Wednesday, July 11, 2007

It's All in His Gut

There was the "twinkie defense". And then, there was the "I'm not a role model" defense. And of course, who could forget the "let them eat yellow cake" hubris which marked the "I'm not of the Executive Branch" defense? What seems like the latest in a long line of sayings that defy any logic of the imagination came frome the mouth of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. It's been discussed in the MSM and we might as well put it here for everyone to read: he feels it in his gut that there will be a summertime attack in the United States by al Qaeda.

Now, if there was certain information and evidence that an attack is coming, why would someone--let alone a public official in a high branch of government--say that it "comes from their gut"? Would the public, let alone the politicians allow anyone to present such news as being developed from someone's "gut instinct"? What is very troublesome about this report is that it comes from the wings of the thwarted attacks in the United Kingdom as well as the flaming terminal in Glasgow, Scotland. Knowing that these findings were very unsettling to not only the citizens of that region of the world, but of the general public, a claim using the "gut defense" only seems to be a way to bring back a sense of fear into the American public--especially when the Republicans are defecting from President Bush's proposal to "stay the course" in Iraq.

And it seems that whenever something happens, there are two key indicators from the current Administration that would give a clue: 1) President Bush takes a vacation to Crawford, Texas; 2) there is a major scandal of mass proportions happening on the wings of plummetting approval ratings and hieghtened discontent among the general populace.

I wonder if anyone has asked this yet, but heck. I'll take a stab at it. Does anyone in the Bush White House ever perceive that the public is tired of the emotional blackmail of the past six years? I mean, September eleventh has been milked to the hilt in terms of bonding the country together through loss and grief to the point of voting in conservative candidates who vow that they are the ones to keep the country safe. You'd think that with the corruption and the scandals that have come out of the current Administration, that this is little more than the little boy "crying wolf" (a phrase that I have hated for the longest time, but it seems applicable here). Doesn't the government think that Americans--outside of the twenty percent of blind followers of the "Bush Doctrine"--are tired of this and would like to see the troops come home?

The argument has been made that ever since Mr. Bush has been at the helm of the government that no other terrorist attacks have happened within the United States mainland. This has been a favorite of conservatives who like to think that Mr. Bush was the right choice at the right time to steer the country through the "War on Terror". With even this assertion, would it be fair to also say that the handiwork by the terrorists have caused enough reprocussions on American soil that they really don't need to strike us anymore? After all, our system has been shaken up economically, politically and socially as a result of the "War on Terror". Furthermore, just the mere hint of "fear" and "terrorism" in the same breath by Bush officials has caused the American people to be cowed under and compliant to accept wiretapping, datamining, invasive searches and even purchases of plastic and duct tape in order to keep the "terrorists" out.

After seeing the residue from using Terror Threat Management theory to keep American society in line, the latest polls show that United States citizens as well as the politicians are not having it any more. Surely, it is a serious problem, but what is worth living in the so-called "greatest democracy on earth" if there is no freedom or democracy left under an Imperial Presidency? The sad thing about the legacy of September eleventh is that we still act like Pavlovian dogs every time the terror threat level chart comes on the news. All that needs to be done is to sound the warning bell alarm and then, the American people get played in terms of being receptive of the draconian measures that not only shade our thinking in terms of how we perceive ourselves and our neighbors, but accepting authority without questioning their motives.

Now that more Americans waking up about the past Iraq policy and speaking up about it through their votes, civic participation and dissent, the "feeling in the gut" comes as a way to quell the outcry that has been erupting during the latest events in the Bush White House and Congress. Just think about it. There are still the supeonas that have to be answered. Sara Taylor (via the U.S. District Attorney scandal) is purported to testify. Scooter Libby's sentence was being commuted. Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe has changed her affiliation from Republican to Democrat. Debates about setting a deadline to bring the troops home has formulated the discussion today. There was an Impeachment Center set up on the West Coast to investigate the feasibility of launching impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. So, is it any wonder that Secretary Chertoff would come out and say something that "comes from his gut"?

It's not surprising at all when you think about it.

No comments:

Affiliations

Powered by WebRing.