freeSpeech: Arianna Huffington

(CBS)  Let's face it: "The sky is falling" or "the nukes are coming" is a frighteningly effective sales pitch.

Don't get me wrong: North Korea testing a nuke is real bad news. But I couldn't help but wonder what political use Karl Rove and the president would put this real bad news to. After all, banging the fear gong and trying to scare the hell out of us has worked like a charm for President Bush and the GOP.

Ever since 9/11, "be afraid" has been their No. 1 talking point. They sold us on invading Iraq with warnings from Condoleezza Rice that the "smoking gun might be a mushroom cloud" and dire predictions from Bush and Cheney about all the ways Saddam could rain death and destruction on us. And it's remarkable how the terror rhetoric always seems to hit Red just before elections.

Whether it's the specter of North Korean nukes or Iraqi insurgents making their way to Main Street USA, fear is a powerful, universal emotion — always there to be exploited. So as Election Day draws near, be on the lookout for those attempting to scare us into voting our fears.

To quote FDR, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." And those who use it for their own political purposes.

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Arianna Huffington is a nationally syndicated columnist, author of 10 books and co-founder and editor of the HuffingtonPost.com. She is also co-host of "Left, Right & Center," public radio's popular political roundtable program. Her weekly commentary is syndicated in newspapers across the country by Tribune Media Services.

On May 9, she launched The Huffington Post, an Internet publishing venture featuring an innovative group blog where some of this country's most creative minds weigh in on topics great and small, political and cultural, important or just plain entertaining.

(c)MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved

[cbsurv]

It is astounding that one in five Americans and one in two Southerners are trying to label Barack Obama in a way that would justify his assassination.
I am sure that we all would agree that there are some things that are worth fighting for -- our freedom and human rights, the lives of our loved ones, our strongest, highest beliefs. And if someone or some power were trying to steal these things, we might all feel that that would be worth fighting against.
People who hate what progress our country is proudly making know that these things are held sacred. All they have to do is make some nut out there believe the threat to their country and to their family is real, and one of them might feel justified to take action to mitigate it by trying to KILL OUR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!
It is a known fact that before harm is done to someone they are first labeled. The labeling of our president started with "......he's got a chip on his shoulder." " ......he's an Arab" and "he pals around with terrorists", now "........he's a racist", and "he hates white people". Then he is "trying to steal your health insurance and kill your elders in the process along with your job and your future". To show he is truly a threat that needs to justifiably be dealt with, he is "not even an American citizen" so he is the ultimate illegal alien that has stolen the highest American job! This despite the fact that he HAS submitted proof. Now he and his administration are the new Nazis. This is directed at those who would act to "protect" this country from someone who would try to harm it!!!!!!!
Those who propagate this labeling want someone, somewhere in this country, to be so driven by the fear of the above ideas that they feel justified to actually take a step to kill him. We stood by and watched it happen to doctors that performed legal abortions. That we cannot accept, and we cannot stand by and watch it happen again. Good people must stand up against the continued attempts to character-assasinate, and even worse, to encourage real assassination attempts on our President.
I hope you can use your position to shine light on this psychological scheme before it is too late.

[kailumego1]

Hamiltongrad: I logged on to the web-site WWW.MEMRI.ORG, and I personally don%u2019t see any difference in what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was saying to his people, than Reagan%u2019s propaganda about the %u201CCold-War%u201D.

So, what, if the Islamic world hates America and England, well guess what, they aren%u2019t the only ones, so wake up, it wasn%u2019t so long ago that American%u2019s hatred for communism was just as extreme, you do remember %u201CMcCarthyism%u201D.

And, furthermore, you are just %u201Cblowing-smoke%u201D, you could care less about the degradation being committed on the women and children by the Taliban, please, give me a break. Maybe you can fool those around you with your moral oxymoron, but you can%u2019t fool me. You just jumped on that %u201Cbandwagon%u201D, because you couldn%u2019t find anything else to support your paranoia.

And if you care to research, and go beyond that small corner you have lodged yourself in, maybe you%u2019ll be able to understand why so many countries dislike, or hate the U.S., because of its hypocrisy.
Unless, you are so obsessed with your own self-aggrandizement, that even it the truth was a 2ton block of cement that felled on your head, you still would deny it existed.
And did you forget it was the U.S. that supported the infamous TALIBAN, when it was paranoid over the spread of communism throughout Europe.

[kailumego1]

First of all, I don%u2019t understand why you brought up the Native American ancestry, myself and a great deal of the U.S. population has some indigenous roots, so what.

What does this mean, that you arguably fight against injustices bestowed upon Native Americans by this country, such as their %u201Cfishing and gaming rights%u201D, or contribute financially to helping those improvised on reservations, since you so openly pontificated.

Ok, so why are you so caught up in Islamic injustices when, as you have so eloquently put it, there exist injustices towards the Native American population.

I mean there is plenty of work still to be done right here, so why not focus all that pent-up-hostility towards the Sharia, and put it to some good use right here.

[kailumego1]

The treatment of women under the Sharia law has been, as you obviously know, a centuries old dilemma, but for whom.

