Fear is neither American or Anti-American. It is a universal emotional fact of the human condition. Fear is.
So is love
hate
desire
worry
jealousy
sympathy...
The premise is flawed because fear has no political affiliation. It may be used as an emotional tool for all sorts of things from politics to religion to relationships.
The reason I bring up the "L" word is because it seems to be a proponderance of leftists who cannot separate anything in life from the political. A great failingin their part. They need to realize that Freud was right when he said "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."
I await your further attempts to frame a false premise dichotomy of politics on this.
Do you not see that both parties are framing their appeals on the basis of fear?
The Democratic party thrives by appealing to the fear that some constituency groups have of other Americans: black folks fear white racism. Gay folks fear Christian bigotry. Women fear losing the right to control their own bodies. The poor fear being victimized by the rich. The environmentalists fear corporations destroying the environment for profit. The pacifists fear that we will lose another 10-50k troops in a fruitless war. People with jobs fear losing their jobs.
The Republican party thrives by appealing to the fear of middle class voters that they will lose more of their income supporting dead wood, the fear of Christianist voters that gays/lesbians and atheists are destroying America and that their right to practice their faith is being undermined, the fear of white suburbanites that they will be victimized by black criminals, the fear of white men that they'll face racial or gender discrimination, the fear of rich people that they'll have to pay more taxes, and the fear of the corporations that the American taxpayers will stop subsidizing them with corporate welfare. Then they appeal to the fear that most Americans have, post-911, of another Islamic attack. So, here goes Romney, making the case for aggression against Iran, with no real game plan or exit strategy.
It's ALL fear. The threads about the Republican/Democrat war on women? Fear. The threads about black criminals? Fear. The threads about the Republicans undermining domestic violence protections? fear. The threads on either side about job loss and the tanking economy? Fear. The threads about Obama-care (both pro and con)? Fear. It's fear, fear, fear, fear, fear.
There is nothing positive, from either side. There are no creative solutions being offered. There are no bright ideas about how we're going to get out from under our staggering debt load. There are no courageous politicians willing to risk offending people by cutting budgetary items that need to be cut for our relative survival. There is nothing but fear. The only person I've seen who appears to rise above the fear-drum beating is Ron Paul. And, he doesn't have much support within Republican circles...he's too different an animal for the party to really support.
The Republican candidates who did have something positive to say, and rose above the muck have mostly dropped out (to my sorrow). John Huntsman, for instance.
And, as someone who doesn't drink either the red koolaid or the blue, I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the politicans and political columnists that have convinced Americans that the enemy is ... other Americans.
It needs to stop.
