In the name of public service, the American public is being fed distortions and lies in the service of selfish politics.
By Stewart Nusbaumer
It was the Republicans, not the Democrats, who deserted decency first. Who were the first to exploit the memory of 9/11 and abuse the ongoing war on terrorism. The first to exaggerate the security threats and distort the Administrations accomplishments. What Republicans have refused to do is give the American people what they desperately need. The straight truth! Instead of the unconcocted, Republicans have opted to magnify and frighten the bejesus out of Americans. They understand that nothing controls better than fear.
The Administration unfolded its Homeland Defense program less for the war on terrorism than for the war for public opinion. They screamed about dirty nukes in New York while bragging about U.S. accomplishments in the Philippines, having been upgraded to a hotbed of international terrorism. What the Republican leadership did not scream for was tax money to pay for the war.
And then came the Democrats, choosing a different tack, yet aiming for the same goal of political advantage. Seizing upon the Republican distortions and lies, at least the most blatant ones, numerous Democrats carefully sought to discredit the legitimate threats the nation does face and the necessity to think and act differently in the post 9/11 era. After cautiously implying the Republicans were manipulating the truth about the war on terrorism, the Democrats attempted to maneuver the political agenda to their advantage, to the economy and social welfare. Yes, we are under threat, but
This Republican hype to inflame and Democrat denial to subdue, to focus and distract Americans, are for the political benefit of winning the Senate and the House in November.
Republicans and Democrats accept their respective threat levels as reflective of reality and therefore are undisturbed when rhetoric and hyperbole manipulate the national dialogue to their political advantage or their antagonists disadvantage. In fact, both groups encourage excess, even demand excess. Its better to overestimate the danger than to underestimate, the Republicans tell each other. The Democrats confide, If we dont play down the risks the Republicans will destroy the country. This overestimation and underestimation of the threat to the nation has solidified into American's most important political struggle.
In the stunned wake of 9/11, Americans merged psychologically and even politically. Not since Peal Harbor had there been a similar rock solid consensus for military action: the danger was obvious and the nation was willing. After nine months, however, the political culture has reverted to the scramble for political advantage, and the partisan has supplemented the national interest. Today political gain justifies the untruth, even about 9/11.
Fueling this fast break from solidarity and propriety -- considering the magnitude of the 9/11 disaster, it has been a fast descent into the politically ugly and vicious -- is the upcoming election, less than five months away. The Republicans are sweating over their perennial image problem: too many Americans believe the GOP stands for Good Old Plutocracy. And now Republicans are petrified that the intelligence fiasco that slaughtered three thousand Americans on their watch will be blamed on them.
The political shift in power -- change of administrations -- did take place a year and a half before 9/11, yet the greatest responsibility for the attack falls on the prior (Democratic) administration who had eight years to whip the country into a credible defense. Not surprising it didn't, since Clinton considered the CIA a Committee for In-Action. The first tenet of the Republican Party, however, is to never trust the innate wisdom of the American people. You can put a worker in a Chevy, but that doesnt make him equal to you in your Cadillac.
The Democrats have their own nagging political problems. Paramount in the present environment is their weak credibility on national security issues. Not surprisingly, again, since a sizable number of Democrats for decades have been much more concerned about minority expression than national defense -- diversity aggressive while gun shy. So the Democrats scream economy! Enron! Racial Profiling!
Since Clinton and the neoliberal Mafia eliminated the welfare moms and put their sons in jail, one would think that this would mean something in the department of political toughness. The Democrats have no reason to feel inferior about their ability to kick people around, including Muslim terrorists. But the first tenet of the Democratic Party is to never trust the innate wisdom of the American people. You can put a worker in a Chevy, but that doesnt make him equal to you in your Volvo.
The knocking down of the World Trade Center towers and a wall of the Pentagon has not stopped the political dirt from rising, the distortion of accuracy from becoming a partisan norm, and the truth from becoming a politcal football. The very real and serious threat to this nation -- images of the possible send ripples of panic through me -- has been hijacked as fodder for a system running on automatic hype and denial and out of control.
The American political system, then, is excelling at what it does best: making itself irrelevant to the needs of the American people. That's not an exaggeration! And there goes another ripple of panic.
