Don't you think that Americans will get tired of all these scare tactics?

[coloradodem2005]

Many people, I think, just want to live their lives. However, Bushco keeps ramming all of this down our throats. People are going to want someone who has something positive to offer. The administration is giving us the exact opposite.

Furthermore, this should convince people that America is no safer with everything Bush has done and that as Dick Gephardt so elequently put it, is a miserable failure. If this is a gambit by the administration to distract us from primaries or convince us that Bush has been successful, this has a good potential to backfire.

[frogfromthenorth2]

1. Lemmings don't get tired.... n/t

[Serenity-NOW]

2. yep, that's a fact.

Even if I were, bite my tongue, a repuke I'd start to wonder about all the doom&gloom that didn't exist before. Starting to sound like a buncha pessimistic nattering nabobs if you ask me.

[POed_Ex_Repub]

3. I think to some extent, many people already are.

You can only cry wolf so many times. If this is what Bushco plans to drum in with political ads, he's going to get a sizeable backlash.

[K-W]

4. Fear is a strong emotion.

It inspires extreme irrationality.

[frogfromthenorth2]

6. And makes you buy CRAP you don't need...

Si it's EXCELLENT in a way.... :-(

[Tripper11]

5. Nope..never...if it's not terrorism,

it will be something else. Here in Seattle right now everyone is panicking about this huge snowstorm rolling in. Schools were closed today because, wait for it.....it was COLD! That's right, it was too cold for our delicate little offspring to keep up with their A, B, C's!
People are buying out the grocery stores. One person I work with was at Safeway earlier and there wasn't any milk!
It seems ridiculous, but it's true, I believe there is a segment of America who, somewhere in their non-thinking way of life, enjoy, and prefer to be scared. It gives them something to do.
I know most people here at DU are much smarter then that and can see through the bullshit poured on us by the government and media.
Personally, with this possible storm, be logical, don't drive of you don't have to. If you do, take it easy. This is not rocket science. LOGIC works!

[Jim Sagle]

7. Out of curiosity, how cold was it?

[Tripper11]

8. This morning I think around mid 20's average n/t

[toodles_oduff]

11. I think some people get off on fear.

Look at how popular horror movies and novels are. Scary rides at theme parks attract long lines. Most drama and even comedies are built around a certain amount of suspense (as in "What's gonna happen next?" or the cliffhanger until next week's episode or after the commercial break). Also cable news ratings probably go up when something horrible with a lot of shocking visuals (9/11 being the prime example) is happening.

[Tripper11]

12. I agree...but those are made-up.

This is life. Although I will qualify this by saying I am sure there are a lot of people who have a hard time seperating tv with reality too.

[Dover]

9. Rats in a maze

They can manipulate the terrorist/fear thing however they see fit to manipulate the result. If threats stop being effective, they can always bring on the real deal. They need to be removed before their little plan can create longterm effects.

[jfxgillis]

10. I'll tell you what I'm getting tired of ...

... Other people bringing up this EXCELLENT and little-discussed point all of a sudden when I've been making it since almost right after 9/11!

Just kidding.

It cuts a little bit both ways, actually, but the negative side has almost never been mentioned. When people are ANXIOUS they feel bad. When they feel bad, they think things are going in the wrong direction. When they think things are going wrong, they blame incumbents.

On the other MUCH-discussed hand, there IS a "rally 'round the flag" effect, blah blah, and that can't be discounted, but it carries diminishing returns and that card has BEEN tabled.

[Cat Atomic]

13. Why? They never got tired of the Cold War or the War on Drugs.

Or any of the other thinly-veiled excuses for empire. Americans have been living in fear for 50 years.

[jpgray]

14. It's 1935! Aren't those Germans gonna get over this whole "Hitler" thing?

If Bush is smart, he can extend this for some time yet. If he gets reelected, we're in trouble. Fortunately, I think that he won't.

[Gore1FL]

15. Fear wears off when it becomes normal.

We discussed nuclear war in elementary school -- after a while the human mind desensitizes itself to danger.

Human beings are amazingly adapatable and have amazing capacity.
When danger is the norm, then we become used to it.

[Nihil]

16. "Americans" cannot be treated as a single entity

The term "Americans" covers practically every flavour of difference
you can find: Republican, Democrat, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim,
Atheist, consumer, conservationist, CEO, unemployed, everything.
As such, there is no way that all of the people that make up the
"Americans" will react the same way to any particular stimulus and
so will not become tired or not tired en masse.

Some individuals will get fed up with the hype, others will continue
to eat up all of the fiction that the administration can provide.
Some Americans are sick of war, of greed, of hatred but others make
their living from it - the latter group aren't going to change in a
hurry.

So, with respect, your question leading this thread is nonsensical.
The answer is neither yes nor no yet, at the same time, both yes and no.

Nihil