Detention in Fortress America
A friend of mine did an hour or so in detention at American customs recently and he was struck by how terrifying it was to realize that American authorities can disappear people at will now, thanks to the successful fear-mongering campaign generated by 9/11. What struck him most was the tiny room with the giant portraits of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney looking down on him. Very Big Brother. And scary. Outspoken activists are clearly not welcome in America these days. Keep your head down, be good, and maybe nothing will happen to you - at the hands of your duly elected government, that is.
Anyway, we got to talking about how fearful Americans seem for a country of free and brave citizens and how their patriotic rhetoric bears no resemblance to their reality. It's as if the country insists that the "propaganda as history" campaign continue, too, lest everyone's mind suddenly be torn asunder by the facts and America the Beautiful disintegrates into thin air.
Still, there's hope - shift forward to a tiny customs room with a giant portrait of Obama on the wall and transfer the psychological impact of that to 300 milion people and I bet Americans will soon be able to turn down the alert level to beige.
