Politics & Power Quote by Art Bell

Fear is a great motivator - and Art Bell knows exactly how radioactive that sounds. In the shadow of 9/11, when public language was turning instantly sacred and martial, Bell leans into a broadcaster's heresy: he treats terror not only as tragedy but as usable energy. The jolt comes from the bluntness. "Look at what 9-11 has accomplished" borrows the diction of a project report, as if catastrophe can be audited for outcomes. That managerial verb - accomplished - is doing the mischief. It invites listeners to consider who benefits when a nation is "stunned", and how quickly shock can be converted into compliance, surveillance, war, and economic whiplash.

Bell's persona matters. As a late-night radio entertainer steeped in conspiracy culture and anti-establishment skepticism, he traded in the feeling that official stories always have a second track. The line "My god" reads less like piety than a performative brake squeal, signaling that even he hears the moral risk of his framing. He then widens the blast radius: not just buildings and the Pentagon, but the economy and the collective psyche. The stammered syntax ("It's - I can't even begin...") isn't mere rambling; it's a rhetorical simulation of overwhelm, mirroring the audience's disorientation while nudging it toward a conclusion: fear doesn't just happen to societies, it gets harnessed.

The subtext is a warning dressed as fascination. Bell isn't praising the attack; he's spotlighting the efficiency of terror as a tool - and implicating the institutions that know how to ride the wave.