Fear is not relative. We all find fear in our lives. The triggers are varied, but we always hope some element of logic breaks through that provides us with the real truth in each situation we face. In my life I’ve nearly drowned, was mugged and threatened, almost had someone break into my house (I could see him and his cohorts through my door peephole), have been in an airplane that’s lost it’s engine, survived the Northridge quake in 1994 and was in Manhattan on 9/11. I’m sure there have been many other moments, but these are the one’s that stand out, with two caviats: 9/11 wasn’t a fearful situation for me in the same way the Northridge quake was not - I was too busy trying to focus on my own survival to find the time to recognize the fear in these situations.

This is why I wasn’t surprised when the most fearful crowds during our nation’s worst day were everywhere but New York City. Everyone else had the chance to watch this event in slow motion, let it sink in, not have to deal with the real event right in front of their eyes - on the ground - like many of us had to. And while this is a completely natural human condition, in a democracy with a President and administration that made a decision to prey on that fear for political reasons, it does not exhonerate the fearful after the fact.

Here is a more scientific description of this experience from the Neurobiology of Fear by Laurel Duphiney Edmundson:

Studies of neuronal activity in the brain have suggested that the prefrontal cortex, a cognitive and emotional learning center that helps interpret sensory stimuli, is responsible for the conscious assessment of danger. After passing through the amygdala, sensory information is sent on to the cortex. There, the frightening stimulus is examined in detail to determine whether or not a real threat exists. Based on this information, the amygdala will be signaled either to perpetuate the physical response or to abort it. Because the amygdala is aroused before the cortex can accurately assess the situation, an individual will experience the physical effects of fear even in the case of a false alarm.

The folks who used to be in charge of our country understood the dynamics of fear well. Since Richard Nixon they’ve been utilizing it to drive the most fearful to the polls. In fact, many of the same players back then held similar positions during Bush. Today, it is the Republicans who continue to play that card to no avail. Our country doesn’t believe them anymore. In the wake of their stubborness on the stimulus, Obama HAS played the fear card these last few weeks. It was disappointing to me that he did this, however, I understood it was a shortcut to put pressure on the Republicans.

Obama should not play this game again. It was an easy approach for his first piece of legislation, one he felt had urgency at it’s back. My hope is that this practice becomes a thing of the past for the next 8 years so we can truly see what the real threats are and what are the false alarms.

As I’ve mentioned before, cowards are of no use in a democracy. The Republican leadership and it’s followers have essentially been that for a good part of their two terms. This practice must go.

Politics 9/11, fear in politics, Nixon, Northridge Quake, republican fear, stimulus