I was a political naif when 9/11 happened. My trust in the government was pretty solid, with a few unexplored liberal qualms. But I remember feeling a chill when they announced the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. It was just that word, "Homeland," that creeped me out. Although, at the time, my faith in the Powers That Be didn't allow me to question their actions on a fundamental level.
As I'm sure many of you remember, it seemed like everybody put their faith in the government (esp. in Bush) after 9/11. (In hindsight, it seems completely retarded that Bush's approval rating hit 91% after 9/11. Why would you suddenly trust a president who just let 3,000 people die through either incredible incompetence or complicity? Hint: Read Machiavelli. Not that I have, but I heard he had something to say on the subject.) That may have been the only period when they could've set up the DHS, or started calling America "the Homeland." The fact that they didn't bring back the draft right then is a very good sign for us, I think. Even in that scared-straight atmosphere, the Bushies were afraid of awakening the ghosts of the '60s.
So, getting back to "Homeland," I find it to be a very creepy word. It calls to mind the "Motherland" of the Russian Empire or the "Fatherland" of the German Reichs. The implication of the words is imperial. The DHS protects the Homeland, and the Department of Defense protects the rest of the empire, i.e. the world. Is anybody pickin' up what I'm layin' down? I wonder if y'all agree or if ya think I'm out of my fucking gourd. Holla if ya hear me.
(Author's Note: Mad props to Michael for being my first multi-commentator, in other words, for being the first person to post more than one comment on my blog. Thanx for the encouraging words, man.)
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