This Defilement Of The Flag Is Worse Than Burning It

Alan: Fascism's attractiveness resides in the "promise" that an autocratic leader will take every repressive measure necessary to eliminate danger, thus making "the people" safe.

But are people really in danger? 

"Getting behind the wheel of a car" is many thousands of times more dangerous than the threat of Homeland terrorism. 

In fact, driving a car is - by far - the single most dangerous thing we do every day. (Corroborating data for these claims is provided below.)

The fundamental delusion of fascists is that danger can be eliminated by ever-tightening security measures imposed by a comprehensively-oppressive political system.

But danger cannot - under any circumstance - be eliminated by command-and-control.

Life - by nature - is risky business. (For those who believe in God, it is edifying to recall that Creation comes with built-in danger. From the beginning you could be eaten by a wild beast or killed by your brother "Cain.")

In a sane society, it is necessary to assess risk and then take reasonable measures that offer real promise of containing it in a statistically meaningful way. To be clear: we cannot "eliminate" risk - an enduringly chimerical quest. But we can "contain" risk within reasonable limits by taking reasonable measures. https://www.amazon.com/Sane-Society-Erich-Fromm/dp/0805014020

Unlike "the reasonable measures" that can be taken, fascists fight The Law of Diminishing Returns from the get-go and will never be happy with "the security situation," not even when Duce-Fuhrer-Hobnailed-Leader continues to tighten the screws while marching thunderously into an eternally-receding horizon. 

Fascists are people who have been consumed by fear and nothing - this side of metanoia - will relieve their self-terrorization. Their fears, misgivings and angst can never be assuaged. Bill Maher epitomized the conundrum with his analysis of "birthers": "There's nothing anyone can do to convince these folks. You could hand them, in person, the original birth certificate and have a video of Obama emerging from the womb with Don Ho singing in the background ... and they still wouldn't believe it... This isn't a case of Democrats versus Republicans. It's sentient beings versus the lizard people."

Bill Maher On Birthers
(The Long Form)

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/09/bill-maher-on-birthers.html

Fascist certainty that calamity will occur if oppression is not universalized will, from time to time, be confirmed by catastrophic occurences.

But fundamentally, fascism is The Calamity just as Donald Trump is The Swamp.

Fascists are like the hypochondriac who died at 104: his tombstone read: "I told you I was sick!"

Consider these contextualizations.

Here in the United States, more Americans are killed by toddlers than terrorists.

Toddlers Kill More Americans Than Terrorists. American Cops Kill Nine Times More Americans

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/03/toddlers-kill-more-americans-than.html

Here in the United States, nine (9) times as many Americans are killed by cops as are killed by terrorists.

Americans Are 9 Times More Likely To Be Killed By A Policeman Than A Terrorist

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/12/americans-are-nine-9-times-more-likely.html

"More Americans Killed By Police Than By Terrorists Even Though Crime Is Down"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/03/more-americans-killed-by-police-than-by.html

Now ask yourself these questions.

Do you (or any of your friends, relatives, acquaintances) directly know someone who was killed (or injured) by a terrorist?

Do you (or any of your friends, relatives, acquaintances) know someone who was killed (or injured) in an automobile accident.

Finally, consider this.

In western Europe, the number of people killed in car crashes per mile traveled is less than half the number of fatalities in the United States. 

You Drive Like An American!

Newsweek

http://www.newsweek.com/2014/04/04/you-drive-american-248061.html

Why U.S. Roads Are More Dangerous Than European Ones

The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/road-safety/10882359/Why-US-roads-are-more-dangerous-than-in-Europe.html

List Of Motor Vehicle Deaths In The United States, 

By Year

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year

List Of Countries By Traffic-Related Death Rate

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

By imitating Western Europe's traffic laws (and other traffic practices) we could cut the number of American road fatalities by 17,500 per year, simultaneously reducing the number of significant injuries by at least 150,000.

Every decade the equivalent slaughter of "nuking" Chattanooga, Tennessee takes places. 

Needlessly.

Every decade, the entire population of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is maimed or seriously injured. 

Needlessly. 

A question...

Will you - or anyone know - lift a finger to impede this yuuuge preventable carnage?

See?

We terrorize ourselves in those domains where we are most viscerally triggered; "facts" be damned, "alternative facts" be deified.

