Fear and Trembling

The very thought of reading Soren Kierkegaard brings those emotions to mind, but then there are scarier things out there than that Freshman Philosophy course.

Fear is a powerful political tool and yet it has been used so often of late that even some of the proto-hominids who support the Rabid Right are beginning to feel some traces of skepticism. The rest of us are just disgusted.

When I read in a report this morning that the Miami Police are planning a series of random “security” operations such as staking out banks and checking the identification of everyone going in or out; asking questions and passing out leaflets warning of dire threats, I ask myself not what the danger might be, but what political purpose the exercise serves. Every time the Administration steps down a rung on the ladder of public respect, we get terror alerts. Since the only substantial support George ever got was related to the way he pretended to wage his “Warrentare” it’s still the straw he grasps at.

According to Associated Press, Miami Police Chief John Timoney said there was no specific, credible threat of an imminent terror attack in Miami. But he said the city has repeatedly been mentioned in intelligence reports as a potential target. Timoney said that 14 of the 19 hijackers who took part in the Sept. 11 attacks lived in South Florida at various times and that other alleged terror cells have operated in the area.

The question sitting in the corner, begging with a tin cup in hand, is why now after 5 years?


Tamiflu and Rumsfeld too

Whether or not the infamous Avian Flu ever becomes a disease we have to worry about catching from a featherless biped, the fear of it is likewise beneficial to the administration, or at least to Don the Drug Man Rumsfeld. Rummy’s connection to the drug industry has been widely publicized and his machinations of Government to increase the profits of the drug companies he represented documented right here, so you’ll have to forgive me if I suspect that the fear of the flu might serve a purpose dear to Rummy’s heart, or his bank accounts, which may be the same thing.

The US has placed an order for 20 million doses of Tamiflu, a drug which may or may not shorten the course of the disease, should it ever emerge as an epidemic and may or may not pose health risks of its own. Tamiflu is produced by Roche, although generic manufacturers may or may not be allowed to make some, but it was invented by company called Gilead that 10 years ago gave Roche the exclusive rights to market and sell Tamiflu. You guessed it, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was made the chairman of Gilead in 1997. Since Rumsfeld holds major portions of stock in Gilead, he will handsomely profit from the scare tactics of the government that is being used to justify the purchase of $2 billion of Tamiflu.

“Quack, quack.”

-Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia-