http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_i9Bq2tntY&feature=related
On Jun 29, 9:55 am, plainolamerican <[email protected]> wrote: > johnson's "Daisy" adhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63h_v6uf0Ao > > On Jun 28, 7:56 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Fear-Mongering and ServitudeJames Bovard > > July/August 2011 • Volume: 61 • Issue: 6 • > > In his 1776 essay, “Thoughts on Government,” John Adams observed, “Fear is > > the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a > > passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and > > miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political > > institution which is founded on it.” The Founding Fathers hoped the > > American people would possess the virtues and strength to perpetuate > > liberty. Unfortunately politicians over the past century have used trick > > after trick to send Americans scurrying to politicians to protect them. > > President Woodrow Wilson pulled America into World War I based on bogus > > idealism and real fear-mongering. Evocations of fighting for universal > > freedom were quickly followed by bans on sauerkraut, beer, and teaching > > German in government schools. H. L. Mencken observed in 1918: “The whole > > aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed and hence, > > clamorous to be led to safetyby menacing it with an endless series of > > hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” In Mencken’s time he was often > > considered cynical. Subsequent developments have proven Mencken to be a > > prophet. > > The Democratic Party relied heavily on the fear card in the 1920 > > presidential race. On the eve of the November vote that year Democratic > > presidential candidate James Cox declared: “Every traitor in America will > > vote tomorrow for Warren G. Harding!” Cox’s warning sought to stir memories > > of the “red raids” conducted in 1919 and 1920 by Attorney General A. > > Mitchell Palmer, during which thousands of anarchists, communists, and > > suspect foreigners were summarily jailed and in many cases deported. The > > American people rejected Cox and embraced Warren Harding’s promise of a > > “return to normalcy.” > > President Franklin Roosevelt put “freedom from fear”atop the American > > political agenda in his 1941 State of the Union address. But FDR’s > > political legacyespecially Social Securityhas institutionalized > > fear-mongering in presidential and congressional races. Democrats > > perennially portray Republicans as planning to yank life support from > > struggling seniors. > > For almost 50 years American politicians have used television ads to spur > > dread, most famously in the 1964 “Daisy” ad for Lyndon Johnson’s campaign. > > The ad showed a young girl, in the words of Jim Rutenberg in theNew York > > Times, “picking the petals off a daisy before the screen was overwhelmed by > > a nuclear explosion and then a mushroom cloud and Mr. Johnson declared, > > ‘These are the stakes.’” The ad did not specifically claim that Barry > > Goldwater, the Republican nominee, would annihilate the human race, but the > > subtle hint wafted through. Though this ad only aired once, it instantly > > became a legend. > > Whipping up fear was the flipside of President Bill Clinton’s “feeling your > > pain” political style. Clinton fanned people’s fear of guns, militias, and > > life without medical insurance. At the same time, the Clinton > > administration stretched the power of government on all frontsfrom > > concocting new prerogatives to confiscate private property to championing > > FBI agents’ right to shoot innocent Americans to bankrolling the > > militarization of local police forces. Clinton was the Nanny State champion > > incarnate, teaching Americans to look to government for relief from every > > peril of daily lifefrom unpasteurized cider to leaky basements. As long as > > the President seemed to care about average Americans, his abuses were > > largely forgotten. (The 1996 Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Bob > > Dole, also promised to provide voters with “freedom from fear” via untying > > “the hands of the police.”)Fear and BushThe 2004 race was the most > > fear-mongering presidential campaign in modern American history. In his > > acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, George W. Bush > > referred to terror or terrorism 16 times. Bush reelection campaign > > television ads showed firemen carrying a flag-draped corpse from the rubble > > at Ground Zero in New York and a pack of wolves coming to attack home > > viewers as an announcer warned that “weakness attracts those who are > > waiting to do America harm.” (One commentator suggested that the ad’s > > message was that voters would be eaten by wolves if John Kerry won.) Just > > before Election Day a senior GOP strategist told theNew York Daily Newsthat > > “anything that makes people nervous about their personal safety helps > > Bush.” People who saw terrorism as the biggest issue in the 2004 election > > voted for Bush by a 6 to 1 margin. Moises Naim, editor ofForeign Policy, > > observed that the Bush campaign was “using the fear factor almost > > exclusively. This is a highly researched decision with all the tools of > > public opinion management. It’s