Fear → anger.
Rep. Ron Paul, R-TX (the “fightin’ 14th”), on the House floor 6/29: Why Are Americans So Angry? (Choice passage inside.)
It seems bizarre that it’s so unthinkable to change
course if the current policy is failing. Our
leaders are like a physician who makes a wrong diagnosis and prescribes the
wrong medicine, but because of his ego can’t tell the patient he made a
mistake. Instead he hopes the
patient will get better on his own. But
instead of improving, the patient gets worse from the medication wrongly
prescribed. This would be abhorrent
behavior in medicine, but tragically it is commonplace in politics.If the truth is admitted, it would appear that the lives lost and the money spent have been in vain. Instead, more casualties must be sustained to prove a false premise. What a tragedy! If the truth is admitted, imagine the anger of all the families that already have suffered such a burden. That burden is softened when the families and the wounded are told their great sacrifice was worthy, and required to preserve our freedoms and our Constitution.
But no one is allowed to ask the obvious. How have the 2,500 plus deaths, and the 18,500 wounded, made us more free? What in the world does Iraq have to do with protecting our civil liberties here at home? What national security threat prompted America’s first pre-emptive war? How does our unilateral enforcement of UN resolutions enhance our freedoms?
These questions aren’t permitted. They are not politically correct. I agree that the truth hurts, and these questions are terribly hurtful to the families that have suffered so much. What a horrible thought it would be to find out the cause for which we fight is not quite so noble.
I don’t believe those who hide from the truth and refuse to face the reality of the war do so deliberately. The pain is too great. Deep down, psychologically, many are incapable of admitting such a costly and emotionally damaging error. They instead become even greater and more determined supporters of the failed policy.
(From Reddit.)