One of FDR's early initiatives was the 'fireside chat', a weekly radio address to the nation in which he outlined programs and brought hope directly into American homes. These fireside chats held America together in those early years and spread the feeling that 'we're all in this together, and we're going to get through it -- together'.

But despite FDR's reputation as a gifted orator, I was always unimpressed with one of his more famous quotes. After gaining the presidency in 1932, FDR told a frightened and desperate America that 'we have nothing to fear, but fear itself.'

Until recently, that quote never packed much of a punch for me. I respected the job that Roosevelt did as president, and in my opinion he remains one of our greatest leaders. But that particular quote always felt so esoteric, so uninspired. Only in recent times have I come to really understand it, and develop an appreciation of its great wisdom.

In 1932, Roosevelt saw clearly the peril America faced. A full quarter of the American work force was idle. Tent cities sprung up everywhere and people were desperate. This anxiety was not limited to the United States. The Great Depression had hit the combatant nations of World War I hard, and a blowback wave of nationalism spread across the European continent. Unions battled the new corporate power brokers for the soul of nations and corporate interests found allies in extreme nationalist political parties. The rise of the Nazis in Germany was mirrored by similar trends in Italy, Spain and Japan. The message of the nationalists then is very similar to the message of the American neo-conservative now: Foreigners are the enemy, the homeland is under attack, intellectuals and liberals are traitors and only by returning to traditional 'values' (xenophobia and religious fundamentalism, apparently) can the homeland be saved. Then as now, fear is the delivery vehicle for that message.

We live now in a time of permanent fear. Three years ago, our nation suffered its most devastating single attack in history. A small band of Islamic terrorists loyal to Osama bin Laden flew hijacked commercial jets into landmark buildings, killing nearly 3,000 Americans. If ever there was an opportunity for a president to rally the populace and encourage cooperation between nations, it was then. However, George W. Bush, the lesser scion of a dubious family, has none of the mettle, intelligence or integrity of FDR. In fact, quite the opposite is true.

In George W. Bush, fear finally has a prophet in America.

Consider the following. In the immediate aftermath of the 911 attacks, our Commander in Chief flitted from one air force base to another, bravely running away (to paraphrase the minstrels of Sir Robin) from danger. Former President Clinton and Near President Al Gore both made it to the wreckage of New York before Bush. And when Bush did arrive, he encouraged Americans to take to the malls and go shopping as response. He offered a simplistic and incorrect rationale for the attacks ("they hate us for our freedom"). He also promised to bring the perpetrators to justice.

America was frightened and vulnerable to deception. And the neoconservatives wasted no time in using this fear to their advantage.

After a half-hearted initial attempt to locate the al-Qaeda leadership in Afghanistan, Bush and Co. used fear to sell America and our elected representatives on an illegal and unnecessary war in Iraq. They claimed this tiny nation that had been militarily castrated by the 1991 Gulf War and 12 years of subsequent sanctions (not to mention near daily bombing raids by the US Air Force) was suddenly a threat to the American homeland. Is it a coincidence that this tiny nation also happened to sit atop one of the world's largest oil fields, or that the Bush Administration is comprised primarily of ex-oil industry executives?

They floated bizarre fantasies of un-manned Iraqi aircraft, spraying our skies with anthrax and other nastiness. They invented ton upon ton of WMDs and claimed to know exactly where these weapons were located. Condi Rice, the inept National Security Advisor under whose watch the 9/11 disaster occurred, told us that Iraq had nuclear weapons and would not hesitate to use them against us. In fact, she claimed attack was imminent. Even the once respectable Secretary of State Colin Powell threw in with the extremists and held two tiny vials filled with yellow powder before the United Nations, crying wolf and howling for war.

When war began and our troops arrived, their first mission was to secure the Iraqi oilfields. Two years later, little else is secured in a land of utter and escalating chaos.

As I write, the Iraq war has claimed over 1,400 American lives. Many thousands of our soldiers have returned home with devastating injuries. Untold thousands more have been poisoned by the depleted uranium (DU) used in shell casings. No one knows the long-term effects of this silent killer, but its legacy will be felt for generations. To date, over 100,000 Iraqi civilians have perished. From a financial standpoint, hundreds of billions of dollars have disappeared into the coffers of Bush supporters and war profiteers Halliburton, Bechtel, Custer Battles, General Electric, Boeing, and others, at a time when America's infrastructure is crumbling and it's economy is bearing the burden of corporate abuses. Despite this largess, our troops regularly rely on family members and friends back in the States for armor and night vision gear.

In addition to Afghanistan and Iraq, a more insidious war has been waged at home.

Again, fear is the primary weapon of the radical right. They have used every opportunity to convince small town America that the terrorists could hit at any time, in any place. No one is safe. A new bureaucracy has been created in the Department of Homeland Security. The first chief, Tom Ridge, devised a color-coded terror alert system, an idea I suspect he got from watching pollen count graphs on the morning news. This system has become a useful tool to frighten those who are easily frightened. On the rare days when the corporate press decided to focus on one of the more questionable deeds of the Bush Administration, the terror alert level is ratcheted up. Instead of following the smoking gun to the perpetrators of dubious activity, the American public is encouraged to run and hide.

The day the Democratic National Convention concluded in August 2004, Director Ridge suddenly developed a sense of urgency regarding three-year-old intelligence and bumped the security alert to 'orange'. Buildings in New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. were ostentatiously ringed with commandos sporting automatic weapons. As result, the media dutifully returned national attention to the Bush Administration's preferred theme: fear.

At the same time the Director of Homeland Security was telling us to stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting (ostensibly and stupidly to protect ourselves from non-existent biological terrorists), our brave President was doing his utmost to ensure the attacks of September 11, 2001 were never investigated. Initially, he resisted the formation of an investigative commission. After public outcry began to rise, he submitted to the public will, but in such a way that ensured the commission's failure. The president began by under-funding the investigation, initially appropriating a mere $3 Million (for context, his recent inauguration cost $40 Million). He then insisted that only he could choose the investigators, creating a panel staffed by the partisan, the compromised, and the inept. Finally, as the already compromised investigation moved hesitatingly forward, he and his staff stonewalled the investigators at every turn.

In the end, President Bush agreed to answer questions for a mere 45 minutes, NOT under oath, and only in the company of Vice-President Dick Cheney. He also stipulated that the resulting question and answer session would remain classified. To date, no one knows what our president admitted to or what questions were asked of him. To date, not a single government employee lost their job over the gross failures of that day. The committee investigating the murder of nearly 3,000 American citizens was a whitewash and truth is lost down the memory hole, even as a new call to fear is invented daily.

The neoconservative message of George Bush plays as well to frightened Americans as the fascist message did to the frightened people of Germany in the 1930s. When people are desperate and afraid, they are more inclined to listen to someone who can provide simple explanations, particularly when the explanations are crafted to reinforce an assumed, inherent virtue. They are also more willing to sacrifice liberty 'temporarily' for that elusive sense of security. We've seen this trend before. In the ravings of Bush and neocon mouthpieces like Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter et al, one can hear the dark whisperings of Joseph Goebbels, echoing up from the void.

All that is good, kind, wise and courageous of America is being lost. And as I stare into the soul of the America we are becoming, I see only fear and the darkness that is its constant companion.

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself".

Now at last, I understand the words.