Dru Blood - I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings: Fear Mongering and "Winning"

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« I'm home... | Main | Pro-or-Anti »

Fear Mongering and "Winning"

March 15, 2004

According to Michele (and probably according to many other right-wing bloggers, I'm honestly too sickened and afraid to check), the terrorists have won, because the people of Spain democratically chose a leader who opposes the war in Iraq. A socialist leader.

Granted, according to polls, the incumbant party had a comfortable lead prior to the bombings in Madrid. But the pro-war right wants us to believe that by voting against the polls, the people of Spain voted with their fear and now the terrorists will be bombing countries at election time willy-nilly, and they hadn't, up until now, planned to do so.

Of course, what Michele evidently doesn't realize is that the people of Spain are not mindless automatons. They are a sovereign people who have the right to choose their own government. They are a sovereign people of whom a VAST majority disagreed with the administration's approach to the terror war. Perhaps the polls were inaccurate, or perhaps the people of Spain were lulled into complacency by the economic well-being of their nation (which is a problem we Americans, unfortunately, don't share.) Either way, you have to assume that the people of Spain changed their mind for a reason, and calling them cowardly and spouting a bunch of crap about how the terrorists have won and now the Spanish people have doomed us all into a life of fear is no better than bombing trains and buildings. Blaming them for every future attack MIGHT be a good way to get "the coalition" off the hook for it's grave foreign policy errors, but it's dishonest and it's, well...it's terroristic.

You see? Either Spain votes the way we want them to vote, or they are "one of them."

You are either with us or against us.

It's subtle, but it's obvious to me. Just read the comments - if you think that the people of Spain acted reasonably, you are "with the terrorists." What. Utter. Bullshit. I realize that no one is killed in the stating of opinions, but the people who say shit like that are using the terrorist attacks to promote their agenda just as much as the terrorists do.

"SEE!" They say. "SEE WHAT HAPPENS?! If you don't vote the way we want you to vote, you are causing this to happen elsewhere. It's ALL YOUR FAULT. You might as well strap explosives to your body and pay the admission to the nightclub of your choice!"

But it doesn't work that way. Neither side has any way of knowing the motivations of terrorists, unless of course they are working WITH the terrorists. Which, you know, would be black helicopter stuff and completely inadmissable in an internet debate.

Never mind that the ultimate victor of the election is from the socialist party. THAT certainly isn't on the minds of the Right in America. Certainly they have no issues whatsoever with a socialist majority in Spain. No. It's all about TERRORISM, you see?

If they reframe the discussion, they can make it all about TERRORISM, and THEY win.

In fact, it's about sovereignty. It's about choice. It's about approach. And it's about the people of Spain wanting desperately to try a new approach because the old one WASN'T WORKING. Attempting to blame terrorist attacks on people who choose regime change for themselves disproves all of the bullshit lip service paid to wanting the people of Iraq to be free.

And if the terrorists have won, it's because we've wasted our time, money, and energy on a counterproductive battle strategy, and it's absolutely essential for people to feel free to vote without fear of manipulation and retribution from the rest of the world.

Posted at March 15, 2004 9:43 AM

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» Preach On! from DebWire
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Comments

nicely put

Posted by: Tommy at March 16, 2004 8:58 AM

here, here.

xoxo, jared

Posted by: the evil queen at March 16, 2004 5:58 PM