A WHOLESALE SURRENDER TO FEAR

Fear is dominating our politics today and nowhere is this more apparent than the vote of the US Senate today to deny funding to close Guantanamo Bay prison. That would have cost 80 Million. The vote wasn't even close; it was 90 to 6. That's a lot of people ruled by fear. They say this is a setback for President Obama. But some like "George Washington's Blog" say that there is still torturing of prisoners going on at Guantanamo. I wonder if this could figure in the reasoning not to close it. Obama wanted the prison closed by January of 2910. They say that nobody in the US wants to take any of the 240 prisoners there. Some point to the fact that George Bush freed so many of the prisoners held at Guantanamo and many of these have turned back to terrorism. Many fear that that no prison in the US could hold them securely. Yet Montana has a prison that's almost empty and they've got the welcome mat out for the prisoners. Many fear that they will infiltrate the prison population and radacalize the inmates and teach them to be terrorists. Some say the prisoners should be sent to a terrorist re-education camp in Sandi Arabia. But Thom Hartman says the methodology this camp uses is to bomb the prisoners with love and cultural acceptance, but it doesn't work. Many turn back to terrorism. When all is said and done this is just another Obama campaign promise to go by the wayside.

Fear reigned supreme in the California special election yesterday as all but one of the ballod initiatives sponsored by the Governor to keep government in California afloat, was voted down. The people are just conditioned like rats not to vote for anything that smacks of raising taxes and people like John and Ken on KFI are only too willing to fan the flames. I don't know what is going to happen but you know that the poor and our educational system will suffer, and that isn't a good thing.

A byproduct of the credit card reform bill is that now people in the National Parks will be packing heat. It's OK to carry a loaded weapon in a National Park now and presumably, to use it, either on a two legged predator or a four legged predator. One can almost see the screaming Headlines of a rash of Dick Chaney style hunting accidents. National Parks are supposed to be a place of refuge and sanctuary, not gun-play.

Some times fear can take strange forms. These parents who don't want their child to be cured of cancer by conventional medical means are ruled by fear. Sometimes Faith in God or whatever, can be a form of fear. If the parents are to be held accountable for the death of their offspring from withholding needed medical care, should now we using chain of command logic, hold God also liable at the Last Judgement for his failure to keep his word. There are many cases in the Old Testiment where the "iniquity" of the gods is laid bare, and to be seen by all. It's an interesting fact that this has never happened because deep down, the ardent in Faith see themselves as God, and when push comes to shove it's their own ego, and not God's in the balance.

Iran has tested another missile, and this one has the power to make it to Israel. If Obana had taken my advice by now the US and Iran might have struck up an alliance against Al Qaeda, and we wouldn't be having this problem. My fear is that if we pursue this Afghan-Pakistani war idea, that the US just might find itself isolated in time and surrounded by its enemies with nowhere to turn. I would do anything to keep that from happening. Harry Truman in the movie "Truman" suggested that Ike and Castro ought to strike up an alliance. Ike should have told Fidel that the US would be the must trusted source for you to turn to with your needs. But we didn't do that and have five decades of hostilities to show for it.