America the Fearful

Over the past few weeks WRAG PAC has been spearheading an effort to mount an anti-Obama campaign in the Mahoning Valley. To date, we have raised a substantial amount of money and we are shooting for much more. There is a recurring theme among prospective donors….and that theme is fear.

Politics is a nasty business. It’s not for the weak in spirit and faint of heart. On the other hand, those of us who have been politically active in every sense of the word know how it works, and we gird our loins and press forward knowing that something can come up behind us and bite us in the ass when we least expect it.

But this year it’s a different kind of fear. It’s a two headed monster of fear of the future and fear of our government. I have had NUMEROUS folks who are over sixty years old express fear that they will not be able to pay for their senior years. These are folks who have saved all of their life and now fear the government will take what they have accumulated leaving them at the mercy of government “largesse.” They aren’t asking for a handout. They are afraid of being forced into taking handouts. These are the evil “rich.”

Even more disturbing are those who are afraid to express an opinion because they are afraid their name will appear on a donor list making them vulnerable to retaliation from the government. Some of these folks are justified in their fears. I have seen the thug politics to which some of these folks have been subjected simply because they made a donation to a particular candidate, including picketing of homes and picketing of their places of business. Mix into this the deliberate lies folks are being told that don’t mesh with the reality they are seeing around them…George Orwell anyone…and we have a real problem.

Those of us who fancy ourselves being amateur historians have seen this in history before. I am actually afraid to make the analogies here because of possible criticism or retaliation or accusations of the worst type. But there is nothing new here. Divide and conquer…the overt policy of the current administration…is as old as the hills. The politics of hate whether directed at an ethnic/racial group or an economic class has been around for thousands of years.

The result is an atmosphere of fear and distrust as the administration in power tries to stir up the angry mob. We have seen the angry mob. Do you really think that Barack Obama, the community organizer, didn’t have his hand in the Occupy movement?

My message is simple. America, don’t be afraid. Truth…and standing up for what you believe in…will set you free. Stand up for your own economic future. Stand up for the truth. Stand up for America.