Opinion : Letter to the Editor: Fear, the Democrat's tool of choice

It's a powerful emotion that can allow a person to recall a single instant in time . . . It can turn them into a quivering mass of flesh . . . It can make them cower . . . It can "change their mind" . . . it can destroy a person. We all have such moments in our past. A few of mine would be . . .

* That moment when my teacher said . . . "If you don't change your behavior, I'll call your mother!!"

* My very first homecoming dance with Susie and my mom saying something like . . . "Do you know what you're doing??"

* My first rocket attack and the real realization that I was truly "in country".

* Hearing the doctor say . . . "She has inoperable cancer; I'll be back in a couple hours." . . . as I slid to the floor along the wall of the waiting room.

* Hearing yet another doctor say . . . "Bill, the answer isn't what we wanted - you have cancer!"

These are just a few of my moments - we all have them. A few still make me cringe as a small part of my memory curls up into a little ball.

The raw power of fear . . .

We have been undergoing a long-term experiment on the part of our government and most around the world about just how long fear can control a population. We've gone from "Two weeks to stop the spread!" to two years . . . and no end in sight. Rahm Emanual - Obama's Chief of Staff - coined a fitting phrase to our current situation . . . "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." So, what has this crisis wrought through the actions of our government? Here's a few of things.

* "Mandatory" vaccination with an experimental vaccine.

* A "get the jab or loose the job" atmosphere.

* Lockdowns that have destroyed whole segments of the economy.

* The idea of "vaccine passports". Yellow stars anyone?

* A separation of our population in "vaxxers" and "anti-vaxxers".

* Mandatory mask mandates with masks that make virtually no difference in our ability to inhale or pass on the virus.

* Losses of doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, military members simply because they refuse to take the vaccine or because they will prescribe certain medicines. Numbers are running as high as 25%.

* The replacing of science with superstition. Viable medical mitigation is replaced by a single, solitary phrase . . . "Get the shot!"

* In some countries - Australia comes to mind - a true, fascist system of governance has emerged based solely around trying to "manage" covid that goes so far as to authorize police to shoot their citizens with rubber bullets should they be found outside their homes and mask-less.

What began as a "fear the virus" approach to controlling the populace has evolved into a "fear your government" movement. If you disobey your government will take away your job, confine you to your home and condemn you to a life of poverty. As Joe said . . . "We've been patient, now get the shot!" The "fear" that we responded to initially has been successfully transferred to our government bodies. And sadly, our society has been going along with this "we are the mighty and powerful OZ" routine of folks like Biden, DeBlasio, Cuomo, Witmer, Newsome, Inslee, Murphy, Pritzker . . . to name just a few, for nearly two years. These folks now decide if you work, when you work, where you work, where you eat . . . by simple fiat.

Large gatherings are carefully monitored as well and "winners" and "losers" are chosen. In the leadup to the 2020 elections cities burned - Chicago, New York, Portland, Seattle, Atlanta and more. Billions in damage. We were told . . . "tut tut, it's understandable with all the racism". Millions in damages to DC were simply justified as being "understandable" and were written off - no arrests. Then, "magically", with Trump's declared loss . . . all the concerns went away and the majority of the "troubles" simply disappeared. Until the infamous January 6th "insurrection". You know the one, where those evil Trump supporters stormed the capital - through barricades removed by the capital police, through the doors opened by the capital police and through windows broken by government operatives. Amazingly, except for these few broken windows, no damage was done to the capital . . . none, zero, zip . . . yet this has been declared an event greater than 9/11. Only a single life was lost - an unarmed veteran was murdered by a Capital Policeman. And yet, the administration has used this event mercilessly to show that if you stand against them, the FBI, the DOJ and every other governmental agency will hunt you, jail you and forget about you. Have any come to trial? No. Have any trial dates been set? NO. Have they been beaten and abused in prison? Yes. Just one more lesson of this whole saga . . . OBEY!!!

So, what does this all mean to us as a nation? Nothing good. It means those in power have little to no respect for you. It means that the words you say, the positions you take, the policies you expect, the Constitution you revere mean nothing to them. You might gain some traction if you go "all in" with the new regime but only so long as you are "all in", so long as you are in agreement with their path, so long as you are obedient - otherwise you are just one of the unwashed.

It means that this administration and its minions across the country simply DO NOT FEAR YOU! Period. You are chaff in the wind, a speck of dust to be brushed aside. All that stuff about a Representative Government guided by the Constitution is a thing of the past. Our future lies with the rule of an all-knowing and all-powerful central government. Our future lies in Marxism.

This path, this direction, this fondness for ultimate and complete power must end! They must be taught to fear you. They must be reminded that THEY are in service to YOU, and not the other way around. They must be confronted, resisted, challenged, questioned and removed and replaced. As the phrase goes - "We can do this the easy way . . . or the hard way!" I'm hoping for the best.

Bill Keller