The American people should be frightened and remember full well what happened on 9/11.

In his weekly radio address this weekend, Bush ominously threatened that “we cannot afford to wait until after an attack.” Speaking to NPR today, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell bellowed that “the American people should be frightened”:

It’s not about frightening the American people. The American people should be frightened and remember full well what happened on 9/11. They also remember with gratitude that this has not happened again for six years.

Listen to it:

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/28/bush-gop-fisa-fearmonger/

In the Washington Times today, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) continues the fearmongering, writing that “Democrats now come perilously close to threatening every American’s safety” if they don’t give President Bush everything he wants. But Smith neglects to mention that it is Bush’s veto threat that actually threatens to let America’s intelligence capabilities lapse:

After sending Mike McConnell out last August to warn that we will all die without the PAA, Bush now says that he would rather let it expire than give Congress another 30 days. He just comes right out and announces, then, that he will leave us all vulnerable to a Terrorist Attack unless he not only gets everything he wants from Congress — all his new warrantless eavesdropping powers made permanent plus full immunity for his lawbreaking telecom partners — but also gets it exactly when he wants it (i.e., now — not 30 days from now).

Additionally, if the current law — the Protect America Act — does expire on Friday before new legislation can be signed by the President, even the Bush administration admits that “intelligence officials would still be able to continue eavesdropping on already approved targets for another year.”

As Reid said on Saturday, “if there is any problem” with intelligence collection, “the blame” should “clearly and unequivocally fall” on “President Bush and his allies in Congress.”

Ooh, I'm scared now. Well actually I'm very scared. We've got to get the Republicans, Traitors to America, out.

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:hi:

Welcome to DU :hi:

All we have is fear.

What a sad statement on America if that is true.

and I remember when Biden said that these repigs will again use National Security as a wedge saying that the Democrats are soft on terror, what total BS they spew, now who is buying this again.

but it seems it would be relevant here too:

Check out this snip on Google Video from another BBC documentary "The Century of the Self" describing the birth of the PR industry in the early 20th century and the use of new insights and knowledge in psychology and behavioral sciences to manipulate populations to be subservient and unquestioningly obedient to governments and corporations. The leading light (and considered by many to be the founder) of the early PR business was Edward Bearnays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud.

This 7 minute excerpt from the documentary (link in box below) explains how the suggestion by Bernays to intentionally provoke fear in the US civilian population by purposely exaggerating the dangers of the communist threat was accepted and put into effect. This was in order to make the population more malleable and less able to provide any opposition to the plans of the economic and military elites. They purposely exaggerated the thread of the "Red Menace" in the 50's and 60's, and now it appears they are using the same playbook in their "War on Terror."



The entire BBC documentary is posted on google video in 4 episodes of approximately 1hr each here:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=century+of+the+self&sitesearch=

Quite right, but it's more than just keeping the public fearful: ever since 1776 America has defined itself by its relationship to its enemies. See how patriotic I am, see how much I hate the enemy du jour...

The collapse of Communism in 1989 (or at least of the Soviet Union, the enemy du jour of the Cold War) suddenly left America without enemies almost for the first time ever. Which was particularly difficult for the Republicans, who, needing bogeymen to keep their base fearful and hating, had to make do with the Democrat in the White House. Then Saddam stepped up to the plate, and he had to do until 9/11 conveniently brought Terra-ism to take the place of Communism, with Usama bin Laden as the long-awaited distant bogeyman. Much better!

That tactic is working so well for Ghouliani. Keep it up you morons. You've cried wolf so much that almost no one is listening any more. Fear mongering facist asshats.