Americans Should Be Very Afraid

By James Donahue

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Living under a cloud of fear has become a way of life for the people of the United States since the events of September 11, 2001. But the fear factor has been cleverly manufactured by political factors and the talking heads of a sold-out media.

We have been constantly bombarded by warnings of plots by secret Islamic cults to attack us again. Consequently we have been goaded into launching five wars against Moslem nations, accepting new laws severely restricting our freedoms and privacy, and submitting to increased suppression by police and other authority figures.

As all of this has happened, we have seen our economy tank, our factories and jobs move overseas and our “elected” national leadership go into a state of such incredible impotence it seems as if this nation is a rudderless ship adrift in a storm.

At least this is the way it appears. We suspect that in reality, there is a plan being hatched by a secret power structure designed to tear down this once great nation brick-by-brick. It is a plan that is already in its advanced state but most Americans are so unaware of what is happening they are still trusting Uncle Sam to keep them protected from the big bad wolf at the door. They do not realize that the wolf is already in the house and about to devour them alive.

The 9-11 attack itself was carried out with such amazing skill by a supposedly pack of young and unprofessional assailants using box cutters and home-schooled training to fly commercial airliners. The fact that three large aircraft successfully flew into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon was quite incredible. Home and surveillance video footage of these events have raised so many questions that professional analysts suspect that the attack originated from within our own military. That Osama Bin Laden, the so-called leader of the secret El-Qaeda network blamed for the attack, was a former CIA agent during Russia’s war in Afghanistan seems to have been totally overlooked, as was the Bin Laden family ties to former presidents Bush.

With all of these questions falling out of the fog of the 9-11 attack, the corporate-owned national media went out of its way during the 10^th Anniversary to help remind the public of the original story and laud the “heroes” of the day, the fire fighters and other first responders that died trying to save lives.

No one seems to want to question how three buildings in the heart of downtown Manhattan could implode so perfectly after two of them were hit, even though demolition experts say accomplishing such a feat would take specific skills in planting explosives throughout such massive buildings. Film maker Michael Moore and others have asked these questions in various documentaries but to date all we have heard are reports from hired engineers who have gone to great lengths to explain away the unexplainable.

No one appeared to question the fact that within less than two months Congress passed a comprehensive 342-page Patriot Act that dramatically reduced restrictions on government access to electronic and telephone communications, medical, financial and other personal records, and gave the Secretary of the Treasury authority to regulate financial transactions. The act passed both the House and Senate with an almost unanimous vote although most legislators later admitted they never read it.

While caught up in the constant fear of further attacks, most Americans seem to be ignoring the quick erosion of their freedoms to move about, provide for their families, choose valid candidates for public office and live without fear of suppression.

Airport security is so strict that people are X-rayed, excessively patted down and their luggage thoroughly searched before they can board an aircraft. Police dogs guided by ATF agents sniff people in public places for drugs or explosives. Our telephone conversations, computer activities, FAX messages and all other electronic communications are under constant surveillance. Police make random traffic stops, sometimes blockading highways, to test for alcohol consumption, drugs or other suspicious cargo in our vehicles.

Since the choosing of George W. Bush by the Supreme Court to be America’s president after the controversial 2000 election, it has become obvious that both the high court and the majority of elected Republican (and some Democratic) legislators have sold out to the interests of big corporations, including the military industrial complex.

The Supremes stacked the deck for the 2012 presidential election when the judges voted 5-4 to give corporations the freedom to pour large amounts of money in support of the candidates of their choice. That means voters will be directed by a clever and well financed advertising campaign to select the candidate of corporate choice.

Another troublesome development has been a so-called “taxpayer protection pledge,” a vow reportedly taken by 41 senators and 236 Congressional representatives . . . nearly all Republicans . . . that they will stand against any increase in taxes. The pledge, promoted by Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, appears to have prevented any chance for raising extra revenues to offset the nation’s multi-trillion dollar deficit.

We are living in a nation with a crumbling infrastructure, with roads, bridges, dams, levees, sewer and water systems, electric power grids and gas lines falling into poor repair. Our railroad, bus and airplane services are failing to meet a growing need for public transportation at a time when rising fuel prices and the high cost of owning and operating a personal automobile are making it harder for people to get around.

States and local municipalities also are feeling the financial pinch. The problem has become so acute that local services, including education programs are being slashed.

In spite of all the rhetoric expressed on the anniversary of the 9-11 attack, or on holidays like the Fourth of July, this is no longer the America we once knew and enjoyed.

Terrorism like poverty and disease has always existed and it will always exist. The random acts of terrorism that have gained so much attention since 9-11 have been no more of a threat to us now than they ever were. If Americans have anything to fear it is their own failure to maintain good educational programs and remain keenly aware of what is going on among those who govern. And if they take a good look . . . they will have reason to be very afraid.

 September 2011