Reply #64: I agree with everything you say, Sue

[H2O Man]

except that Bush will remain in office. I think that the republicans are hoping the election is close enough for them to steal again. I think that they are prepared to do whatever it takes to win the election. But I'm not concerned with them right now. I am concerned with the democrats.

I'm speaking off the cuff right now -- nothing prepared -- so if I sound disorganized, I am. But I've got a lot on my mind. One of the things that was pointed out earlier on this thread is that the climate of fear is being increased today. And that's so right. Last night, the fellow Rudy G --who I admired as a federal prosecutor -- played the fear card. I think he mentioned "terror" 45 times. It bothers me to see a man I have respected do what I believe is so unpatriotic. I think playing the fear card betrays the good in our potential to deal with the crises we face.

Our brain is the same structurally as our most primitive ancestors from thousands of generations ago. Hence, it is hard-wired to have a sense of free-floating anxiety, that in many ways helped us to survive. Yet we see politicians like Rudy exploiting that by trying to raise the level of national anxiety.

But to do this requires a double-edged sword. It creates another passion, one that is un-natural, one that does not help us survive. And that passion is hatred. And that hatred comes in many ugly (and always destructive) forms .... the "-isms": racism, sexism, nationalism .... these are not isolated. They are as connected to the loss of jobs in your hometown, the price of oil, the violence in Israel today, and a thousand other examples ..... as your hand is connected to your arm. They are the un-natural extension of hatred.

Hate is NOT natural. And like anything that is un-natural, meaning not inherent, it is something that must be constantly cultivated and nurtured in order to be brought into being ..... and so he who hates must show his hatred in his actions and behavoirs .... which seem so inappropriate to those who do not hate, but so useful to others who hate .... until those people, as a group, become hatred .... as if this ugly passion demands existence .... and as hatred, the group becomes hated. And look what that passion did to a once respectable man like Rudy G.

This atmosphere of anxiety, fear, hatred, sexism, racism, and religious intolerance is all based upon lies. Only a culture that has been fed a steady diet of hatred and lies can accept the outrageous and evil falsehoods that spewed forth from the republican convention last night. And which will continue for three more days and nights. And then for two more months.

The majority of Americans have been raised on lies. I say that as a man who loves this country. I say this even though I am fully aware that there are many, many great things about this nation. But we've been lied to since we were little children, and we're being lied to today. And our country is being lied to from the republican convention, ugly lies as we move closer to more violence and war in the Middle East in this never-ending war that Bush spoke of.

I support Kerry for president, but it is obvious that the national campaign is experiencing some degree of trouble in the past two weeks. The enemy is attacking with lies to bring about doubt, to nuture anxiety, fear and hatred. And Senator Kerry is in a Hamlet phase, as a friend reminded me this morning.

To be, or not to be? Isn't that the question Kerry must answer? Is it nobler in the mind to suffer slings and arrows? Or is it nobler to take up arms, and defend himself? Perhaps Hamlet's soliloquy represents Kerry's indecision, his confusion over the conflicting emotions of hatred and love, of lies versus truth. But we can no longer afford to sit as an concerned audience, and admire Kerry's contemplation of the wretchedness of life and a faith in human goodness. We do not have time to waste watching to see if he gets out of the trap the republicans have set for him.

We need to re-focus our efforts between now and November. When I watched the protest marches in NYC, I was so encouraged. No hatred. No fear. It was a beautiful display of exercising our constitutional rights. Our enemies may try to lie and describe these marches as a freak show, but they're not. It's what the constitution encourages. The freak show is the circus inside the MSG.

I wish that I were physically able to be in the city, marching. But I'm not. So I'll sit here, and send letters to newspapers and to elected officials. I think that the new information on the "spy scandal" provides us with a wonderful opportunity to participate in public education.... through letters and the other rights encouraged by that constitution. We need to combat lies with truth, fear with calm, confusion with logic.

Sorry about rambling on!