Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego???

It seems like the current administration’s efforts in rooting out terrorism is nothing more than a game. Nearly every evening we hear the MSM (main stream media) proudly proclaim the demise of yet another top Al-Qaeda leader for Iraq. How can it be that there are so many leaders of terrorism concentrated in one country? How can it be that we still haven’t found the one person responsible for the events in the United States nearly six years ago? I have an idea and I call it the Boogeyman Hypothesis.

In order to make children stay near the group and protect them from predators, many psychologists believe that our early ancestors may have started the mythical Boogeyman. Throughout the ages, in various cultures, the Boogeyman has evolved into a creature that preys upon children who misbehave. Most often, the monster is hiding under beds, in closets, or behind closed doors. Mere mention of the apparition’s name is enough to strike fear into the heart of a child. Some parents might take advantage of the dread and use it to their own advantage. Want some alone time with the better-half??? Just tell the kids that the Boogeyman eats children who stay awake after dark. You don’t want little Johnny getting into the hidden stash of Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Editions that you are saving as collector items? Let him know that the Boogeyman was last spotted in the locked closet in the garage. Let’s not forget that the Boogeyman can travel as well, so while you are trying to drive the 800 miles to your next family reunion, remind the kids that the Boogeyman is hiding under the car just waiting for a noisy child. That should fill your kids with enough terror to keep them from yelling and screaming for awhile.

“How does this affect the current state of affairs?” you may ask, well let me explain. Fear is powerful, it can be used as a weapon, a deterrent or a means of control. For the sake of this article, let’s create a hypothetical situation.

Imagine having an elected leader, barely able to construct one rational thought, being worried that his population would soon see through the well maintained façade that this leader is highly educated on important matters. Now, imagine, said leader needs to appoint people around him to assert this veneer. While the appointed ones are the only people to know of this subterfuge, there needs to be a way to keep the others from finding out the truth. This is when the Boogeyman Hypothesis comes into play. The leader needs to attach the Boogeyman to an idea, a belief, or a person. To do this, the leader might take advantage of a disaster either natural or man-made. Now the leader needs to create a trigger. A trigger might be; if you don’t eat all your vegetables, if you stay up too late, or if you don’t believe and do as said leader wishes. We now have a recognizable Boogeyman, proof of the monster’s power and abilities, and what will trigger this monster to consume you or your way of life. Lastly, the leader will need to get this message out to as many people as he can, so call in the appointed ones. It will be their job to make sure that everyone in the realm knows of this terrible beast. It is to be stressed that questioning the existence of the Boogeyman not only leads to a quick rendering of the doubtful, but that those who would have reservations of the validity of the claims made by the leader must be punished and shunned lest the wrath of the Boogeyman befall the entire population. The situation may require that every once in a while, the leader or his appointed ones, declare that they have slain the Boogeyman and all is now right in the kingdom. This will prove the sincerity and might of the leader. You can almost hear every man and beast proclaim the righteousness of the wise and powerful leader. Out of the mouths of men and women, fox and fowl, wolf and whale, all creatures will broadcast the joyous wonders of the leader and the appointed ones. This celebration must be short lived in order for the legend to, once again, rise up and provide the exalted ones with a new excuse for behavior guidelines.

I know that this hypothetical situation might seem like a stretch to some, after all, in this day and age, one is bound to ferret out the truth before anything like this could happen. It would seem impossible if not for the fact that most outlets of information rely on knowledge fed to them by those in power. For the most part, gone are the days of investigative journalism. We are being fed spoonfuls of the pabulum that has been approved by journalists, who acquire it from their editors, which requires the go-ahead from the corporate heads, who make their living selling advertisements to major industries, who in turn grant and are granted favors from government, the initial subject matter of the information to begin with. This must be that ever popular circle of life I keep hearing about on the ABC television network, who is owned by the Walt Disney Company, who commissioned the artists to create and perform this vicious circle on ABC. Time to get off this merry-go-round, I’m getting ill.

That’s it! This isn’t a prehistoric game that cave-parents played with their kids. It isn’t an excuse for mom and dad to get a little alone time from the kids. It isn’t even a hypothetical situation playing in the mind of this author. It might just be that we are all players in a planetary computer game. A twisted version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. If this is the case, it might just be time for us to end the game before someone hits Ctrl-Alt-Delete and reboots our collective behinds into oblivion.