"...is it always wrong to make decisions based on fear?"

David Harsanyi: a href=”http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_12424236″Fear: Our national pastime: /abr /br /blockquoteIn a speech defending his detainee plan this week, President Barack Obama brandished his now-famous Spock-like wisdom by claiming that “Our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight” after 9/11.br /br /Whether you agree with the president’s account of the nation’s post- 9/11 policy, you might still ask yourself two questions:br /br /First off, is it always wrong to make decisions based on fear?br /br /Having been in New York on 9/11, I would contend that fear was not only a logical reaction to what was happening but also an unavoidable one. As John Podhoretz of Commentary magazine recently noted, “Fear was an entirely responsible response to September 11. Indeed, it was, in some ways, the only responsible response.” br /br /….Fear, as philosopher Hannah Arendt observed, “is an emotion indispensable for survival.” /blockquotebr /br /a href=”http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_12424236″Read the rest./a