Scary thought…
O.K. I’ve been struggling against the idea that the Bush Administration is something exceptional in American history (I still think there have been past situations which have been worse), that we need to get Bush out, regardless of who replaces him, or what the long-term political cost is, etc.
I’m now seriously re-evaluating that opinion. Why? Because, today, for the first time in my life, the thought occured to me that, perhaps, writing a letter to an elected or appointed officer of my government might not be the wisest action imaginable… that it might get me put on a list somewhere… might cause a red flag to be put on my file, so to speak, and that perhaps it would be better to not draw attention to myself.
Rationally speaking, I can’t convince myself that this is anything but excessive paranoia. And yet… if I’m thinking this, I’ve got to wonder what other people are thinking. This is known as a “chilling effect”, and until today, I thought myself immune to it. The idea that this thought even surfaced bugs me, quite a lot.
I’m still not sure how to react to this, and I haven’t processed the experience completely, but stuff is definitely sloshing around in the back of my head as I type.
More later?
