Another concept for Blackbeard to consider in his prospective article might be to think about how fear, as propagated by government officials, serves as a means to various ends. To illustrate a (oversimplified) spectrum, consider An Inconvenient Truth on one end, for which the fear evoked is meant to spur viewers to action (in the form of the recommendations at the end). The "War on Terror" propaganda, on the other hand, seems more about scaring Americans into submission and acceptance, in order that the civil liberties and democratic ideals being sacrificed (legally or illegally) will be called less into question. You can tell from my tone I'm biased, but there's probably many historical examples (both effective and ineffecitve, both right and wrong) of fear propagated for each of these purposes, and perhaps others.

Related topic: Solidiers and their families have been making great sacrifices, but since this war began (hell, even since 9/11), I've never felt like anything significant was asked of Americans at large, EXCEPT for utter acceptance administration policies and actions. Since I'm not joining the army, all I feel like I can really do is read the news, and wait for the next voting cycle. Maybe send a care package or join a local demonstration. I feel completely insulated. Had a sacrifice been asked, by this president or a different one, I wonder, what might it have been?