Blogs by Flo Fitzpatrick
When Fear Wins
3/16/2026 5:18:29 AM
Just finished "Capitol Conspiracy” by William Bernhardt. Published in 2008. Plot: Following an assassination attempt on the U.S. President, which kills the First Lady, a Secret Service Agent and several civilians, and puts protagonist Ben Kincaid's best buddy, cop Mike Morelli in a coma, the president drafts a Constitutional Amendment, which will knock out the Bill of Rights and put the director of Homeland Security in charge of the government in times of “crisis.”
Now, anyone with an ounce of common sense sees about 20 different issues with that particular plan but one of Bernhardt’s themes (at least in my opinion) is to show that people tend to REACT, rather than THINK when they’re afraid. Which is normally a good thing…probably bred into humans from caveman times when one didn’t map out a strategy for fleeing a large mastodon eyeing you as their evening snack. But in today’s world, when people react to events from fear rather than talking a look at what happens in the long term is not a great idea.
And administrations know fear can win. Bernhardt even points out in the book that the 120,000 plus Japanese-Americans were interned without due process because of fear. The Patriot Act shoved down America’s throat following 9/11 stripped a ton of rights from folks and gave Big Brother far too much power, resulting in incarceration and torture for many, and a nasty backlash against Muslims Or anyone who appeared to be "Middle Eastern in America.
Now we’re living with an administration that exploits fear. Fear of a failing economy and of “the other” helped get Trump elected. Trump et al push fear daily, while they create it. And they’ve succeeded to an incredible degree. People ARE afraid. Justifiably so. They’re afraid of losing jobs. They’re afraid of sending their children to war. They’re afraid of watching their neighbors carted off in an ICE van by masked men or seeing someone shot in the street. The administration uses it because it wants folks in the U.S. too afraid to fight back. Too afraid to speak up. Too afraid of other countries coming in and taking over (we could only wish Canada would decide it wanted to add the lower half of North America…. at least until we get our republic back! )
Members of Congress are afraid of losing their jobs.
Jobs which, as so wonderfully pointed out in the movie “Dave”, should be TEMP jobs.
Heads of a variety of departments in this administration are also afraid of losing their jobs. Marco Rubio looks like he’s about to have kittens every time he’s around Trump. Kash Patel looks like he’s in the middle of birthing them.
I’m not sure what majority Supreme Court Justices are afraid of since they’re appointed for life but it wouldn’t shock me to learn that Thomas and Kavanaugh have a lot more scandals in their closet than the accusations of Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford (where, surprise, surprise, no one believed the women.)
Trump is a demented sociopath but his “team” was brilliant in creating fear to get him elected and in using it now to keep him in office. And the Bill of Rights is crumbling fast.
More than 200 years ago, Ben Franklin gave a warning, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
And with the Trump administration we’re being forced to give up both.
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