Irrational Hysteria

The irrational hysteria shown by many in this country never ceases to amaze me.

Take, for example, the proposal to move a large number of the remaining prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to a sparsely-populated maximum security prison in a sparsely-populated town called Thompson, IL. The majority of people of Thompson seem to want such a proposal carried out, as it would provide jobs at the Thompson Correctional Facility which has never been fully staffed due to budgetary reasons. There are some, however (the vast majority of whom are on the right side of the political spectrum and unfortunately get a lot of media attention), who feel that moving these individuals to an 8-year-old, maximum security prison in the middle of rural Illinois would somehow put the American people in unnecessary grave danger. According to the CDC, there were over 30,000 gun deaths in the United States, and these conservative talking heads think moving these detainees onto American soil is what is going to put Americans in unnecessary mortal danger? Give me a break. Do they expect these men to escape, find refuge, plan an attack, and then carry out said attack? Keep dreaming. Irrational hysteria.

This morning on CNN, I saw a piece on militia groups who arm themselves to the teeth with semi-automatic weapons and train for a confrontation with...I don't know who. The government? President Obama himself? One militia member raised the prospect that President Obama was "dangers for the nation." Another hoped that their presence makes lawmakers in Washington take "pause." I don't understand. Is he suggesting that he wants lawmakers to think, Gee, we were going to pass this law, but those militia members may come after us, so we better pause and think twice? And another reason why the militia members do what they do? Baseless fear that President Obama is going to take away their guns. Irrational hysteria.

Irrational hysteria is nothing new in this country, dating all the way back to the witch hunts of the 1600s. And I guess it's too much to expect everyone in the country to grow a brain and instead exhibit rational calm, so we'll just have to keep putting up with it. Only in America.