Fear Tactics Always Work

[carolaa]

I find it mind boggling that a President with such a low approval rating can get Congress to approve his proposals time after time. From a war in Iraq to wiretapping and everything in between. And now the big financial bailout - the one with no oversight, accountability, or recourse. Soon it will be a war in Iran.

And what is it all based on? FEAR. It's always of utmost, urgent national security or national interest, and HIS proposal must be passed posthaste. Don't waste time discussing or investigating alternatives. Do it quickly, or the security/interest of the country will be in jeopardy. And it works! Every time.

You know, it's one thing if you believe him that these threats are even real. But that is no excuse to rush things through that allow a tiny group of people an incredible amount of control with no accountability. I would think by now that Congress would be getting a little sense of deja vu and be questioning things more.

Has anyone else noticed this?

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

The one thing that always amazes me is that people never seem to realize that we in the general population are not privy to all that goes on behind the closed doors of the nation's capitol. If we were, if we always *had been*, we would all be speaking German now and saying Sieg Heil.

We elect the people who we think will best serve the needs of the nation. We aren't always right in our selections. But we do NOT know everything that is passed along through the channels to the top Commander-in-Chief who ultimately makes decisions based on what information he is given.

All we can do is try to make things right in our neck of the woods. And vote. Vote for whomever you think will do the best job. And who has what it takes to make the best decisions under fire.

**okay...off my soapbox now**

[Woody]

Carolaa ... I agree that it is based upon fear. I think it is. Another word would be confidence or lack of. That is what the market runs on. That is what the price of gas runs on. Our nation runs on fear ...

But I think it is a sign of a good president to be able to make his case before Congress and get his inititives passed.

[carolaa]

Hmmm. Most dictators get what they want, but it doesn't mean they are "good." But I have to admit, he's not stupid. He knows what works, and he keeps repeating it like the energizer bunny.

[carolaa]

The one thing that always amazes me is that people never seem to realize that we in the general population are not privy to all that goes on behind the closed doors of the nation's capitol. If we were, if we always *had been*, we would all be speaking German now and saying Sieg Heil.

You're saying that if we had been privy to national closed door conversations, we'd be speaking German now? I don't follow that rationale at all.

My point is in allowing a tiny group of people to have almost unlimited power with no accountability. That is not acceptable. Particularly when so much info has come out showing the Iraq war to be a distraction - why would anyone in their right mind be blindly trusting the person who put us in that situation? Of course, it's possible he's right about the bailout - but to just trust him without any accountability? Stupid. Really stupid.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

My reference to the German was that if everyone had known the inner workings of the nation during WWII we most likely would have lost WWII, and we would probably be speaking German now. There most certainly is a need for secrecy in the nation's government on some levels.

The accountability you are looking for should be coming from the people in Congress whom you and others voted in. They are the ones who are passing the votes.

re: the bailout. Does that not also need to be passed through a vote before Congress? There's your accountability. If it does not need to be voted on, and is a mere whim of the President, then *there* is your no accountability. IMHO

[carolaa]

re: the bailout. Does that not also need to be passed through a vote before Congress? There's your accountability. If it does not need to be voted on, and is a mere whim of the President, then *there* is your no accountability. IMHO

In a way, that's true. It is Congress that is deciding whether to let a few have extraordinary power with no accountability. But once they have given away that power, it does zero good to hold them accountable - it's too late, it's moot.

[fccool]

My reference to the German was that if everyone had known the inner workings of the nation during WWII we most likely would have lost WWII, and we would probably be speaking German now. There most certainly is a need for secrecy in the nation's government on some levels.

The accountability you are looking for should be coming from the people in Congress whom you and others voted in. They are the ones who are passing the votes.

re: the bailout. Does that not also need to be passed through a vote before Congress? There's your accountability. If it does not need to be voted on, and is a mere whim of the President, then *there* is your no accountability. IMHO

I disagree. The problem is that this notion gives any government a carte blache to do whatever in the name of security and safety. Transparency and honesty should be the objective of any government, yet we know that it is not... and I hard to believe that a Christian can justify it .

To take your example of what actually happened after WWII, is what we have a classic example of "job security". After the WWII the people who built up the military complex would have to be congratulated and retired as there were no more enemies... yet the new imaginary enemy would have to be conjured up in likes of Decaying Soviets, who at the time had no intention for world domination and had their own problems (I would know).

Coming back to the German illustration, if people of the world held their governments up to the standard of close scrutiny and transparency... such phenomenons as Hitler and Stalin would be very difficult to pull off.

The fact is, that there is no governments transparency even on basic issue such as economic policy.

9/11 is a basic example of such ridiculous "classified" info. The reason for many conspiracy theories out there is precisely because it looks as though government is not willing to be transparent on this issue to "protect" people who made some serious oversights on that day. So instead of reprimanded, these people are promoted and made "heros"... and received more funding and toys.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Some transparency is necessary, I will grant you that. But not total and complete. IMHO

[Dr. Shane]

I find it mind boggling that a President with such a low approval rating can get Congress to approve his proposals time after time. From a war in Iraq to wiretapping and everything in between. And now the big financial bailout - the one with no oversight, accountability, or recourse. Soon it will be a war in Iran.

I think this just shows the politics the political parties play. They demonize each other but there really isn't that much difference between them. The reason Bush has gotten his way on so many things is because Congress really knows there isn't a lot of choice.

I don't think this bail-out is Bush getting his way. I think Bush and Congress are both just doing what the Federal Reserve and other banking experts are telling them needs to be done.

[fccool]

True that, as I believe is the case with case for many internal and external policies. Otherwise the lobbyist would just give up and leave.

[carolaa]

That's right. Just tell them their safety is threatened, and they'll do whatever you want. It doesn't have to be true.

Whichever candidate tells the people what they want to hear is the one who will get elected. It doesn't have to be the truth at all, and usually isn't.

[phkrause]

I agree with that. I think that both party's will say what people want to hear. And the other thing that I have noticed is that no matter what one party says the other will say the opposite. And if somehow they agree on something, than they will disagree on how to accomplish this. Because God forbid that they should actually want what the people really want.

pk