By: Brandon Ericsson

Ever since the events of September 11th, 2001, the George W. Bush administration has repeatedly placated us with a single platitude. The administration has kid-gloved and misled us by telling us over and over that everything our government does is "to protect us from terror."

This blanket statement is now used to cover any act of the Executive Branch. For example:

• Invasion of Iraq: "It’s to protect us from terror."

• Wasting $600 million on non-existent WMD's? "It’s to protect us from terror."

• The Patriot Act, the largest violation of American civil liberties on record? Well, of course, "it’s to protect us from terror."

The Bush strategy is to morph the electorate into a terror omelet with a viscid intellectual consistency.

If any member of the electorate questions Bush about the hue of that protection or the composition of that terror, the administration tells us that dissent in a time of war is treason, even if we point out that the very reasons upon which the war was based were lies. Questioning the President is simply unpatriotic.

But an omniscient Bush would realize the public sentiment is upset. The very fact that the war on terror is undefined and constantly shifting from one villain to another is perfect cause to question both its origins and its advocates.

It is almost as if the administration is engaging us in a game of "Who is the Villain?"

"Is it Osama bin Laden?"

"Is it Saddam Hussein?"

"Is it Al Franken?"

Bush: "I’m sorry, I can’t answer that."
Me: "Why not?"
Bush: "It’s to protect you from terror."

"To protect you from terror" is a non-answer to salient questions about the nature and the scope of this war the neocons have become far too infatuated with. In truth, they are beyond infatuation and have already slid home. America is having difficulty obtaining straight answers about the roots of the war and the current state of the Administration’s plans because everything is to protect us as if we are intellectual orphans who need a foster mind to do our thinking for us.

The American public is now being sold a gumball to chew under the auspice of terror protection. That gumball tastes like false information and is used for bubbles of lies. Once you have programmed the electorate into believing in non-existent things (Iraq WMD's), the next step is to manufacture the things you lied about (plant the biological weapons). Or, perhaps they'll just find something innocuous and convince us that they've found WMD's. Accomplish this just in time for your latest Gallup Poll which shows you far more popular than you were before you deceived America, and the fog-minded justification of your plan will be complete.

One mark of a wise culture is its inquisitive nature. The characteristics of cultures which thrive take a balanced approach to what their government tells them. To question the President is one of the healthiest actions an informed citizen can take in a land torn asunder by actions which are not supported by all Americans and which are not upheld as mindful by the international community.

How much more abuse of their capacity to understand will America take? How many more Americans will die before our culture becomes wise? How much longer will George W. Bush play "Who is the Villain?" with the electorate?

I could ask him, but I know better. He won’t tell me.

It’s to protect me from terror.

Brandon Ericsson writes foreign policy and political articles for publication in print and internet markets. He has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad visiting China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.