All civilizations have been at some period in time been lead by religious doctrine, the Chinese, by Confucian, India by Buddhism, Europeans by flagrant forms of Christianity, etc.

However, unlike, most Arab speaking nations, with increased technology, the Chinese, Europeans, etc modernized and veered away from religious doctrine being a focal part of governmental policy.

Ok, so Arab speaking countries have sought very little to modernized, therefore creating a separation between %u201Cchurch and state%u201D, but isn%u2019t that up to the Arab speaking people.

Just like the people that sought to thwart religious hegemony, in Europe and North America, vehemently protested it, however, it didn%u2019t happen over night.

Why don%u2019t you conserve your energy to fighting battles you can win, right here in America, as oppose to those you can%u2019t.

And as far as your neurotic fear that the world is going to be engulfed by Islam is ludicrous, the populous here and else where would NEVER let that happen.

[akprospector]

Kailumego -- apparently you did not completely read my post. I fully acknowledge the barbarity of the past and my point is why should we tolerate it today as manifest in Sharia law. How about living in the present? BTW, I do have first hand experience with Islam having lived in Southeast Asia for a number of years in the early to mid 1970's before the burka became commonplace. I am also 1/4 Cherokee and fully comprehend the injustices of history. My beef with Islam has to do with what I consider to be a complete subjugation of the human spirit that is fundamental to Islam -- they call it "submission" and they demand this of everyone within and without their faith. As for the burka, to me it represents a form of slavery and abuse that I am told, I must respect. Well I don't and I see it as a threat to the future of civilization. So, yes I am biased and I am not afraid to say so.

[kailumego1]

AKProspector: I'm not condoning nor defending the Sharia law, I am merely stating we, Americans, are not in any position to flagrantly criticize considering our history towards degradation on women and children.

However, you must also consider that your flagrant comments are obviously bias and tainted with this country%u2019s propaganda towards the Islamic culture.

Although latently we are no longer in the %u201Cdark-ages%u201D, but manifestly we still have some semblance of this period, in light of the discrimination that still exist towards women in America.

And for individuals like you who so %u201Cfree-handedly%u201D criticize another culture pointing out its volatility you need to remember from whence you came.

I would absolutely never, want to be under or subjected to any oppressive laws by any religious authority, but, however, you are forgetting about the religious oppression imposed by the Catholic, Protestant, and Puritans.

And I don%u2019t think the context of Ms. Huffington%u2019s commentary was in support the Sharia law, or any other fanatical fundamentalist religious organizations, even here, and yes, we have them.

The point is that individuals, such as yourself, are vehemently committed to pointing out the oppressiveness in other cultures, without admitting to the oppressive behavior of your own.

[akprospector]

So then, Kailumego, you would agree with me that Huffington would look good in a burka. Having zero interest in reading your tome, but highly amused at your foaming rage, I will say that I agree with you that my ancestors treated women and each other horribly and that it has taken centuries to overcome some of wrongs of history. And so, I ask, why would anyone want to return to the dark, evil past in the form of sharia law? Why would you defend this?

[kailumego1]

There are those whom arrogantly and ignorantly harp on the Islamic laws as subjugating and vilifying women and children through instituting laws, of which thwart or demarcate their freedoms.
However, their limited reason and accuracy of American history failed to acknowledge for period of centuries, right up until, the mid-20th century women and children here were subjugated and degradation under U.S. law.
There once was a law on the books called %u201Cthe rule of thumb%u201D, meaning a man could legally beat his wife with an object no bigger than his thumb.
Moreover, women across Europe and the U.S. were legally hanged and burnt at the stake, for %u201Cwitchcraft%u201D, for according to law, a specter of evidence.
Furthermore, this lunacy was extended to men and children of the supposed witch%u2019s family, even generational, or geographical, socio-political reasons, etc.
And speaking of fascism, for inane reasons such as they spoke out against the local pastor, or one farmer yielded more wealth than the other, individuals were singled out deliberately.

[kailumego1]

So, you so-called pontificators of American polity and champion of democracy, those who arrogantly and viciously point the finger at Islamic laws as being depressing, inhumane, and depredating when our laws, at one point in time, were tandem.

Did you forget that even after the Civil War women had to fight vehemently for the right to vote, control of her sexuality or reproduction [in which the Republicans are trying to change, they are trying to thwart abortions even for incest and rape victims], and to manage her own monetary and economic affairs.

Women didn%u2019t acquire the right to vote until the passage of the 19th Amendment in the early 20th century.
And, likewise, it wasn%u2019t until the mid-20th century that women in America started to see a partial indictment against those injustices. The early 20th century!!!

Moreover, even today the laws are still sketchy, there are still arbitrary and capriciousness within the law, for example, a woman who defends herself against an abusive husband or mate gets life for murdering him, when a man who stalks and viciously murders a woman gets, what 5-15 years, maybe.

So, as cruel and inhumane Islamic laws may appear to most Americans, we are not one to talk about this injustice without reminiscing on our horrid past.

[akprospector]

Maybe sharia law isn't all that bad. Huffington would look quite nice in a burka.