In the Eye of the Alarmist Hurricane

The political tone in the United States is set by terrorists, freaks and fundamentalists.

The fear and terror menu from which the American public can order these days is a rich one. Conspiracy theories, persecution complexes and real threats compete with one another, firing blindly in all directions, one theory scarcely separable from the next.

There were the Boston bombings, the contaminated letters sent to politicians and a fiery explosion near Waco, Texas. Whether terrorists or murderous sects were behind these acts or whether they were just simply random events, they all symbolize a nation caught in a storm of alarmism, a nation in which the voice of reason can scarcely be heard amid all the clatter and babbling of a society driven by hyperventilating news reports.

Fundamentalist Craziness

None of it was enough to bring common sense to the halls of Congress, however. A modest attempt to pass stronger gun control measures couldn’t even make it through the Senate. That, so the explanation goes, was because they wouldn’t be effective enough in preventing new murderous shooting rampages — at least, no more effective than arming society to the teeth, which the gun lobby insinuates would help. But a closer look at potential gun customers could very well put unstable and mentally disturbed individuals such as those in Newtown, Aurora and Tucson on the radar screen and help prevent another mass slaughter.

Barack Obama’s conclusion that many Americans cling to guns and religion to get through daily life nearly cost him the 2008 election. Five years and the re-election of an intellectual president have by no means diminished the fundamentalist craziness in the tea party movement. On the contrary, hysteria and collective neurosis thrive in that environment. They thrive so well that — presumably — nutty Elvis impersonators now send — presumably — poisonous letters to the White House, none of which are likely to ever be stamped “return to sender” in the future.

Uncompromising

The relentless rejection of government and its institutions has also resulted in a bitter rejection of compromise at a time when reason and compromise are precisely the medicine needed: for gun rights, budget policy, health care reform and immigration policy. In view of the all-or-nothing mentality that prevails in Washington, it’s not surprising that American society is still paralyzed in Obama’s second term. Terrorists, freaks and fundamentalists now set the national agenda; anything that survives that is taken care of by the news media.

Where America will end up in such an atmosphere is anyone’s guess. President Obama’s evident anger at the Senate’s failure to pass even minimal gun reforms won’t be enough to put America back on the political path necessary for the nation to again become the ideological role model for Western civilization. That will probably take a newly revised American dream that agrees with what the majority of Americans want.

But up until now, not even the talented Mr. Obama has been able to crack that nut.