Fear has been the most successful issue of the Bush administration. To get elected the Bush administration used fear to lure the Christian Right to defend the family and save the unborn Children. Well meaning Christians were told that the Democrats were heathen, Godless, morally and ethically empty people. The only way to save the country was to put some morals back into the Oval Office.
Well, after the 2000 election the Bush administration languished with no clear direction, except to shut down FEMA's emergency preparedness and dismiss the idea that terrorists might attack the US. When September 11th united the country the Bush administration used the opportunity to raise the specter of fear. Fear of another September 11th gave control to the Bush administration and the Orwellianly named Patriot Act was passed to take away some liberty. And, with this additional power the Bush administration set into motion the build up to the War in Iraq.
Fear of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) was a fear tactic used by the Bush administration to gather support for the illegal invasion of Iraq. The idea of making a preemptive strike on any country was once considered unthinkable by any Democracy. In fact even our own beloved Bush administration tells us that the reason for the US invasion of Iraq is to create a Democracy for the Middle East. We are told that Democracies do not invade their neighbors, therefore creating a Democracy will make the region safer. The irony of course is that the invasion of Iraq itself disproves this very theory. Instead we should beware of the power of fear in a Democracy. And, Fear can and will be used in Iraq for Iraq's own reasons.
The 2004 election again was another exercise in fear. The Bush pundits worked 24/7 to create the illusion of John F. Kerry the evil henchman. By keeping George W Bush out of the spotlight and pointing the spotlight at a created mythos of John Kerry the Bush campaign urged people to fear John Kerry. But, they pushed the same fear messages about gay marriage and abortions that they pushed in the first campaign. And in addition George W Bush raised the specter of 9/11 at every available moment. Creating fear and appearing to be the solution was the entire strategy of the 2004 Bush campaign.
It is interesting that a political party that considers itself the party of security uses insecurity to push its agenda. Making people feel less secure is the goal of the Republican Party. If they can do it on the national level they do it on the Domestic level. The want high unemployment, because it drives wages lower, but it also creates enough insecurity to make people think twice about leaving their low wage job. They want insecurity in the housing market and in the health care system.
So, it should not be a surprise to hear George W Bush pushing more fear on the American people. This time George W Bush is telling us to worry about bird flu. The avian influenza pandemic could happen, but there is little that we can do about it at this point. The H5N1 strain of the virus needs to mutate before vaccines can be designed and manufactured. There are two drugs that could be used to help fight the virus, Tamiflu and Relenza. And, George W Bush's speech yesterday may trigger the purchase and stockpiling of these drugs, at great benefit to these companies.
Once again George W Bush is using fear to motivate the American people. Based on the Bush administration track record I would be extremely skeptical about the motivation of the administration. Is this just one more way to give a handout to his friends who may happen to be stock holders in these companies? Or, maybe frightening the American people is another attempt to boost his poll numbers. With such a dishonest government it is certainly difficult to know what is really important. I would recommend listening to the experts.
Fortunately at least one Republican has publicly stated his skepticism of the Bush administration. Sen. Arlen Specter asked where the Bush administration got the intelligence to jump to this conclusion. He said, "We need a better way of finding out what the hell is going on." This skepticism is a very good thing for our country. Hopefully the other 54 Republicans in the Senate and the Republicans in the House will also question the administration's cult of fear.