Boo!
Writing in the WaPo, Eugene Robinson gets it exactly right:
Once upon a time we had a great wartime president who told Americans they had nothing to fear but fear itself. Now we have George W. Bush, who uses fear as a tool of executive power and as a political weapon against his opponents.
[...]
Bin Laden does remain a threat. He would hit the United States again if he could. We do expect the president to protect us. But a great wartime leader rallies his citizens by informing them and inspiring them. He certainly doesn't use threats to our national security for political gain. He doesn't just point at a map and say "Boo."
Fear is the most powerful motivator and Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush understand this. That using it as a political weapon hurts the nation in the short and long terms is irrelevant to him; maintaining power is the only concern.
It's too bad more people don't understand this.
.
Once upon a time we had a great wartime president who told Americans they had nothing to fear but fear itself. Now we have George W. Bush, who uses fear as a tool of executive power and as a political weapon against his opponents.
[...]
Bin Laden does remain a threat. He would hit the United States again if he could. We do expect the president to protect us. But a great wartime leader rallies his citizens by informing them and inspiring them. He certainly doesn't use threats to our national security for political gain. He doesn't just point at a map and say "Boo."
Fear is the most powerful motivator and Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush understand this. That using it as a political weapon hurts the nation in the short and long terms is irrelevant to him; maintaining power is the only concern.
It's too bad more people don't understand this.
.
posted by spork_incident at Friday, January 27, 2006
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