General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Were you swept up in "fear! fear! fear!" because of September 11, 2001? [View all]LWolf
(46,179 posts)I was the only person in my family, group of friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and community members that was NOT.
I watched in dismay as so many liberals and Democrats, voters and members of Congress, who had been strongly opposed to GWB and the selection suddenly stood with him. I watched in horror as that fear was used to whip us into a nationalistic, vindictive frenzy against "Saddam" and in support of the bogus "war on terror." I watched in fury as Democrats helped pass The Patriot Act and the Iraq War Resolution.
I was a lone wolf in the wilderness. I stayed generally quiet, because my less than fearful, less than vindictive reaction was offensive to the rest of the people I came in contact with.
Oh, I cared. I grieved for the losses. I wasn't shocked by the event. I was, frankly, shocked that America was willing to, out of fear and nationalism, give away the very civil liberties that we SHOULD have been defending.
And, as time, and years, passed, I began to inwardly puke every time I heard or read phrases like, "9/11 changed things," as an excuse for our rapid decline into warmongers.