So, what are we supposed to do? When fear is our very enemy...

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Fri, 16 Dec 2005 13:28:38 -0500

So, what are we supposed to do? When fear is our very enemy...

 

 

 

 

Published: Friday, December 16, 2005

Bylined to: Mary MacElveen

 

 

 

So, what are we supposed to do? When fear is our very enemy...

 

 

VHeadline.com commentarist Mary MacElveen writes: It has now been

reported where the Bush administration has permitted NSA to spy in the

United States under the guise of protecting us from terrorism...

 

 

If we condone this action, we as a society have allowed for this out

of fear.

 

 

We allowed our senators to pass an act shortly after 9/11 called the

Patriot Act ... the only senator to vote no to this act was Senator

Russell Feingold (D Wisconsin). That is what a leader does ... he did

not go along with the crowd and the hysteria of that time to hastily

vote this act into law which gave this administration unprecedented

power over the American people.

 

 

Many have openly mocked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in his

beliefs that this (USA) government can and will use similar techniques

to overthrow him as was done in 2002 ... but when you have a

government that is all too willing to spy on its people, it confirms

his suspicions.

 

 

As reported by the AP: Report: Bush Permitted NSA to Spy in US, Bush

authorized the " NSA to monitor the international phone calls and

international e-mails of hundreds - perhaps thousands -- of people

inside the United States " after 9/1.

 

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* Was the rule of law and probable cause met when he ordered this

monitoring?

 

 

As we all know, there are detainees being held in Camp X-Ray in

Guantanamo Bay without due process. We do not even know if they are

terrorists ... but, by and large, most Americans do not care, or

worse, they allow their fears to trample due process guaranteed to us all.

 

 

Before this program began, and as reported by the AP: " NSA typically

limited its domestic surveillance to foreign embassies and missions

and obtained court orders for such investigations. "

 

 

We have become a nation of fear when we allowed this administration to

circumvent the rule of law where it no longer needs a court order.

 

 

Some within the NSA were uncomfortable because they did not

participate in it and they question the legality of it. Those who did

were following the rule of law. A nation is only as strong as those

who follow its laws. When we choose to circumvent these laws, it shows

our weakness.

NBC news: " The 400-page document included at least 20 references to US

citizens, plus information on anti-war meetings and protests. "

 

 

So, those who tried to save the lives of innocent people were monitored?

 

 

Those who choose to protest this war do so using the first amendment

to the United States Constitution ... the same sacred document where

Bush stated: " It is only a god damn piece of paper! "

 

 

Now let us talk on just how fear is our enemy. After 9/11, this

administration kept us all in a constant state of fear and often

unwarranted fear by posting the color of the day. By that act, they

terrorized us all into complicity.

 

 

So, what were we supposed to do?

 

 

We were told to go out and purchase tape and plastic to protect

ourselves. At least the bomb shelters of the fifties and sixties made

us feel more secure. While people in that era were equally afraid,

they did not turn on their TV sets each day to see the color of the

day ... they went about their business. Also, with the nuclear threat

coming from the former Soviet Union, no one suggested ripping apart

our Constitution with a Patriot Act. While it has been reported that

the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover employed such tactics, our elected

officials did not hastily sign into law any act similar to the one

passed in 2001.

 

 

During the summer of 1998 when Andrew Cunanan -- who the media

erroneously labeled a serial killer -- went on a spree killing, the

media terrified a nation. Cunanan murdered Gianni Versace, yet the

media did a bang-up job stating that we all were targets where clearly

we were not. That is an unwarranted fear. During this time, a man by

the name of Gavin De Becker came out stating the difference between

warranted fear and an unwarranted one. He even wrote the book, " The

Gift of Fear " in which he comforted this nation by telling us all the

difference.

 

 

From his book: " We all know there are plenty of reasons to fear people

from time to time. The question is, what are those times? Far too many

people are walking around in a constant state of vigilance, their

intuition misinformed about what really poses a danger. It needn't be

so. When you honor accurate intuitive signals and evaluate them

without denial (believing that either the favorable or the unfavorable

outcome is possible), you need not be wary, for you will come to trust

that you'll be notified if there is something worthy of your

attention. Fear will gain credibility because it won't be applied

wastefully. "

 

 

Has our own (USA) government exploited that fear where we will be the

intended targets when after September 11th no other attacks befell us?

 

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* Has the Bush administration using our media misinformed us of

what truly poses a threat?

 

 

Where Mr. De Becker cites: " Fear will gain credibility because it

won't be applied wastefully, " it goes to the very heart of the

constant changing of colors by the Homeland Security Agency.

Through that action, they have wastefully applied credible fears,

keeping us all in a constant state of vigilance or, as Mr. De Becker

has stated, unwarranted fear.

 

 

De Becker also goes on: " Real fear is a signal intended to be very

brief, a mere servant of intuition. But though few would argue that

extended, unanswered fear is destructive, millions choose to stay there. "

 

 

With an extension of the Patriot Act before the senate, is that not

extending said fear?

Are we not being a true servants to our intuitions if the senate

confirms this extension?

Is the senate choosing our own destruction by keeping the millions of

Americans in a constant state of unwarranted fear?

 

 

As we try to survive these last three years of the Bush

administration, I do suggest to read the book, " The Gift of Fear " ...

it will help you to decide for yourself if the fear you are feeling is

warranted or unwarranted, based on what you are hearing from this

administration.

 

 

We can also use this as a valuable tool when we choose to contact our

elected officials.

 

 

I remember. during the presidential primaries. when now-DNC Chair,

Governor Howard Dean said that if he were elected president, he would

rip the Patriot Act up. It needs to be done. It needs to be done not

only for our sakes, but to uphold the Constitution of the United

States of America.

 

 

Lastly, we are constantly being told that President Chavez is a threat

to the American people?

 

 

I would call that unwarranted fear ... for if there is anyone that we

most should fear it is George W. Bush himself.

 

 

Mary MacElveen

mary

 

 

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