Fear and Our Power to Move On.

By Mary MacElveen

August 12, 2006

As I read, GOP Candidates Facing Troublesome Trend, I took note of where they reported, “An Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted this week found the president's approval rating has dropped to 33 percent, matching his low in May.”  They cited the reason was his handling of Iraq to his foreign policy and that it contributed to his decline in even the south which is normally Republican friendly.

In essence the war is no longer working for this ‘war president’.  As we see the body count rise in Iraq of our soldiers, those that continue to come home maimed and the loss of innocent life, it is wearing us down and has replaced the fear we were driven to by Bush.

It will be interesting to see the next polling data come out after the terror plot was foiled.  I wonder if any perceived fear will work, or where folks will become further drained.

Bush created this aura of fear and as we all know, fear is debilitating, it wears us down and at some point, and we just want to move on.  I would say that was one of the biggest factors that contributed to Ned Lamont winning the Democratic Primary in Connecticut.  They grew weary of Bush’s favorite rah-rah boy in Lieberman helping out to remind us all why we were in this war on ‘terra’.

According to this Guardian article, 19 percent who stated that they once voted for Bush will vote Democrat this fall.  Many of these people are, “female, self-described moderates, low- to middle-income and from the Northeast and Midwest.” I would have to state though that these women are in fear of more reproductive rights being taken away, so that fear is warranted.  Also the fear felt by low to middle class is warranted as well as we are taxed to the hilt and where is that money going?  It is going to Iraq since Bush is all war all the time.

As reported in this article, “The signs now point to the most likely outcome of Democrats gaining control of the House,'' said Robert Erikson, a Columbia University political science professor.” This is a good sign, but should this happen, that is when the Democrats must spend their capital and put a halt to some of the most devastating pieces of legislation his party put forth.

As I stated above of how draining this war and the fear that goes with it, this is what Paula Lohler, 54, an independent from Worcester, Mass., who is inclined to vote her opposition to Bush had to say, “I don't feel like the war was the answer,'' She then goes on to say, “It seems like it's going on and on and on and nothing's being done.''  I would say that she is suffering from Bush and war fatigue.

Now, there are many times that many have felt that Bush has put us all into an unwarranted fear and where he has done so with the complicity of the main stream media.

But, I would like to take you back to the summer of 1998 when Andrew Cunanan who the media erroneously labeled a serial killer -- went on a spree killing, the media terrified a nation. Cunanan murdered Gianni Versace, yet the media did a bang-up job stating that we all were targets where clearly we were not. That is an unwarranted fear.  During this time, a man by the name of Gavin De Becker came out stating the difference between warranted fear and an unwarranted one. He even wrote the book, “The Gift of Fear” in which he comforted this nation by telling us all the difference.

During these past five years in the aftermath of 9/11, I have not seen him on any news program.  If any of you have, please let me know.  Perhaps the media did not want him going against Bush’s fear message.

From his book: “We all know there are plenty of reasons to fear people from time to time. The question is what are those times? Far too many people are walking around in a constant state of vigilance, their intuition misinformed about what really poses a danger. It needn’t be so. When you honor accurate intuitive signals and evaluate them without denial (believing that either the favorable or the unfavorable outcome is possible), you need not be wary, for you will come to trust that you’ll be notified if there is something worthy of your attention. Fear will gain credibility because it won’t be applied wastefully.”

So, I beg the question, hasn’t the Bush administration along with the media over spent the fear capital?  I wonder how many here in America are actually feeling a sense of fear or blasé right now due to recent events in London?

Where Mr. De Becker cites: “Fear will gain credibility because it won’t be applied wastefully,” it goes to the very heart of the constant changing of colors by the Homeland Security Agency.

Through that action, they have wastefully applied credible fears, keeping us all in a constant state of vigilance or, as Mr. De Becker has stated, unwarranted fear.

Now, I feel that this is the most important message to us all by Gavin DeBecker when he stated, “Real fear is a signal intended to be very brief, a mere servant of intuition. But though few would argue that extended, unanswered fear is destructive, millions choose to stay there.”

In my closing opinion, yes we can stay somewhat vigilant, but not live in a constant state of fear which as Mr. DeBecker stated is destructive.  Fear is meant as he said to be brief, and in my opinion, we do move on.  For those that choose to stay in that constant state of fear, just do not listen to Bush, turn off the news, turn to other things that do balance your lives and allow yourself the freedom to move on.