As the midterm election gets closer the right wing agenda of fear mongering is shaping up. Would you be really surprised if Karl Rove showed up on your TV in one of the commercials during Super Bowl touting his hears of whatever can get you off you chair and vote for his war party? Not at all. I think they could do it since they do have the money for it and most people will fall for it too.
The latest headlines and with that the pitch is getting feverish:
"“We are concerned that the influence of inspirational figures such as Anwar al-Awlaqi will increasingly motivate individuals toward violent extremism,” Mr. Blair said."
"Blair also separately warned that Al Qaeda or its affiliates overseas was planning a big attack against the US in the next six months."
So what is it that the right wing would not do to get your vote. There is nothing too far fetched. The fear mongering, the hate speech, malignment, and general paranoia. They tried that last time but it did not work. However, planned incidents made to look real like the incident on Christmas days work in the hands of those right wingers. It worked for MA senate seat and it could work again.
The latest arsenal is the "home grown" terrorism threat. It's the one that makes the least sense of all. But one wonders if the threat does not exist than what is the purpose behind creating this paranoia. The simple answer is that coming up with these statements and convincing people is opening up news doors for planning whatever, small or large for the same people that planned the Christmas day fiasco. It was an inside job and the purpose was not to kill anybody, of course, but to scare people off and make Obama and his administration looks weak and ill prepared. It worked.
Look for more of these little incidents in the future.
All satire aside, one must ask what is causing this so called home grown threat? What are the root causes of this problem? Obviously there are people of all color and stripes but what is it that compels a person to indulge in the fantasy of revenge? What is compelling a young man to have those thoughts? The problem is from the inside and not from the outside. The threat and the cause of the threat are both inside.
Imagine this. A young man born in the US, grows up here, goes to local schools, hangs out with local kids. There is some teachings at the elementary level of religion etc. A person like the guy who did the Fort Hood shootings. Growing up people try to assimilate and be part of a social group. Eric Harris knew too well what happens when you are unable to be part of group. When you are bullied to the breaking point. When you are butt of common jokes. That is where the structure that is suppose to hold sustain you breaks down.
It is a known fact that as you get older you become more attuned to your religion. This happens within any religion. But the problem starts when your religion is maligned day in and day out, on the TV, on the Internet, in the print media, in the movies, and everywhere else that you turn around you see your religion put down and stomped upon. The structure breaks down.
That is not all though. In addition to all that you see your country being bombed and your own people getting killed everyday. Inner strife, outside threats, perceived and otherwise alliances, conspiracy theories, lies, propaganda, the misinformation, and the hatred spewed at your country, religion, and many times at you is enough to drive anybody to whatever the next thing that comes along that can make sense of things. In case of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, it was the mayhem and murder they caused at Columbine but for others it could be any number of things.
So one must ask how much are we contributing to this "home-grown threat?" Do you think that the media has a role to play in creating this "home grown threat?" Just look at some of the headlines at it may make the point clearer to you but only if you really want to see it. unfortunately most people don't want to see the reality and take the easy route of blaming the rest of the world, the religion, the cleric, and whole slew of other characters which are really not part of the problem or maybe a very minor part of the problem. They do become a big part of the problem once the process has already started.
If you don't find love at home you go to a brothel?
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