Why did 911 make people think irrationally?

[dennis4868]

I just don't get it. All the facts show that Bush did not give a shit about terror before 911 even though he was warned by so many....then 911 happends to the country....and all of a sudden you have people like Dennis Miller who stop thinking rationally and based their support on the emotions of 911. I guess Rove knew what he was doing even though it is below the belt.

But why would 911 make people think irrationally? So many people all of a sudden have this blind support for Bush and it is not based on anything but 911.....they really cannot tell you why they support Bush except to say that 911 changed everything....WTF?

[PaDem]

1. Fear......

thats all it is. People aren't rationale when they live in fear. Also, people are naturally vulnerable when they fear attack in the sense that they stop questioning the government they think they must rely on to protect them.

[Guava Jelly]

4. I agree 100%

let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933

Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.- Dostoyevsky

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

- Frank Herbert, Dune - Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear

the things you fear are undefeatable, not by there nature, but by your approach

- Jewel Kiltcher (Singer)

Fear is only as deep as the mind allows
- Japenese proverb, In Proverbs

Fear is the path to the Dark Side; fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. - Yoda/Star Wars Episode 1

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Because the ruling elite manipulated the media to make people irrational.

It didn't happen all by itself.

[movonne]

3. Apparently not in NY where it happened.

[swag]

5. People were thinking poorly before 9/11, and the specter of that

day just made it worse (i.e., more "spiritual.")

One begins to wonder what possibly sensibly human action could look like in the absolutely hopeless post-Cheney-Bush-Junta could possibly look like.

Lurking freepers: think about your version of conservativism.

Could this lurking/living hell possibly be it?

[yardwork]

6. I didn't start thinking irrationally.

Nobody I know started thinking irrationally after 9/11. Lots of people here on DU didn't start thinking irrationally.

The only people I know who are thinking irrationally now were irrational on 9/10/2001. They already thought shrub was just terrific.

[MrScorpio]

7. Exploitation, Pure and simple.

Exploiting fear and loathing

That's their whole strategy

[Texas_Dem]

8. It is FEAR

9-11 was terrorism plain and simple and it worked. It worked to frighten Americans like never before. After 9-11 many Americans wanted to hit someone, anyone. It was a gift-wrapped excuse for this administration to invade Iraq, entrench themselves in power and push though their agenda.

It worked to the advantage of this administration because they can keep people afraid of the future.

They can point to 9-11 and say: "I am here to protect you, go about your lives and live peacefully." This administration feels they can tell the American people they are keeping us safe from terror by invading Iraq, restricting our constitutional rights and trampling on the economy out of necessity. And many Americans FEEL safer because someone is saying they will protect them with a big stick and they don't have to worry at night. They can sleep in their beds on the word of an otherwise insignificant man who looks and sounds determined to fight the "evil doers."

It is like being robbed. You feel violated and you want to do something. You do things you never thought of before. You buy a gun, mace or something else. You prepare yourself to be violent. George Bush took advantage of those feelings and still is to this day. He took our outrage and twisted it for his own purposes so that many people have come to think that all these "miscalculations" this administration has made is acceptable because it provides a catharsis. People are mistaking that catharsis for a feeling of safety. A false sense of safety.

Many people cannot allow their minds to go back to those feelings of fear and violation. So they let George Bush get away with what he pleases - and he happily does.

--- end of rant ----