1950's all over again
Most of you aren't old enough to remember the paranoia that the United States had in the 1950's. Then, the world was black and white. It was just the United States and Russia. We were the only two super powers in the world, and the only ones with nuclear weapons. All other countries were viewed as being on one side or another, but no other countries were even on our radar screen in terms of being a threat.
It was so much in the mind's of the American People then, that when my mother gave birth to me, they gave her ether, which basically knocks you unconscious. Back then, it was really the only way of controlling pain. When she was going under just before I was born, she actually thought that the Russian's were invading. Aside from the fear of that happening, she probably never gave a second thought to how hot Russian soldiers are, but that's another story.
As I read this article, it occurred to me that we are getting to the point of being as paranoid now over suicide bombers as we were in the 1950's over a Russian invasion. Funny how history repeats itself.
The FBI has issued a fresh alert to law enforcement agencies to watch for possible suicide bomb attacks inside the United States.
An intelligence bulletin circulated yesterday to 18,000 law enforcement bodies urges them to look for obvious signs of trouble,Time.com reported last night on its Web site. Among them: people wearing heavy, bulky jackets on warm days, smelling of chemicals, or trailing wires from their jackets. A more subtle indicator: tightly clenched fists, which could conceal a detonator rigged to go off when a button is released.
"If you shoot him, you're still not safe because his hands relax and the bomb explodes,'' a counterterrorism official told Time.com.
The bulletin said suicide bombers may disguise themselves in stolen military, police or firefighters' garb, or even as pregnant women, the Web site reported. (source)
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I think you are right Brian. A lot of people do blame others for their problems, and do become victims. I do think there are real cases with real victims though, such as cases involving rape or hate crimes.
We do live in a lot of fear in this country. I mean look at the gay marriage issue. I still do not fully understand why most of America is so scared and threatened by two people who love each other and want to get married. Canada doesn't seem to have this problem.
From an outsider's point of view it seems that Americans live in fear, encouraged by your news media.
There is also a "victim's mentality", which is not just US specific, but encourages people to blame others for their problems. Your excessive litigation cases highlight this. It seems that many of your people don't want to admit that they had input into their problems. A few years back I decided that I was going to refuse to be a victim.