The Triangle

Issue date: 7/23/04 Section: Ed-Op

Media Credit: The Triangle

I consider myself a somewhat conservative person in my political views, which is a source of friction between me and some of my friends, who are staunch liberals. I'm also not a huge fan of President George W. Bush, but unlike my leftist friends, I don't think he's the Great Satan either. I don't agree with a lot of what Bush does and won't be voting for him this November, but when my friends roll out the outlandish conspiracy theories, I dismiss them.

Well, I used to dismiss them, until I heard on the news that Bush is trying to postpone the elections in case of a terrorist attack. Suddenly, all those crackpot theories about Bush trying to declare martial law so he could invade the Middle East with dictatorial impunity didn't seem so crackpot anymore.

Okay, so maybe I'm overreacting, but you have to ask yourself why Bush would want to push back the election date, especially for the reasons given. Back in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the word from the Bush Administration was that we should not let the terrorists dictate our every day decisions. We shouldn't cancel flights because then the terrorists win. We shouldn't stop traveling abroad because then the terrorists win. We shouldn't stay away from tourist locations because then the terrorists win. By that logic, you'd think that Bush wouldn't want a little thing like the outside threat of a terrorist attack to disrupt the flow of democracy, would he?

Or maybe he would. A Bush win isn't so certain come Election Day. Given that his initial victory wasn't strong to begin with and that the sheen of his strong leadership during the terrorist attacks has worn off due to the war in Iraq, there's a very good chance that John Kerry will be making his address at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come January. Bush is feeling the heat, and by postponing the elections indefinitely, he buys more time in office to get his agendas through. He can also continue to manipulate the terror alerts and claim that there will be an impending terror attack on the next scheduled replacement election enough times so he has power indefinitely, thus undermining the election system and becoming Dictator of the United States.

All right, maybe that won't exactly happen. In fact, that's a scenario that I don't think Bush will try, nor will the other branches of government allow it to happen. Bush knows that postponing the election will not fly; however, Kerry threatens him enough that he has to use the most basic means of controlling the masses: fear. By dropping hints that there might be a terrorist attack and suggesting that it might be bad enough to disrupt the democratic process, he can get the people in enough of a frenzy that they will legitimately be afraid to go out and vote. Then, when he has the masses believing that he will in fact get the election changed to a more "secure" date, he can proclaim that everything is safe and that the election can happen as scheduled. Theoretically, this might get more people to believe that he's a competent President and that he's worth four more years.

Continued...

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