Well they are at it again.  The government and the media are trying to ratchet up our fear.  Is it the pending elections?  Or maybe the 5th anniversary of 9/11?  I say it's both.  They are using 9/11 to instill fear in the general public to sway our choice on election day.

I'm not falling for it.  I didn't fall for it the first time, and I'm not falling for it now.  I do not wake every morning in fear of terrorists.  I don't think of them even when they are mentioned on some news program I'm watching.  And if you are watching the news, have you noticed how many times terrorists are mentioned?  I have.  Every couple of minutes.   One of my co-workers mentioned that when the people on top, keep the people on the bottom, IN FEAR, then they have total control.  The government and the media are giving these fanatics more due than they deserve.  I will not live my life in fear of what some murdurous fanatic might do.  They don't have that power over me.   I won't even call them terrorists.  They are murderers, pure and simple.  And they, like our government and media, are trying to gain control by keeping the masses in fear.

So this past week CNN was airing the story of some cleric or al-queda member calling for all muslims to kill an American. Any American. Ooooo scary!  Well I don't know about you, but I'm going to be looking over my shoulder all day long waiting for my muslim neighbors to blow me up.  I'll even be looking over my shoulder when I go to the poles to vote for someone who has the strength to strike down these perpetrators of hate before they can act.  Screw those fuzzy feel good issues like immigration, education, workers rights, healthcare, social security and privacy.  I'm scared damn it.  (Ok, in case you missed it, everything after Oooo scary!, is sarcasm.)

Who falls for this crap?  I'm sorry, but I don't believe that all muslims are going to start killing people.  They are all being lumped into the same group that the fanatics belong to.  It's as ridiculous as saying anyone who is white and Christian is a neo-nazi skinhead.  It is a stereotype used to spread fear and hatred.   Don't you wonder what is really going on behind the scenes while we are all focussed on being afraid?  Afraid of terrorists?  Afraid of Muslims?  Afraid of flying?

It's like a good magician.  A magic trick.  While we are focussed on what the magician wants us to see we are missing what his real intention is.  So when we finally see the end result, we are surprised because we missed the slight of hand before the end result. 

While we are worried about stopping the terrorist next door we aren't seeing how ineffective our leadership has really been.  We are so worried about hunting terrorists in foreign countries we aren't seeing that our leaders have no clue that the agency in charge of immigration can't control who is coming into and leaving this country.  And if they do see it, they don't know how to fix it, or they just don't care.   

Now don't you start to question this.  You aren't looking at what they want you to look at.  They'll drop a bomb on a suspected terrorist to bring your attention back to where it should be.  Back to the fear that while they got that dirty terrorist, there is another one waiting to attack you while you least expect it.  Don't be afraid.  They are doing a good job of protecting you from terrorists.  That is where they want your attention.

JWL ran an article on his blog by Howard Zin on why war against terrorists won't work.  I hope you will take a few minutes to read it.  You might gain a new perspective on terrorism as it applies to the probability of affecting the world population.

Perspective.  A terrorist is defined in the eyes of a victim. 

 We have all seen the pictures of the woman crying in anguish over the horror of losing her child.  I know many of you felt as I did.  Such heart rending sorrow at her pain and loss.  It was as if we had lost ourselves.  She was the one outside the World Trade Center; the one amidst the rubble in Lebanon; the one in the hospital in Israel; the one on the streets of Baghdad.  In her eyes the terrorist was Osama bin Laden and al-queda; in her eyes the terrorist was Ehud Olmert and Israel; in her eyes the terrorist was Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah; in her eyes the terrorist was George W. Bush and America.

What else do you see when you look at those pictures?  I see the birth of a new generation of hate.  Perhaps a new follower of one who would seek vengeance through violence.  I see a new beginning to the cycle of death, and hatred, and fear.  Someone who will be controlled through hate and fear.

I refuse to be blinded by hate and fear.  Fear will not rule my life.  Our leaders will not control me through fear.  And I see.  I see through their attempt to gain control through fear.  I see that their efforts to instill fear create more hate.  I see that when we are focussed on fear we don't see the things we need to see, or ask the questions we need to ask.  I'm still not going to fall for it.  Will you?