Hyping fear

Most people believe the hype and Big Lies government officials and media scoundrels tell them. Propaganda rages because it works.

It’s used to enlist support for policies harming public welfare and safety, including endless wars of aggression against invented enemies, as well as crackdowns on fundamental freedoms—eroding en route to disappearing altogether on the phony pretext of creating greater security.

A previous article explained the chance of being struck by lightning is much greater than becoming a terrorist attack victim.

Death by auto accident, preventable diseases, violence at home by one family member against another, alcoholism or excessive use of harmful legal drugs is infinitely higher—facts ignored to hype fear of homeland terrorism.

Obama used his weekly Saturday radio address to hype fear. At 8PM Sunday evening ET, December 6, he addressed “the nation from the Oval Office about the steps our government is taking to fulfill his highest priority: Keeping the American people safe,” according to a White House statement.

Hel “discuss[ed] the broader threat of terrorism . . . his firm conviction that ISIL will be destroyed . . . [US] values [and] our unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and freedom.”

Sadly, most people believe this rubbish. Rogue US policies are polar opposite administration and media propaganda.

Fact: US values are hugely destructive, representing pure evil. No “commitment to justice, equality, and freedom” exists. Just the opposite. Powerful monied interests alone are served.

Fact: No credible homeland terrorist threat exists—except what’s state-sponsored, a major threat to public safety and freedom.

Fact: Dark US forces created ISIS, Al Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra and likeminded splinter groups—using them as proxy imperial foot soldiers, ravaging countries where they’re deployed.

Fact: Automatically calling violent incidents like the San Bernardino shootings terrorism is done to hype fear.

Fact: America is a culture of violence. Multiple incidents occur daily—on streets, at other public areas and in homes.

Fact: On an average summer weekend in Chicago, half a dozen or more incidents of gun violence are reported—none called terrorism. Much the same happens in other cities nationwide.

Fact: Cops in America kill about three mostly innocent victims daily, largely Blacks and other people of color—acts of state terrorism.

Americans today face a greater threat to their freedom, safety, welfare and survival than at any previous time in US history—not from ISIS or lone wolf terrorism, but from rogue state policies, making the nation unfit and unsafe to live in, threatening world peace, stability and security.

The New York Times is America’s lead instrument of state propaganda. It hyped the nonexistent terrorist threat, headlining “California Attack Has US Rethinking Strategy on Homegrown terror,” saying: It “appeared to reflect an evolution of the terrorist threat that Mr. Obama and federal officials have long dreaded: homegrown, self-radicalized individuals operating undetected before striking one of many soft targets that can never be fully protected in a country as sprawling as the United States.”

Police killed both San Bernardino assailants, The motive for their attack is unclear at best. Gun related violence claims around 100,000 lives in America annually—each incident on average leaving two other victims wounded.

Nothing is done to curb or prevent what’s shocking and intolerable. Gun violence touches every segment of society. It happens on streets, in homes, at work, in schools, numerous other places, and by self-inflicted shootings.

Major incidents like Virginia Tech, Norwalk, CT; Columbine, CO; Sandy Hook, CT; and San Bernardino, CA, make headlines. Thousands of other shootings are ignored.

The CDC calls firearm deaths “an important public health concern.” Congress dismisses it. Vulnerability to domestic gun-related death or injury exceeds some US war theaters.

Instead of shocking politicians to act, they support the virtual unrestricted right to bear arms. Prohibited automatic weapons are easily obtained. Powerful semi-automatic assault ones are freely bought and sold.

America’s longstanding culture of violence is at fault. Calling incidents like San Bernardino terrorism diverts attention from a national epidemic—willfully to hype fear of virtually nonexistent terrorism.

The Times quoted Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, saying “(w)e have moved to an entirely new phase in the global terrorist threat and in our homeland security efforts.”

Terrorists “outsourced attempts to attack our homeland. We’ve seen this not just here but in other places. This requires a whole new approach, in my view.”

The public is being manipulated to accept likely horrors to come. In the wake of the Paris false flag, Obama escalated US aggression on Syria and Iraq, risking direct confrontation with Russia.

Measures hel announced Sunday night will further erode fundamental freedoms on the phony pretext of protecting national security, making America more of a police state than already.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” Visit his blog at sjlendman.blogspot.com . Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.