Sign at the entrance of Yangon University (which has been closed by the ruling junta. ©2001 UrbisMedia
The simple, make that simplistic, logic of George Bush’s bifurcation of the world into the good and the evil and its correlative those who are “with us or agin us” played well enough on the paranoid fifty percent and a thin fraction of the American public to be regarded by him as a “mandate.” After all, when you lost the popular vote last time, and (presumably) won it by a couple million this time, that looks like a “landslide” to a fool.
Not only that, but a fool is incapable of discerning that his logic just might be self-fulfilling. The world wasn’t nearly as divided between the “us” and the “them” until Bush began his “preemptive” (preempting what?) war on Iraq. See, he concluded, they don’t like us, and a lot of the other countries we thought were our friends (and who speak French and German), are in league with them. We are isolated and beleaguered; perfect for feeding the paranoia. What the world hates, of course, is not America; they hate George W. Bush and his foreign policies. (Red-staters need to re-read this paragraph twice, no, three times.) Bush deflects that conclusion with his infamous nonsensical phrase “they hate our freedom.” Is Abu Ghraib, trying to install Ahmed Chalabi ,and flattening Fallujah and innocent citizens, respect for theirfreedom?
In fact, “our freedom” might be being eroded. The third brick in Bush’s syllogism is being put in place: the world is us (good) and them (evil) /your government is “us”/ergo, if you criticize your government, you must be with “them.” It’s a short leap to the conclusion that “homeland security” therefore means “protecting” our freedom not just from the enemy without, but the enemy within.
We’ve seen this sort of thing before, being played out over the strains of the Horst Wessel Song, the strictures of the Treaty of Versailles, and the tinkling of Kristallnacht. We’re not likely to see the FBI wearing Gestapo leather coats, or Bush’s ranch re-named “Bushdesgarten,” or the Dixie Chicks forced to play oompah music, even with a national media that has been neutered by charges of “liberal bias”. It will be more insidious. American citizens have already been held without charges or rights because they have been considered possible “enemy agents or combatants.” The Patriot Act has been expanded to allow more snooping, and the FBI and some local law enforcement have apparently engaged in intimidationof anti-war and environmental organizations. Red-staters remain unconcerned about such matters since they never see anti-war signs at NASCAR and Monster Truck events.
No, the “them within” probably need not worry about being shipped off to Guantanamo, or a refurbished Manzanar; the methods will deal more with control than with such expensive measures. Intimidation works best in that regard; let people be frightened enough to restrain themselves and they won’t have to be put in restraints. It’s working with the mainstream press, and even with NPR. Judges will be appointed who have to pass a “conservative” litmus test (notice how Arlen Spector was intimidated by having to defend himself against charges that he used a “litmus test”); school children psychological testing without parental consent may be added to legislation; pressure is already being put on Hollywood, which is considered as a prime “enemy within” in the culture war, and of course; the erosion of women’s rights to control their own bodies and not be rrequired to wear wear “big hair” will be nibbled away.
This all sounds like I have developed my own case of paranoia. Not yet. But that’s the point! They final step in the process is for the victims to dismiss their concerns as just that, their own paranoia. That’s when they really have you under control. Caligula knew that, Hitler knew that, Pol Pot knew that, Mao knew that, and yes, Saddam knew that. Does Bush know that? Well, if he does, not in quite the same way. But if he does, he is not a fool, but an evil genius. The evil geniuses could also be those who surround him. He is installed for a second term, a “lame duck” who will not be encumbered by a concern for re-election and can let it all hang out. Some have speculated that this might result in a more reasonable George W. Bush, if in fact he was only “playing” with some of his key constituencies, e.g. the religious right, and will not favor their cultural war as he did in his first term.
Wishful thinking, that is. He has kept all the neo-cons in his administration, the moderates are out, and he had secured their posts with obsequious replacements, especially the incompetent Ms Rice. We thought Mr. Bush might have done enough to hang himself by last November 2. He did, but he didn’t swing. Now we may know what the logic of the terrorists really is: get those Americans to destroy themselves—“us” becomes “them.” Osama knows that.
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©2004, James A. Clapp (UrbisMedia Ltd. Pub. 12.2.2004)