2011-09-13
I have said before that there is no "war" on terror. It's not a war. It's a series of random skirmishes. But, as I have also observed before, the Republicans would prefer to keep America in a perpetual state of war and they have now succeeded. The Republicans love to say, "sure, in normal times we could respect the constitution, but this is a time of war" or "sure, normally we don't torture, but this is a time of war..." or " sure, normally we try to have a fair tax system, but in a time of war, the rich should not have to pay taxes".
There's a brilliant mind at work here. If you can justify otherwise outrageous policies on the basis of war, why not have a perpetual war. But wouldn't that be a bad thing? Only if it was a real war. But then how do you get people to believe we are war when we're not? Simple. There are always terrorists and always criminals. Simply redefine "war" so it looks like something that is always going on. Bingo.
How does it serve their interests? Fear is the Republicans' best friend. It is through fear that they can abrogate your civil rights, examine your book-borrowing records, scan you naked at airports. It is through fear that they can channel billions of dollars to their friends in the military and the defense industries. It is through fear that they can hide: our enemies cannot be permitted to know how much we spend on security-- as if it would make any difference to them-- and so, neither can you.
This "war" is not going to end. Obama can't end it because the Republicans will roast him for being "soft" on terror if he does, and he doesn't have the guts to take a chance on that. It will not end because there has never not been terrorists and there probably will never not be terrorists, and the Republicans know that perfectly well. They have their dream position. They know that they are sonsofbitches and as long as they can keep America afraid they are confident that Americans will trust them to wield the big stick and do to our enemies what we consider monstrous when they do it to us.
This war is forever. Patriotism, flag-waving, bigotry prevails for now. Trillions will be spent on fighting the phantom menace, ineffectually in the end, because the very definition of terrorism is random violence.
I don't when or if Americans will ever realize how they have been conned.