nothing but a reflection that it works.” > > Bogus terror alerts might have made the difference in the 2004 election. > > Robb Willer of the Sociology and Small Groups Laboratory at Cornell > > University examined the relationship between 26 government-issued terror > > warnings reported in theWashington Postand Bush’s approval ratings. “Each > > terror warning from the previous week corresponded to a 2.75 point increase > > in the percentage of Americans expressing approval for President Bush,” > > Willer concluded. Bush beat Kerry by 2.4 percentage points in the popular > > vote. Former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge later admitted that many of > > the 2004 alerts were unjustified. The Cornell study also found a “halo > > effect”: Americans’ approval of Bush’s handling of the economy also rose > > immediately after the announcement of new terror warnings, Willer reported. > > Apparently the more terrorists were allegedly poised to attack America, the > > better job Bush was doing. > > Voters in 2004 could choose whether they would be killed by terrorists if > > they voted for Kerry or whether they would be left destitute and tossed out > > in the street if they voted for Bush. Boston University professor Tobe > > Berkovitz commented to theWashington Post: “It’s not surprising that both > > campaigns are looking for the leverage point: scaring the hell out of the > > American public about what would happen if the other guy wins.” But the > > more an election is about fear, the more the winner will presume to be > > entitled to all the power he claims to need to combat the threat. > > In his 2005 State of the Union address Bush declared: “We will pass along > > to our children all the freedoms we enjoy. And chief among them is freedom > > from fear.” The Founding Fathers would have derided the notion of > > politicians giving citizens “freedom from fear.” And they would have > > denounced the notion that this new-fangled freedom is superior to the > > freedoms the U.S. government had pledged to respect for more than 200 years. > > After promising freedom from fear a politician can always invoke polls > > showing widespread fears to justify seizing new power. The natural result > > of making freedom from fear the highest freedom is that any policy that > > reduces fear can be portrayed as pro-freedom. Bush claimed that to keep > > Americans safe he had to suspend habeas corpus and detain any suspected > > terrorist in perpetuity based solely on his unproven assertions. Bush > > authorized the CIA to use waterboarding and other methods of torture on > > detainees. He ordered the National Security Agency to launch a massive > > illegal wiretapping program that eavesdropped on thousands of Americans’ > > phone calls and emails without warrants. Yet Bush remained a great champion > > of freedomat least in the eyes of his supporters. > > The political mass production of insecurity is a dominant trait of our age. > > The easiest way for rulers to destroy the leashes the Constitution imposed > > on them is to make voters think they must choose: “We can obey the > > Constitution or we can prevent you from all being killed. What is it going > > to be?” > > Rising fear can also undermine the freedom of speech that is a bulwark > > against government abuse. To the extent people desperately cling to faith > > in the leader to save them from all perils, they develop an intolerance to > > anyone who points out government follies or falsehoods. The Bush 2004 > > reelection campaign did all it could to fan such intolerance. Stumping > > around the nation for Bush, former New York City police commissioner Bernie > > Kerik told audiences in the final months of the campaign: “Political > > criticism is our enemy’s best friend.” As criticism is suppressed > > government becomes more incorrigible. Eventually the mistakes that could > > have been corrected cheaply early on become catastrophic national > > failures.Fear and ObamaPresident Obama has picked up the fear-mongering > > relay baton with his attempts to frighten Americans about health care, > > global warming, economic collapse, and government shutdowns. Obama has also > > invoked the fear card to sanctify bombing bad guys anywhere and everywhere. > > Government fear-mongering creates a downward politico-psychological spiral. > > The more fearful people become the more gullible they will be. British > > philosopher John Stuart Mill warned in 1842: “Persons of timid character > > are the more predisposed to believe any statement, the more it is > > calculated to alarm them.” It is almost irrelevant whether 10 or 20 or 30 > > percent of the citizenry can see through government’s fraudulent warnings. > > In a democracy as long as enough people can be frightened, all people can > > be ruled. > > In the same way that some battered wives cling to their abusive husbands, > > the more debacles the government causes the more some voters cling to > > rulers. The craving for a protector drops an iron curtain around the mind, > > preventing a person from accepting evidence that would shred his political > > security blanket. In the days after the 9/11 attacks polls showed a > > doubling in the number of > > ... > > read more » -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
