Community Checkup

A great comment from a Washington Post article yesterday about fear and Obama’s campaign:

The point of Obama’s candidacy is that the damaged state of American democracy is not the fault of George W. Bush and his minions, the corporate-controlled media, the insurance industry, the oil industry, lobbyists, terrorists, illegal immigrants or Satan. The point is that this mess is our fault. We let in the serpents and liars, we exchanged shining ideals for a handful of nails and some two-by-fours, and we did it by resorting to the simplest, deepest-seated and readiest method we possess as human beings for trying to make sense of the world: through our fear. America has become a phobocracy. [Source: WaPo]

Well said. The quote speaks to the voters’ responsibility for the current condition of the country as well as its future. George Bush didn’t just happen to us–he was voted in. Iraq didn’t just happen either. Sure, the people were duped and lied to plenty of times, but part of the reason Bush and his cronies were able to get that off, and why the people did little in response, was because the people were terrified to death. The question going forward is, after learning these lessons the very, very hard way, will we continue to let that fear govern us? Will people vote based on who they are afraid might get elected or will they vote on who they want to be elected?

There is world of difference between the two.