On the efficacy of fear

I was going to write this essay earlier this month, probably after a GOP debate. But, life intervened, and I set it aside.

I certainly wasn’t expecting the Paris attacks. But I should have expected the reaction among most everyone on the Right.

While Parisians are crowding outdoor cafes and continuing with their lives as a raised fist against the fear which Daesh wants them to live under, conservatives in this country are running around flinging fearful fecal matter in every direction, warning that Daesh is under your bed, or that the orphaned refugee could be a sleeper agent ready to detonate a bomb at your nearest NFL stadium.

However, I’m not going to say that this is against American tradition. The fact is that the United States has always had a very vibrant Party of Fear.