There was something of interest in my mailbox the other day: a card with a picture on the front of an affable, if somewhat intense looking, local Conservative political hopeful with a toothsome smile, and on the back was an alarming message.
It warned that “evidence” suggests that a fanatically religious group on the other side of the world has fired “chemical” mortar shells, and only his party can protect me from them.
I was reminded of the “weapons of mass destruction” line used by a previous American administration, as an excuse to start a fictitious war with an oil rich third world country.
It is an unfortunate fact that if you frighten someone enough you can get them to agree with pretty much anything you want.
It’s a tactic which has been used for as long as there have been dictators, oligarchs and school yard bullies wanting to impress their wishes on anyone who disagrees with them.
If the only message a political candidate has for us is one of fear, then it isn’t our vote he needs, it’s a little counseling on positive human interactions.
– Curtis Chamberlain, Greenwood
