--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Nick Arnett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Presuming that you would describe the fear of your grandmother being > > forced to live in a cardboard box on the street and eat dogfood for > > lunch if Republicans are elected to be "principle" rather than "personal > > safety." > > > The leadership on the left does not routinely justify their policies by > telling us to be afraid that our grandmothers will live that way.
They do when issues like the reform of Medicare and the school lunch program are the leading natural issues of the day. Surely you haven't forgotten the Democratic tactics of the last years of the Clinton Administration? >The > adminstration constantly justifies its "war on terror" by telling us to be > afraid. They justified the invasion of Iraq by telling us to be afraid of > chemical and nuclear attacks against the United States. They invoke 9/11 > constantly. The tell us we have to fight "them" over there so that we don't > have to fight them here. > > And to the extent that those on the left use any fear-mongering to try to > get their way, shame on them. > > "We will not be afraid" is not anti-Republican. It is anti-fear-mongering. > But I think that not being afraid takes far more power away from the right > than from the left. > > Tell me, do you think we should make our political decisions out of fear? I think that fear can be healthy. If Bill Clinton had told us that we needed to invade Afghanistan, not just because the Taliban were oppressing their own people, but because if we didn't invade Afghanistan, that some day Osama bin Laden and the Taliban would launch a devastating attack on the United States, I think that would be a healthy example of fear being used to justify the correct policies. There are all sorts of other decisions that arise out of healthy fear: conducting fire drills in schools, purchasing an earthquake preparedness kit for your home, buckling your seat belt while driving, etc. JDG _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
