[MD] Back to the last static latch

[Arlo J. Bensinger]

Khaled, SA, Anyone else tuned in...

"The War on Illegal Immigration". It's coming.

What I am weary of over this sudden "we must defeat illegal immigration or
America will be destroyed... by Saturday!" media blitz is the ongoing "fear,
fear, fear" campaign, the manufactured crises that we jump from one to the next
with, as if each and every week we need a new Boogeyman, a new Friday Night
Horror Show to keep ourselves "tuned in" and afraid.

Our government, (ahem) liberals and conservatives BOTH, have learned that the
surest way to power is (1) distraction and (2) fear. Actually, this is nothing
new. Keep the populace jumping through ever-changing rings of fire. 

I've posted this quote before, but I think it serves as an ongoing caution as to
the motivations of the "fear merchants", those who manufacture an endless
supply of Great Threats to America (of fill in your particular home country if
it serves). It is from Herman Goering, at the Nuernberg Trials.

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the
country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the
people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament,
or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be
brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell
them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of
patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

In this we see the core of modern political strategy in the US; (1) fear, (2)
denounce "pacifists" as "unpatriotic", and (3) condemn oppositionists for
exposing us to danger. This is not a Rightist or Leftist strategy, it serves
both parties equally, despite what the Party Jesters would try to say. This is
why the way out, whatever it may be, is not through the mud of liberls nor the
mud of conservatives. It must be a new way. As Joseph Campbell had remarked,
"only birth can conquer death, and not the birth of the old thing again but of
something new".

In the meantime, we will be fed a steady diet of "fear this" and "fear that", a
new "enemy" each week, a new "war" to be waged "for our very survival". How
much does anyone on this forum want to wager that in one year, two years, or
more, we'll still be sitting here. Likely responding to the latest "imminent
danger" the Party Jesters post that we must "quickly respond to or die".

This is not to say there is not a real need for dialogue and solutions, nor is
it to say that the current "crisis", immigration, does not warrant thoughtful
consideration.

But I'm tired of the Doomsday du Jour of the mass media (which includes those
ideologue pundits who claim to be "outside" the mass media). But "fear sells".
And until we wake up and decide not to buy it, you can bet the headlines next
week will read. "America's Newest Threat, (fill in the blank)".

Khaled spoke about language, and I want to respond to that, but will put that in
a separate post.

Arlo