The correction is coming! The correction is coming!

COMMENTARY: "Words That Sow Fear: The 'war on terror' has undermined America," by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 2-8 April 2007, p. 25.

Brezinski really dislikes Bush, and that's okay.

Bush and Co. have definitely gone overboard on the fear factor in response to 9/11.

As I wrote in BFA, the "Dirty Harry" period was normal, but we have to move beyond it. And as I wrote in PNM, the "silly season" on terror is likewise a natural phase we go through.

In both instances, Bush's second term extends the learning curve. By that I mean it delays the natural swap-out and rule-set reset that comes with a new administration born from some extensive national debate connected to an election.

That debate now ensues, and I guarantee you, whoever gets in next will promote a far less rigid climate of fear (except maybe McCain) simply because that'll be part of their sales job in getting your vote ("Life will be better under me!").

I understand Brzezinski's critique and I agree, except--much like the climate of fear itself--I think he goes overboard.

America has very little going-overboard activity going on that can't be explained by the simple fact that our ever-increasingly connected lives/economies demand it. Yes, there are many high-profile spots on the upper East Coast (where Zbig and his types live) where you can see all the extra precautions and feel all the jacking-up, but that's a tiny slice of America outside of its oversized mass media footprint.

Terrorists aren't running anything. We have a few more drills on air travel and new regs sprinkled across our lives, but most of those changes are transparent to 99 percent of us, impacting us very little.

My point? Brzezinski over-reaches here himself on fear-selling and he's engaging in the mistake common to so many strategists right now: extrapolating the future of everything from the historical blip that will be the Bush administration.

All I can say is, Help is on the way!

So lighten up a bit ....

Comments

[Jarrod Myrick]

What does Z and his types say now to the moral question of sanctions?

minus invasion, where exactly in the sanctions process would we be, as of today? how many civilians dead directly because of sanctions? in the game of nuclear chicken, where would we be w/Iran, w/Kim Jong Weirdo?

if Mission Accomplished is still going to be thrown around by Dems, back-date anything.