Terror and Freedom

Another terror attack in Nice, France has claimed more than 80 lives and dozens more wounded as a large truck plowed into a holiday crowd on Bastille Day.  Unfortunately, copycats have probably noted the effectiveness of this strategy.  Look for more such attempts in coming days and months.  The bigger question is what the democracies of the west will do as the body count grows and ISIS claims credit for the assaults.  The first thing to go will be tolerance of others among us.  Muslims and other brown skinned people will be the subject of attacks and racist outrage.  I would not want to be a truck driver with a foreign look.  Sikhs especially with their religious mandate to wear turbans will be targets in western countries.  After the 9/11 attacks, many were assaulted and even shot at while trying to make deliveries.  The next loss will be civil liberties as a panicked population agrees to surrender hard won guarantees for the illusion of safety.  A Trump presidency could be one of the horrors thrust upon us by continuing terror.  We are a lot closer to Orwell's 1984 than we were on the date he made famous with his story of "big brother" looking over everyone's shoulder.