“The Only Thing to Fear is Fear Itself”, words spoken by a former President of these United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Too bad we can not have a president at this time who will speak these words, and not only speak the words but mean them.
I am sick to death of all the media, the administration and it’s henchmen constantly talking about the dangers, promoting the endless and neverending fear.
I realize what they are doing and why….it’s plain as day…we all do; make us all fearful, then tell us that the only ones who can keep us safe are the Republicans, in hopes that we will forget what is going on in Iraq, forget the failed war, forget the ineptitude of this administration. We will be so fearful that we will happily give up all our freedoms, our rights, our votes, our very nature of governing, in this country founded on the principle of governing “by the people and for the people”.
It all sounds familiar doesn’t it, we think back to 2004, same scenario, same playbook. Paint the Democrats as weak, paint the Repubs. as strong. But a thinking person cannot not help but notice these issues only come to the fore when it suits their cause.
I am writing this late at night because I cannot sleep after days of 24/7, about 9/11, about Al Qaeda, about Gitmo, about all the plots foiled, about tortured prisoners, and on and on… oh I am fed up to the top of my head with all of it.
What, I ask, is wrong with talking to these people, to these countries, what is wrong with diplomacy. No they tell us, these war mongers of ours, “they hate our freedom and that’s why they want to kill us and we simply can’t talk to them. We cannot talk to Iran, we cannot talk to Korea, or Syria and anyone that doesn’t suit us. We can only invade and bomb, torture and kill, those we do not like.
Well it seems pretty clear to me that it’s not our freedoms these people hate, but our policies. They have said so, over and over, but that is not what is heard from these governing men, what we hear is “they hate our freedoms”.
Maybe, just maybe, “They” hate us for invading Iraq, for our depleted uranium tipped weapons, our cluster bombs, our endless shooting and killing all that do not agree with us, our shock and awe, our descimation of Faluga, of Baghdad of all the past bombings and killings…. Our bases in the middle east, our siding always with Israel, our not stopping or even condemning the recent war with Lebanon and Israel, our selling of arms, including the wonderful little cluster bombs and other arsenals to Israel that children are now picking up and dying from.
Some say it’s about the oil, I don’t know. What oil has this war in Iraq gotten us, none. What oil will a war with Iran get us, none.
Thousands and thousands of Iraqi’s have been killed in Iraq, no one even knows the numbers and they rise every day as do the deaths of our own soldiers, but yet they say, more killing is needed, more bombings of innocent people everywhere the insidious fingers of the US reach. Hold them without charges, without rights, without trials, they say, besides they are living in comfort in Gitmo.
Well I simply cannot stand it anymore, I simply cannot stand the thought that this President and his administration are once again raising the fear level in the minds of the American people so that they can retain their power and go out and do more killing.
Something has to be done, something must be done. But what, we cannot even trust that our votes will count, because they control the very easy to program or hack, Diebold voting machines.
I wish I had the answer, any answer to all these things, but I don’t, I can only ask the powers of the Universe to come to our aid and save us, that is all I can do…Pray.
I will end this by saying the only thing we have to fear now is our very own government.
What are your thoughts are you on overload too?
Forgive my spelling, sentence structure and whatever else might be wrong with my diary, but I just had to get this out.
I am going to try to sleep now and wipe all these thoughts out of my head at least for a little while.
Hey you quote FDR. How could I even think of criticisng your work after that?
Good rant btw.
thank you, I really value your infrequent contributions here…
Hi Canberra, good to see your words here and I’ve missed you, how’re you doing down there in Aussieland.
I’m going really well, thank you, Diane. I’m just at the stage of life with two young daughters (8.5 and 4yo) and two very busy professional parents where it seems we have no time to spare. If anyone were to conduct a survey, I would list my hobby as seething… I spend a little effort being angry about the injustices of the world and regretting the fact that, as an employee of Her Majesty’s Australian Government, I cannot voice my views in public.
It seems to me that we should immediately restrict all freedom of movement in America in order to prevent deaths from traffic acidents, that we should severely restrict our speech so that no one says anything that might provoke a murder, that we should outlaw playing golf and other outdoor sports because of the fear of lightning strikes, and that we should hide in our basements in fear of high winds.
We should all be very afraid of terrists, too, because even though there is less likelihood that we will die from a terrist attack than that we would die in a traffic accident, or by murder, lightning strike, or high winds knocking a tree over into our houses, the terrists might take some liquids on airplanes because they hate us for our freedoms. Maybe if we just go ahead and give up all our freedoms, the terrists won’t hate us anymore.
And by golly gosh we need to send way more tax dollars to the Military Industrial Complex so they can build quadrillions of dollars worth of bombs and such to drop on any nation that has a few terrists in it and obliterate the whole citizenry to kill a few bad people.
After that, I think would feel safe enough to walk to the corner store for some milk and bread if the sky is clear. Very clear.
I see what you mean about traffic accidents. But if we all stay in our homes, aren’t likely to die of radon exposure or perhaps fire or natural gas explosions? But if we go out in our yards, we might get West Nile Virus from a mosquito bite or we might get struck by lightening.
What do to? What to do? Oh me. Oh my.
But wait, rapture is coming and I won’t have to worry any more — except I’ll be in hell.
Hi Bluneck, thanks for outlining some more fears, I had forgotten about those…
Last night on our local socal tv news, all they could talk about was the various vulnerabilites of LA, all the different ways and places we could be hit, how devastating it would be for Ca and the nation and how high up on the target list we are with the “turrists”.
