Only Fear can Save Them Now

Eugene Robinson's op-ed in today's Washington Post is a good one, though one feels that it could have been written months ago:

If Democrats manage to take control of one or both houses of Congress on Tuesday, the reason will be that voters were not adequately roused into a state of heart-pounding, knee-knocking, teeth-chattering fear.

Not that Republicans haven't been trying. George W. Bush used to claim he was "a uniter, not a divider," but that was a long time ago. These days, he'd probably try to deny the quote the same way he tried to disown "stay the course." The Karl Rove formula for political victory has been to draw a bright line between "us" and "them" and then paint those on the other side not as opponents but as monsters.

Thus Bush openly accused those who disagree with his policy in Iraq of giving aid and comfort to the enemy. "The Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses," he said the other day.

The remainder of the piece points to all the woes that the GOP faces this cycle. The irony that a group of Republicans that never served demonize decorated veterans like John Kerry for being 'unpatriotic.' The way that Democrats who question tax cuts in a time of war get turned into Liberal, tax-raising madmen. The inability on the part of Republicans to get any traction out of the New Jersey Gay Marriage ruling after Mark Foley and David Kuo exposed the hypocrisy and opportunism of the GOP. Even the fact that a woman (gasp!) from San Francisco (shudder!) would become Speaker of the House (and third in line for the Presidency) if Democrats take control of the House has failed to generate any real 'fear.'

It's a good column, if vaguely unexciting in a 'I've seen all this before' sort of way. Perhaps for people who don't spend hours a day pouring over political news and commentary, the distillation of the results of 12 years of Republicanism would be timely.

That's the key word - timely. For what Robinson's piece lacks in excitement, it makes up for in timeliness and it does so in spades. This is the perfect column to run four days before an election. It is clear, to the point, and devastatingly effective in exposing the failures of Bush and his Republican lackeys. I'm sure that's why Mr. Robinson put it together the way he did.

The end of the piece is one that would make any snarky blogger proud:

But while Kerry's recent gaffe produced some last-minute outrage, mere outrage probably isn't enough this time. The only thing that might work is fear, and so far not enough Americans have been made to quake in their boots.

I take that back: The president did say that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld will serve out the remainder of his term. Run for your lives!

Vote Republican or we'll bring Freedom and Democracy to your state!

Fear Mongering Eugene Robinson 2006 Election

Scare them with Terror!

An examination of the DHS color coded alert system corrected for reality:

S E V E R E
Driving off the road: 254,419
Falling: 146,542
Accidental poisoning: 140,327

H I G H
Dying from work: 59,730
Walking down the street: 52,000.
Accidentally drowning: 38,302

E L E V A T E D
Killed by the flu: 19,415
Dying from a hernia: 16,742

G U A R D E D
Accidental firing of a gun: 8,536
Electrocution: 5,171

L O W
Being shot by law enforcement: 3,949
* Terrorism: 3147 *
Carbon monoxide in products: 1,554

That's a selection of causes of death for Americans between 1995 and 2005. Just a friendly reminder from Wired News.
Terrorism Department of Homeland Security Color Coded Alert System

Thoughts on the JonBenet Ramsey Case

As more details emerge about John Mark Karr and the JonBenet Ramsey case, I wanted to look at why America is so fascinated.

The news right now is scary. Really scary. Civil War in Iraq. Cars blowing up on crowded streets. Planes (almost) falling out of the skies. War in Lebanon. North Korean missile tests. A defiant Iran moves ever closer to the bomb. Gas prices up. Wages and the housing market down. Immigration. Murder. Crime. I could go on and on.

People get tire of news that scares them. Your average news watcher can identify with passengers on airplanes. They can see themselves in that situation. They can relate to the fear of a terrorist attack as they walk down the street or shop in a market. They can feel the fear of war. Most news watchers remember the fear of nuclear stand-offs.

News watchers don't relate to being a six year old beauty queen.

The 'fear' of JonBenet Ramsey isn't one that they feel personally. The Karr/Ramsey media circus is something they can watch without the feeling of fear or apprehension. When the media reports on that creepy Karr guy, it's not something that they need to be afraid of. JonBenet Ramsey is a reprieve from the constant stream of scary news.

The details of the story aren't really important. The pattern would be the same if all of a sudden a new suspect in the OJ Simpson case had come to light. People are looking for a way out of fear. TV news producers know this. People will watch hours of reporting on JonBenet. They won't watch hours of reporting on Iran.

JonBenet Ramsey John Mark Karr Fear Media

Ridge Slams Cheney

Think Progress reports that the 8/21 issue of Newsweek quotes fromer Head of Homeland Security Tom Ridge,

"[Responding to Cheney'’s claim that Lamont'’s victory would encourage 'al Qaeda types'’], former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge bridled at his former colleague's remark: "‘That may be the way the vice president sees it,"’ he sees it, "‘but I don'’t see it that way, and I don'’t think most Americans see it that way.'"”

Somebody hasn't been getting his ration of koolaid lately...

I haven't seen the article, but I'm hoping that somebody in the media is going to start calling Republicans on their scaremongering. We're fighting a war in the middle east to bring them democracy but when democracy works in Connecticut, it encourages terrorists. Then why the fuck are we sending American soldiers to fight and die in Iraq to bring them democracy?

Tom Ridge Dick Cheney Ned Lamont Terrorists

Alarmist Much?

Yep, that's right. Not only do we need to worry about Tom Hanks destroying our nation's relationship with God, we're facing an economic meltdown due to a movie by Al Gore. Not 'Tax-cut and Spend' President Bush's skyrocketing deficits. Not the president's wars and saber rattling - and corresponding jumps in oil prices. Not the Republican in control of all three branches of government. It's all Al Gore's fault.

Damned internets.

Over the weekend, FoxNews host David Asman asked his guests, "If people buy into [Al Gore'’s] global warming hysteria, will it put him in the White House and our economy on the skids?"”

Steve Forbes answer: "It will ice the economy. And after all, some people do believe the DiVinci Code, so some will believe the DiGore Code. [Laughter] But the fact of the matter is, the policies that result from it would hurt the economy, would create unemployment. It'’s a real recipe for more socialist regulation."

Finders Fee to Think Progress.

David Asman Steve Forbes Al Gore An Inconvenient Truth