Gun Them All Down?

Trey Smith

Barack Obama, who lots of deluded people not too long ago imagined was a man of peace, wants the American people to think of him as a cold killer. He’s betting that’s the kind of president his countrymen desire. Violence-wise, the U.S. is the home of the depraved. Conclusion: “Our president is a totally amoral psychopath, and the revelation of his condition has not hurt his popularity.”
~ from Bloodthirsty Americans by Margaret Kimberley ~

It pains me to think that Kimberley's assertion is true -- that Americans are, by and large, a bloodthirsty people. If you look all throughout our history, it is hard to argue with. If you look at the past 10 years or so, it is plain as day: We rally around the thug-in-chief (regardless of political party affiliation).

What really gets me is that, while we love our government and military leaders to act as thuggish as humanly possible, most of us don't act that way at all in our routine lives. More often than not, we go out of our way not to act aggressively or violently toward others.

So, why do we elect people who are aggressive and violent? Do most of my countrymen get a vicarious pleasure from it? Is it a way to live out their fantasies?

Let me ask you something. If you had a strong suspicion -- you don't know for a fact, you're merely "kind of" sure -- that "Bob" down the street was a pedophile, drug dealer, serial rapist or, maybe, an atheist homosexual AND you knew that the local police/district attorney would look the other way, would you have no compunction against burning down his house with him inside or shooting him dead the next time he happened to walk out in his yard?

I'm sure that some people wouldn't have any problem whatsoever rubbing out "Bob" based on their suspicions, but MOST people would. Most of us accept the concept of the "rule of law" and do not favor self-appointed vigilantes enforcing their own definitions of justice. We accept the notion that we no longer live in the Wild West where disagreements are settled with a six-shooter!

So, I ask again, why do we elect and support government leaders who behave like 19th century gunslingers or Mafia hitmen?