Yeah I guess we should just voluntarily give up all our few remaining freedoms, that is if we have any left.
Oh yeah we sure need to fear the weather, yesterday there was a freak storm in Hemet, which is a desert area, and some oldtimers said it was the worst he had ever seem, trees over, floods, large hail and so on. Funny that we don’t have global warming on our lists to fear, isn’t it..
blueneck, your contributions here are outstanding and keep me visiting BT. Wish I could give an ‘8’ rather than a ‘4’.
Thanks CB! The feeling is mutual, I assure you. 🙂
You know Diane, the funny thing is for a couple of months after my health issue, I stopped watching the news, reading the blogs, etc. I was feeling so good.Now I am at a boiling point again.
The God’s honest truth is I am ready to through my hands up in the air and just let go. I believe we don’t stand a rat’s chance in hell against these maniacs. No petitions, no amount of voter turn out will change what these monsters have created. They have already proven that they are above the law.
The only way we can possibly take over again is to start a revolution, a coup of sorts and take our country back. Not too much to be hopeful for.
Hi Aloha, I was thinking the same thing last night about the current situation. I think it might take a revolution, everyone in this country simply going to Wash. and taking this country back….but we know we will end up in another sort of Gitmo, don’t we.
Work up this morning, turned on CNN and there he was again, telling us all he has done to “””keep us safe””””. Arrgghhhh….
What to do, what to do…
Well…one thing NOT to do, as I have learned the hard way more than once, is to allow ANY OVER- POWERFUL EMOTION TO HAVE TOTAL CHARGE OF ME FOR VERY LONG AT A TIME!
And that includes not only FEAR, but the valid and righteous anger and RAGE we cannot help but feel when continually exposed to all of this daily unrolling of evidence of sheer insanity.
If I allow myself to be too angry for too long, or to my life goers “tilt” sooner or later. It either runs down my immune system and I get sick, or it raises my bloodpressure, or it make me into a seething, spitting shark-like being. At other times, it makes me just want to pull the covers over my head for good.
I MUST MODERATE by exposure to all of this is I am going to stay ok. Thats all there is to it. I MUST, or else I am no good to anyone, including myself.
While there is SO much I cannot do, there are things I CAN do , if only within my smaller circle of influence now..and if I am flattened by overpowering emotion, I can’t even do those things.
So for me, it’s stay aware, and pay attention to my own innards, and when I see early signs of build up of any powerful emotion, it’s break time. R and R time. Focus on something positive time. Refuel time. BEFORE I reach burn out, instead of after I do.
This is the only way I know to combat the fearmongering and it’s effects that this administration is causing right now. Once refueled, I can go back at it awhile..till the next signal that it’s time for aother pit stop.
I call this NOT giving in to the fear or rage or dispair, or any other powerful emotion that, while totally understandable, does not serve me or anyone around me if allowed free reign for too long at a time.
That, along with an occasional badly needed rant I allow myself to have, is how I am surviving this.
you are an inspiration to us all. You are such a strong character and thoughtful contributor on the internets.
I completely understand your identification of health and state of mind with the state of the world we experience… peace, friend: we shall overcome.
I think we ARE overcoming,cranberra boy every day we wake up sane and still determined to do our own part, whatever that is. Every moment we laugh, smile, play, work, fight, hug, and reach out to each other, we are refusing to lay down to fear or rage or despair. THey can screw up a lot, but they cannot get inside of us against our will.
Leezy
Do not despair. The overwhelming majority of the world’s population and the tide of history is with you. Together, we are strong. Venceremos!
thank you for the encouraging words. It is so great to see you around these parts again. Drop in whenever you can. I am a little better today seeing that some of what we do is having an effect ie: ABC/Disney crap. Looks like they may pull the plug on 9/11 movie all together.
Where did you hear that, I have been in and out all morning and didn’t hear it, that is about abc pulling the plug.
Over at Dkos. Let me get the link for you.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/8/91247/02128
Feeling some Propaganda Fatigue, Diane? It happens to us all from time to time. I have my moments. And when I have them I stop looking at the idiots on TV, I stop listening to the idiots on the Radio, I stop reading what the idiots are writing in the papers. I have too. I have neither the desire or the strength to sustain such anger for more than a few moments at a time any more.
I know some of us, who care so very deeply about our country and our fellow citizens and our way of life sometimes get the feeling if we don’t stay on top of everything, every minute, constantly, that we are somehow letting down our “cause.” It ain’t true. If you have become a news junkie (and who of us hasn’t at times), STOP IT. Go play with your flowers, go talk to your dog, dig out some clothes to alter and focus on that. Just STOP for awhile. Let yourself be free of the constant barrage of lies, hatred, misdeeds, tragedy, killing, dying and wars.
STOP and move into something that has some real meaning and interest that you haven’t been paying attention to. Yes, you will still be hit with anger and outrage from time to time, but let it just be something expressed and then moved on from.
The good times are coming. . .and I have nothing to show any of you that that is the case, but they are coming, and we must look forward to them with hope and resolve. What we focus on is what we create.
Hugs and Loves,
Shirl
Shirlstars, I love you and your contributions here. You are so right that the good times are coming. The world and its politics turn in circles and cycles. History and herstory shows that tyranny will be defeated. Together we are strong.
I love you too, canberraboy. I can’t wait to dance in the streets with you when we have finally turned the tide on this dark period of our his/herstory.
Together we are not only strong, we are invincible. . .just ask Helen Reddy…..LOL
Hugs and loves,
Shirl
Unknown jewish man when he went to Israel in the middle of a terrorist campaign