OpEdNews

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mary_sha_080131_rudy_2c_9_2f11_2c_and_a_na.htm

January 31, 2008

Rudy, 9/11, and a Nation Tired of the Terrorism Hype

By Mary Shaw

Yesterday, Rudy Giuliani officially dropped out of the 2008 presidential race, after not doing so well in Tuesday's Florida primary.

Rudy's poor primary results came as a surprise to some people, because last year he had been considered a front-runner.

A lot of pundits are blaming it on the fact that Rudy didn't bother to court the early primary states, waiting to focus instead on Florida.

But I'm hoping that there's another explanation.

I'm hoping that people ignored him at the polls because they're sick and tired of hearing about 9/11 and how frightened they should be.

You see, Rudy ran on a 9/11 platform. As Senator Joe Biden had so cleverly observed, "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, and a verb, and 9/11."

Rudy seemed to believe that 9/11 had enabled him to prove his fitness as a leader in the "war on terror", and that this was reason enough to elect him.

George W. Bush won reelection in 2004 on a similar platform -- by touting 9/11 and terrorism, and convincing the sheep that only he could keep us safe.

I like to think that America has woken up and can see through that kind of scare-mongering now.

I like to think that Americans are tired of being frightened into supporting bad politics and bad politicians.

I like to think that this is another reason why Rudy lost his White House bid.

And I hope that this voter lucidity will last through November, and that Americans will this time not vote against their own (and the country's) best interests.

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Authors Website: http://www.maryshawonline.com

Authors Bio: Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a focus on politics, human rights, and social justice. She is a former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty International, and her views appear regularly in a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. Note that the ideas expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Amnesty International or any other organization with which she may be associated.