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You Can Fool Some of the People...

Despite some of my ravings in this column, I love Americans. Okay, they are not the world's most educated people (about things outside their borders) and there is a political naivety that is at once charming and downright dangerous.

And I reckon the politicians in America have it easy, certainly compared with their Australian counterparts. They may need to duck the occasional bullet sent their way, but in general they get paid a lot more respect than our pack of bottom feeders.

Yup, the American voter is a pretty unsophisticated type who only needs to be told "we are in danger" and any questioning of rights/wrongs and civil liberties go out the window faster than a Tomahawk off a battleship's deck.

Take the anti-terrorist fever that is in plague proportions across the States at the moment.

Anyone of Middle Eastern extraction is not only looked at sideways, but they are automtically guilty of anti-US sentiment unless they can prove otherwise. Bit of a change from innocent until proven guilty.

Across small-town USA people are forming volunteer "citizen's corps" to counter the threat being publicised by my mate old George Dubya Bush and his cronies to get the backing for America's war with Iraq.

The Home Front has the already inward-looking Americans delving waaaaay beyond their own navels and almost into their intestines - which in the post 11 September days are very queasy indeed.

There are stories out about how the Office of National Preparedness is going to give almost $500,000,000 to these citizen's corps to boost their support. Or buy more guns, grenades, rocket launchers or stealth bombers to keep the evil hordes from attacking places like Toosmalltocareabout, Wyoming, or Wherethehecksthat, Florida, or even Tinytownofhicks in Tennessee.

How about this, they are even developing new terror-proof products such as prime movers that automatically cut out when they move from their pre-designated route.

All this strikes me as a bit of smoke and mirrors by Dubya and his mates who really don't want to answer questions such as:

• If we have the world's best security how did 11 September happen?
• If we spend hundreds of billions of dollars on defence how come we are not safe?
• Do we really need to attack Iraq - other than to pay him back for thumbing his nose at us? Or outlasting Dubya's dad politically?
• Do we have to lose our freedoms just because a terrorist attack may happen at some stage in the future?

Anyway, I guess it all doesn't matter too much because the great war machine is being coiled ready to strike and somewhere along the way there's going to be one helluva lot of shite flying around.

If there is something that has really got up your nose, let Grumpy Old Coot know at grumpy@webwombat.com