Faulty Risk Assessment And The Epidemic Spread Of Self-Terrorization

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/02/faulty-risk-assessment-and-epidemic.html

Self-Terrorization, The National Pastime

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/10/self-terrorization-national-pastime.html

"Saudi Support For Wahhabi Radicalism Is The Taproot Of Islamic Terror"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/09/saudi-arabians-support-for-wahhabi.html

The Weaponization Of Grief: Paris Terror And The Non-Contextualization Of News Coverage

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-weaponization-of-grief-paris-terror.html

Trump Will Go Full-Throttle Fascist Following The First Major Terror Attack.

Putin Knows This

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/01/trump-will-go-full-throttle-fascist.html

Trump's Most Egregious, In-Your-Face Fascist Declaration: "We're Going To Have To Do Things..."

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/08/trumps-most-egregious-in-your-face.html

Juan Cole: Paris Terrorists Wanted To Embolden The French Right

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/01/juan-cole-paris-terrorists-wanted-to.html

Best Pax Posts: Self-Terrorization Is The National Pastime

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/01/best-pax-posts-self-terrorization-is.html

In America, Big-Time Terrorism Started With Angry, White Prototypal Tea Bag, Timothy Veigh

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/09/in-america-terrorism-started-with-angry.html

"Terror And The Other Religions"

How Do Christians Rank As Terrorists

Juan Cole

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/04/terrorism-and-other-religions-juan-cole.html

Properly Understood, The Iraq War Was An Ego-Driven Exercise In State-Sponsored Terrorism 

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/11/we-are-not-at-war-with-islam-exchange.html

Timothy McVeigh Joins Forces With 20th Century Championship White Christian Terrorists

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/04/timothy-mcveigh.html

Jenny McCarthy: Poster Girl For Self-Terrorization
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/11/jenny-mccarthy-americas-poster-girl-for.html

"Do War's Really Defend America's Freedom?"

(Homage To Marine Commandant, Major General Smedley Butler)

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/11/do-wars-really-defend-americas-freedom.html

Scare The Sheep 

And They Will Applaud Military-Industrial Profiteering

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/scare-sheep-and-they-will-cheer.html

Republican Lawmaker From Nevada Sends Christmas Card Featuring Fully Armed Family

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/republican-lawmaker-from-nevada-sends.html

"Whom The Gods Would Destroy, They First Make Mad"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/whom-gods-would-destroy-they-first-make.html

How The Urge To Punish Islamics For Being Islamic Promotes Terrorism

NPR

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/how-urge-to-punish-islamics-for-being.html

I've Framed This Week's New Yorker Cover: It Epitomizes The Essence Of What We've Become

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/ive-framed-cover-of-this-weeks-new.html

Intelligent Gun Control Or Uncontrolled Guns?

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/intelligent-gun-control-or-uncontroled.html

The Mistaken Concept That Reducing Cultures To Rubble Results In Peace

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-mistaken-concept-that-reducing.html

Punishment Rarely Reforms But Instead Tends To Reinforce Wrongdoing

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/punishment-rarely-works-to-reform-but.html

Frog Hospital's Fred Owens Prompts Discussion Of Prohibition And Gun Control

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/frog-hospitals-fred-owens-prompts.html

Why No Terror Attacks On New Year's Eve?

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/01/why-no-terror-attacks-on-new-years-eve.html

Militia Seizes Federal Land: Why Is The White Media Not Calling This Terrorism?

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/01/militia-seizure-of-federal-land-in.html

"Readily Available Firearms Aid And Abet Terrorism"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/readily-available-firearms-aid-and-abet.html

Obama's Brilliant Press Conference On The Paris Terror Attacks And How We Should Respond

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/11/obamas-brilliant-press-conference-on.html

"Self-Terrorization Is The National Pastime"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/10/tom-toles-cartoon-self-terrorization-is.html
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/11/self-terrorization-cornerstone-of.html
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/06/uncle-sams-advice-for-superpatriots.html
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2011/10/self-terrorization-national-pastime.html
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/05/national-pastime-self-terrorization.html
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/02/faulty-risk-assessment-and-epidemic.html
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/04/americas-national-pastime-is-self.html
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/11/jenny-mccarthy-americas-poster-girl-for.html
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/11/self-terrorization-cornerstone-of.html
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-gop-campaign-message-be-afraid.html

The Timeline Of European Terrorism: Who's Responsible For How Much Over Decades

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-timeline-of-european-terrorism-whos.html

I Am Not Given To Alarmism But I Cannot Conceive How To Control Drones As Tools Of Terror

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/02/i-am-not-given-to-alarmism-but-i-do-not.html

Remember: If you're terrified, the terrorists won.

And you made their victory possible.