Perception Management...

Such things can’t happen again. And certainly not here.

Ah, but they can. Right here, too.

They already are. And the process began long before the events of nineleven – the new High Holy Day here in the land of the formerly somewhat free. It has been a work in progress since at least the 1980s – when the notion of randomly stopping people – the first frontal assault upon the Fourth Amendment – was introduced and accepted by the courts and then the public. Got to get those dangerous drunks off the road, you see.

Fast forward 20 years and now people are randomly groped as a matter of routine. Got to get those dangerous terrorists now, you see. Personal space itself is no longer inviolate. They can literally spread your cheeks and jam a thumb up your anus now. Just to be “safe.” Over a traffic stop. No, seriously. Don’t believe it? Believe it. They can throw you over the hood of a squad car and draw your blood. They can kick in the door of your home. They can shoot your dog if they feel it threatens “officer safety.” And they can shoot you, too. That’s today.

Try to imagine what it will be like 20 years from now.

Or even five.

It takes time to reorient the instincts of an entire culture – like making bread. The “yeast” is always The Fear – in its ultimate form, of a bogeyman who transmogrifies into ether – and who can never be caught. A perpetual threat means perpetual war.

And perpetual terror.

The Holocaust Shuffle

It can’t happen here. We only do it over there. Because they hate us for our liberty.