The American Terrorists

We’ve endured much talk about terrorists in America during the past nine years. Politicians protect us from terrorists by telling us the color of the day. Removing our shoes before boarding an airplane will protect us from terrorists. Nastiness and religious intolerance will protect us from terrorists. People with “funny” names are terrorists. We can recognize terrorists just by looking at them. Believe it or not, the idiot “security chief” at my son’s high school told me that I wasn’t allowed to take a picture of the building because “There are a lot of terrorists around here you know.” This is what happens when we prize ignorance in our society. Sadly, terrorists are real. They surround us everywhere, every day.

Dictonary.com defines terror as intense, sharp, overmastering fear; an instance or cause of intense fear or anxiety; violence or threats of violence used for intimidation or coercion. A terrorist is a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism, and a person who terrorizes or frightens others. The purpose of terror is to make the public afraid of “the other”, of some “evil”, in order to accumulate power, to exercise control, and to make them do what you want.

So. Who are these terrorists in our midst? Let’s see.

They tell us that “the government” is our enemy, will squelch free speech, and is coming to take our guns. Believe me, if Barack Hussein Obama wanted your guns, he would have kicked down your front door by now, and there is nothing you could do to stop him. He has more people, more guns, and bigger guns than you do.

They tell us that taxes, regulations, and the minimum wage will destroy every business in the United States – and every job with it. Really. Get a grip. Tax cuts do not create jobs. They never have. They never will. Look around. They’ve been de-regulating for 30 years. And this is where it’s brought us.

They tell us that if the Equal Rights Amendment passes, "the government" will force all of us to use same-sex public restrooms. HEY. If you live in Pennsylvania, YOU have been living with the state ERA since 1971. When did you ever use a same-sex restroom?
They tell us that education and educated people will harm you and your children. The truth is that they want to keep us stupid so we'll continue to fall for their scams.

They tell us that socialism and communism are the opposites of democracy and freedom. No. They’re not. Look it up.

They tell us that labor unions and their members are the cause of all of our woes. Actually, the rise and fall of our middle class is tied directly to the rise and fall of our unions.

They tell us that Social Security will be gone before we’re old enough to collect it. Yet they want to force us to gamble our Social Security accounts on their stock market. You do know that the game is always rigged in favor of the house, right?

They gave us the all-purpose color-coded scary list and the evil WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.

They tell us that immigrants, gays, community organizers, atheists, unemployed people, federal employees, public assistance recipients, teachers, poor people, homeless people, educated people, and any non-Christian is gonna get us.

They tell us that IMMIGRANTS have left headless corpses in the Arizona desert.

They expect us to believe that Pittsburgh’s own Thomas Merton Center is a terrorist organization. I’ve known many of the Merton folks for nearly 30 years. Nothing could be further from the truth.

They tell us that if someone else succeeds, then we will fail.

They want us to fear our neighbors. Not because of the content of their character, but because of the color of their skin, or their religion, or their occupation, or the clothes they wear, or the country they came from.

For the second year in a row, they want us to be afraid to let our kids listen to the president’s speech to school children.

They tell us that the bad guys want to take away our freedom, and that the only way to protect it is to give up our freedom. To them.

They cultivate xenophobia as a desirable character trait.

They want us to fear anything or anyone that is not just like them. And for the first time, when we have a president who is different from the majority of Americans, they want us to FEAR him. Sociologists call it “the other”. They want us to believe that President Barack Hussein Obama, of the foreign father and the funny name, is not a "real" American, that he’s secretly a communist, Muslim, witch doctor, antichrist, Nazi.

Oh yeah, he’s a socialist, too. Give me a break. Obama is hardly a socialist. He’s barely a Democrat.

People believe this trash because our schools do an abysmal job of teaching civics, financial, social, and political literacy, economics, and life skills.

The American Terrorists don’t believe any of it. But they want us to believe it. They focus on things that most people don’t understand, they offer a phony description, and then they try to make us afraid of it. They count on the cumulative effect of these multiple fears. They want to create such a complete sense of overwhelming panic and dread in our hearts and our minds that we will gladly sacrifice our freedom, privacy, jobs, friends, families, homes, neighborliness, common sense, and dignity for the “safety” that they promise. And they do it all in the name of patriotism.

They want to convince us to act against our best interests - divide and conquer. Usually, their goal is a political or financial benefit for them. Sometimes it’s just for entertainment.

Fortunately, they forget that we can check on their lies. Everything they say, every claim they make, is verifiable. Go to the source. The greatest research tool ever devised by humans is literally staring you in the face right now. The world of information is at your fingertips. I’ve included some links here.

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