground takes you aback, makes you realize how real this war on terror is. After a few months of passing by ground zero I began looking at the faces of the other riders as we passed through ground zero. Looking into others eyes you can see the combination of sadness and anger. However, there is one thing that you do not see FEAR. The PATH trains were a target and probably still are. Exiting the train and walking up the steps we are all reminded of that threat when you see National Guard troops and NYPD patrolling the station. But there is no fear. We live our lives. We realize that the chance of us getting hit by a terrorist attack are less likely than getting hit by lightning. This is why I hate the fear mongers and why I hate being accused of being terrorist deniers. Sorry if I don't let the terrorist win. I realize the threat, but I chose to live my life. What can I do other than be vigilant and stay aware of my surroundings? This is why I loathe the politicians that try to remind us of the terrorist threat, while at the same time promote policies which inflame the world and aid the recruitment of more terrorists. All I hear out of Guliani is 9.11 9.11 9.11 and "they want to attack us". We used to have leaders who would say "There is nothing to fear but fear itself". Instead our current leader instead says "We do not want the smoking gun to come in the form of a mushroom cloud."

I hope my instincts are correct in that we have broken 9/11 fever. In that I mean that we have gotten over the irrational thoughts of fear that we all lived with after 9/11 that led to irrational actions, the Iraq war being one of them. I hope now we can move on and realize that there are terrorists out to kill us, but that that likelyhood is alot slimmer than getting cancer, developing heart problems, getting into a fatal car accident, and yes, even getting struck by lightning. Let us go be vigilant but strong. Let us create a foreign policy out of strength and resolve, not out of fear. Lets have leaders who let us know the risks, but comfort our fears. Tell us that the threat is real, but that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. If we do not heed those words, the terrorists have already won.