Scaring Americans for political gain?

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself?nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.

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– Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933

So, we meet again. The United States has once again been challenged with another threat to our existence. This time, however, we are not fearing the consequences of The Great Depression. Today we face the grim reality of a world-wide war declared against us by a network of terrorist groups and tyrannical nations committed to what has come to be known as "Islamofascism."

We can't wish this threat away. We can't pray this threat away. And most certainly, denial will not make it go away.

Just this past week after the plot to detonate ten jets filled with innocents over American soil was discovered and stopped, Howard Dean said something quite revealing ... about Howard Dean:

The president has his team out there – Karl Rove and his folks. They're trying to scare people again. You know what they said about Ned Lamont's win – ''That's a good thing for al-Qaida,'' Dick Cheney said. If you want a real change in this county, you have to stop trying to scare people in order to win elections.

According to Howard Dean, the president and Karl Rove are "Scare-or-ists." They are scaring Americans for political gain.

And all this time I thought it was the terrorists that were trying to do that. This is like saying the doctor that diagnosed your cancer wasn't trying to inform you of a threat to your health, he was simply trying to scare you.

When I look at people like Howard Dean and John Kerry and all the other anti-war, pro-appeasement politicians, I don't see political opportunists. I see fear. Abject fear. I see people who, at their core, deny reality because they are afraid.

We all deal with threats differently. Some of us deny danger when it stares us in the face, and others stare it down.

They say a cancer patient's attitude about his or her condition has as much to do with their recovery as the chosen form of treatment. Some people, with the exact same diagnosis, give up on the news of their disease, while others vow to beat it, regardless of the odds.

We're all different. It doesn't make us bad people, but there are some who adopt an approach to threats that is more successful than others.

And speaking of threats, Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has stated on numerous occasions, that he not only would like to see Israel wiped off the map, but that occurrence is necessary to solve the problems that exist in the Middle East.

Time for a gut check. Do you believe President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad intends to solve the problem in the Middle East as he sees it?

If you are comfortable believing the president of Iran could never believe or act on such a belief, think about this:

In Islam, there is a firmly held belief concerning an Armageddon-like struggle that many of them believe is upon us now. For Shiite Muslims, this is all about the long-awaited return of the Hidden Imam. His return will mark the triumphant victory of good over evil – as they see it. Like it or not, believe it or not, President Ahmadinejad has indicated, to all that will listen, this time is now. More precisely, Aug. 22, 2006. This exact date in the Islamic calendar relates to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. Hard-core Muslim fundamentalists, like President Ahmadinejad, mark the evening flight of the Prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to the farthest mosque, most often identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back home.

Now, I want you to think about the ten jets filled with innocents that were supposed to blow up over America within the next week or so.

And then think back to the seemingly inexplicable kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and the launching of thousands of rockets into Israel by a terrorist group – Hezbollah – whose puppet-master is Iran.

With that in mind, do you think it was any coincidence that President Ahmadinejad just happened to seek out Mike Wallace for a special interview for ''60 Minutes?'' Let me be the first to tell you. I believe, President Ahmadinejad knew all about the intended sequel to Sept. 11 and he was going to use his appearance on ''60 Minutes'' to scare you so badly you would convert not to becoming a Muslim, but to becoming an appeaser. Cowering before him is step one. Step two is adopting his views or dying a brutal death. In short, he wanted to turn you into Howard Dean. President Ahmadinejad has big plans, and if he is to achieve them, he needs to have all of us fear him and determine it is better to submit to his desires rather than face the fate of those who were to be blown to bits in those ten jets.

Am I scaring you? Am I, like President Bush and Karl Rove, a "Scare-or-ist"?

If you doctor tells you about a cancer that has taken over a part or parts of your body, he doesn't give you that information because he hopes to scare you into accepting his prescription for battling the cancer. He is treating you like an adult, giving you the facts, and hoping you are a full partner and will commit yourself to a long, difficult and painful treatment.

All in the name of survival. All for the purpose of returning to your normal life as a free and cancer-free American.

This is where we are today. We have the facts and they are grim. However, we have to means to battle our enemies if we choose to believe the threat is real and we are willing to endure the battle that lies ahead.

We, with a little help from our friends, have scored a major victory over the real terrorists that live among us. Now, we need to defeat the fear within us and take on those whose mission in life is to destroy us.

If we do that, President Ahmadinejad will see what it is like to live the rest of his days in abject fear.