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The Crouching Factor
NMB, Florida November 4, 2001 A.H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published Now and
Then. Opinions Pro or Con Are Welcome.
THE CROUCHING FACTOR
Maureen Dowd in today's NY Times used this image in describing the
indescribable confusion our country's response to terror is in. I would add
another picture for your mind and ask you to think of everyone hunkering
down in a duck-walk in order not to become a target. A target for what, you
might ask? Well we are all afraid of another successful ( ) [you select
the term by (Arab, Osama bin Laden, Islamacist, fifth column, insane
anarchist, Al Qeda)] attack, so we crouch down.
We pull our heads down into our shoulders and walk with bent knees and use
our knuckles to help our balance as we try to function while trying to avoid
being hurt. In addition we watch our words so as not to be seen as
disloyal. We censor our speech as well as our thoughts and hope for the
best while we have the least leading us and his friends with whom he is most
comfortable in charge of our defense. It seems we have no defense.
One of the worst things that can result from this muddle is a splinter in
your finger from the shattered castle in the air we created when our
forefathers gave us a Constitution and rules to rule ourselves by. That
splinter is infected with all kinds of microbes thoughtfully included by our
invisible invaders. They are here among us and we are afraid. I believe
our next step besides loyalty oaths and investigations by our supremely
invincible FBI and other American alphabets will be to lose the freedoms we
never really understood or enjoyed.
Americans are children next to the citizens of countries that have no
resources but do have ancient religions, ruins of magnificent civilizations
and feuds that never go away. We are young and are being slapped around by
people with a mission. They are not maniacs nor fuzzy-haired, bearded and
bomb carrying anarchists lovingly pictured by cartoonists at the beginning
of last century. Anarchists win when we create our own anarchy.
We are hiding, well - just crouching low, to prevent ourselves from being
targeted forgetting that we ARE the targets.
Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of 10.
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