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Fear vs. Courage

By TChris, Section War on Terror
Posted on Thu Sep 14, 2006 at 02:21:08 PM EST
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by TChris

Although the president wants you to be afraid -- very afraid -- it's time to replace fear with courage.

It's time to suck it up, America. You can't just go around being terrified all the time. It's time to stop sniveling in a corner and get The Right Stuff -- the courage to have principles and STAND for something. Truth. Justice. Freedom. Education. Jobs. Honest Elections. The Ten Commandments. And commercial-free TV!

If you nonetheless insist on being afraid, here are ten things that are scarier than terrorists.

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    Fear vs. Courage | 11 comments (11 topical)
    Re: Fear vs. Courage (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Sep 14, 2006 at 05:00:04 PM EST
    I have defeated Usama: him, I do not fear. If I had a loved one fighting the Bush war I would be fearful because there's a 2% chance of death. The following would make me fearful: If I worked at Ford; If I had an ARM about to reset in Florida, Arizona or California;If I worked in construct-ion, real estate or mortgage industries; If I were a republican pullet in the congressional coop being cajolled by their chickhawk; If I were the chickenhawk on the eve of Nov. 7; If the Totaliterrorists maintain their grip on the both houses; These would frighten me But Usama frighten me? Not a chance.

    Re: Fear vs. Courage (none / 0) (#2)
    by Gabriel Malor on Thu Sep 14, 2006 at 05:00:04 PM EST
    I doubt that appeals directed at hypothetical American bravado with the purpose of converting fear into courage will be successful on either a personal or political level. Liberals on this site (or any of the many others who recently picked up this meme) have probably convinced few readers by calling them cowards. That usually only works on 10-year olds. Little Joey doesn't want to do something and you're determined to see that he does. So you cajole and humiliate, "aww, you're just chicken! C'mon Joey, don't be a wuss. You're just being scared of nothing!" Little Joey then gets angry and sticks out his chin and does whatever thing you're trying to get him to do. He's saying in his mind, "Nobody calls me 'yellow!!'" Only, this will have little effect on a personal level because we are, after all, not children. Nor are we stuck back in some faux-50s hell-hole where the taunts of others constitute an insult to our honor. Trust me, guys, I am not insulted or ashamed to admit that I'm concerned about terrorism. Moreover, I think it highly unlikely that this strategy will work on a political level. The short-hand version is this: People who say to their constituents (and those they'd like to join their constituencies), "Let's do nothing!!" don't get very many votes. Now, I know you've got lots to say about things other than terrorism and national security (like "Truth. Justice. Freedom. Education. Jobs. Honest Elections. The Ten Commandments. And commercial-free TV!"), but declaring that we should all just "Stop worrying!" is not going to get you very far. Most especially if we are attacked again. If that were to happen, everyone would turn and say "Grasshopper, you thought you could just sing and dance your days away." FDR's refrain "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" was nonsense. They had plenty to fear then (namely, the effects of the Great Depression) and plenty on the way (specifically, WWII). Similarly, we have plenty to fear these days. Terrorism is just one of them. I doubt I would have to look very hard to find people telling me to fear global warming or nuclear weapons and whatnot. This is just a sad attempt to change the national subject. Wouldn't you like it if we could just stop talking about terrorism? Maybe we could talk about something else for a change. Like "Truth. Justice. Freedom. Education. Jobs. Honest Elections. The Ten Commandments. And commercial-free TV!" Yeah, Dems are polling much better in those areas, aren't they?

    Re: Fear vs. Courage (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Sep 14, 2006 at 05:00:04 PM EST
    Ignorance is the parent of fear. ***Melville

    Re: Fear vs. Courage (none / 0) (#4)
    by Al on Thu Sep 14, 2006 at 05:40:12 PM EST
    Malor, you interested in some duct tape?

    Re: Fear vs. Courage (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Sep 14, 2006 at 06:47:55 PM EST
    Nice try, Gabriel. But, you know, I doubt that appeals trying to overcome American or any other brand of sense by manipulatively emulating something disguised as reasoning with the purpose of converting courage, awareness and intelligent judgement into fear will be successful on either a personal or political level. You haven't noticed, I see, that nobody is buying either the shrill fearmongering, nor the smooth talking snake oil anymore. Sad. It's not surprising to see desperation from the right though. They were hoping for a nice bounce in the polls for bush and the rethugs from the recent propaganda blitz of speechs that hasn't materialized, and in fact has had the opposite effect of driving GOP support even further down, and they're going to do their best to try to create it out of thin air with their pitiful efforts here and elsewhere that would be funny if they weren't so tragically disgusting.

    Guess what? It's not working. You've blown your load. When will you realize that you guys have cried wolf too often? Desperation Politics US News & World Report
    So what's ahead for the rest of us? A midterm election, it seems, in which each party will operate in a parallel universe: That is, the Democrats will try to nationalize the election as a referendum on the president; the Republicans will instead try to localize each race. "If it's a referendum on the president, we lose," one top House Republican tells me. "We have to make sure we run good local races, and then we'll survive. Which is all we can ask for."
    Your boy better come up with a real doozie of an October Surprise for you, or you're in for one hell of a November Nightmare.. Fasten your seatbelts. Steep slope ahead... ---edger

    Re: Fear vs. Courage (none / 0) (#6)
    by dutchfox on Thu Sep 14, 2006 at 08:27:54 PM EST
    Reposted in open thread

    Re: Fear vs. Courage (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Sep 15, 2006 at 09:57:24 AM EST
    courage.

    Re: Fear vs. Courage (none / 0) (#10)
    by Che's Lounge on Fri Sep 15, 2006 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Gabriel, Sorry but our hour is just about up. Same time next week?

    Re: Fear vs. Courage (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Sep 15, 2006 at 02:36:43 PM EST
    Look...the people of New York City defeated terrorism on 9/12/01. I am so proud of the people of this great city. I hope you recall the way everyone pulled together early on and refused to succumb to fear. I always thought that the perfect 9/11 memorial would be 3000 people blowing Bronx Cheers in the general direction of the Mideast, or, less polite, giving the finger to the origin of the perps. OK..we have nothing to FEAR, just business to take care of.

    Re: Fear vs. Courage (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Fri Sep 15, 2006 at 06:16:00 PM EST
    FDR's refrain "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" was nonsense
    Nonsense? I found it inspiring. Fear can cripple, fear can cloud the judgement, fear can cause mistakes. And by extension...fear can kill. Everybody is concerned about terrorism...I am. We all would like to see less of it. But I'm not afraid of it. And on my list of worries...it's at the bottom after making ends meat, healthcare, the enviroment, the deficit, and the Jets playoff hopes.

    Re: Fear vs. Courage (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Sep 20, 2006 at 07:06:24 PM EST
    I am suppossed to be going to Turkey and I am scared because it is partly in the Middle East. How can I overcome my fear? betty

    Fear vs. Courage | 11 comments (11 topical)