Ex-liberal columnist says she's a '9/11 Republican'

[quaoar]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2005/02/24/cstillwell.DTL

OPINION: The Making Of A 9/11 Republican
by Cinnamon Stillwell

< snip >

So, what happened to change all that? In a nutshell, 9/11. The terrorist attacks on this country were not only an act of war but also a crime against humanity. It seemed glaringly obvious to me at the time, and it still does today. But the reaction of my former comrades on the left bespoke a different perspective. The day after the attacks, I dragged myself into work, still in a state of shock, and the first thing I heard was one of my co-workers bellowing triumphantly, "Bush got his war!" There was little sympathy for the victims of this horrific attack, only an irrational hatred for their own country.

As I spent months grieving the losses, others around me wrapped themselves in the comfortable shell of cynicism and acted as if nothing had changed. I soon began to recognize in them an inability to view America or its people as victims, born of years of indoctrination in which we were always presented as the bad guys.

Never mind that every country in the world acts in its own self-interest, forms alliances with unsavory countries -- some of which change later -- and are forced to act militarily at times. America was singled out as the sole guilty party on the globe. I, on the other hand, for the first time in my life, had come to truly appreciate my country and all that it encompassed, as well as the bravery and sacrifices of those who fight to protect it.

< snip >

So I became what's now commonly known as a "9/11 Republican." Living in a time of war, disenchanted with the left and disappointed with the obstructionism and lack of vision of the Democratic Party, I threw in my hat with the only party that seemed to be offering solutions, rather than simply tearing away at our country. I went from voting for Ralph Nader in 2000 to proudly casting my ballot for George W. Bush in 2004. This doesn't necessarily mean that I agree with Bush on every issue, but there is enough common ground to support his party overall. In the wake of this political transformation, I discovered that I was not alone. It turned out that there are other 9/11 Republicans out there, both in the Bay Area and beyond, and they have been coming out of the woodwork.

[gardenista]

1. Once a loser, always a loser. Voted for Nader in 2000.

Give me a break.

[iamthebandfanman]

7. hey hey now

u mite offend some fellow 1 time nader voters that give their full support behind the democratic party now and the last time around

;)


there are alot of us out there that felt disinfranchised at the 2000 elections and voted for nader. we just didnt know that the election was being hijacked and stolen or most of us probably wouldnt have done it!
who woulda know an idiot would win the presidency!
speaks volumes about the general population of our country i think.

as far as the columnist goes...
what a joke.
shes saying shes proud to be a sheep.
great. good for her. now go be with them and stop talking about your past. lol

[gardenista]

14. Ok, don't mean to offend, it was a kneejerk reaction.

Now that I think about it, she probably lied about voting for Nader in the first place. She probably voted for Bush in 2000, and is getting paid by Rove to write this tripe.

Must say, I'm disappointed in the editor of the SF Chron.

[iamthebandfanman]

38. thats alright

id hafta say thats a good possibility.
i just cant imagine a nader supporter becoming pro-bush.
so many conflicting beliefs there.
i mean frankly, alot of us voted nader out of being mad at the democratic party for not leaning a little more to the left during the clinton administration. lol.

[Mutley]

110. yes

can you imagine flush limbaugh suddenly becoming a democrat? even in the wake of 9/11? i certainly can't.

[ElectroPrincess]

43. Yes, almost as transparent as fundies saying they're democrats

then go on to refer to our viewpoints as THEY. (red flag) Or that they are a Democrat who voted for *, i.e., a la Zell Miller. Transparent!

[jfxgillis]

71. Your kneejerk reaction was right on, but ....

... not only for the reason you stated.

I don't see the Nader 2000 to Bush 2004 transformation surprising at all.

There is a naive solipism and simplistic dualism to it for such voters.

[anaxarchos]

120. What's "naive solipsism "?

(I assume you meant to say solipsism...)

Do you mean she still thinks she is the only meaningful thing in the universe... like a child?

Just curious.

[IndianaGreen]

68. Another poster found out that she has been rightwing since before 9/11

She lies about Nader as she does about being a liberal. Don't play her game which is to divide the anti-Bush forces.

[googly]

2. 911 cost Kerry the white house n/t

[Old and In the Way]

20. Election fraud cost Kerry the White House nt

[googly]

34. Unless fraud can be proved in court it is empty rhetoric?

[Old and In the Way]

36. As is your statement of opinion.

But there are court arguments happening right now to prove it.

[googly]

51. if it is proven in court, you are right about fraud, else just rhetoric

[Vinnie From Indy]

66. No it's not! It's simply unproven!!!!! n/t

[RealLifeNM]

108. Many have used the prospect of fraud

as a reason to not be self reflective. If the election was stolen then there is absolutely no reason to examine the positions of the democratic party. Part of the maturation process is always casting a critical eye on yourself and seeing where you need to change. Or one can just keep saying that the election was stolen and remain in their defiant state of mind.

[trudyco]

113. Whoah there! There were things that tipped it so the Fraud

could happen. If there was a landslide of favoritism for Kerry they couldn't have pulled off the Fraud.

So certainly there is room to gaze at ones navel and wonder what should be done. I think thats why we got Dean. But it doesn't mean ignoring investigation of Fraud. Because it can happen again, if it is true. Because it is quite plausible.

Kerry does not have a lot of middle class charisma. On the other hand, is dignified manner definately looks presidential. His election team made some mistakes like the swiftboat stuff. The Dems are not good at Framing things. But then, even if they are good, the Repubs own the media so they just twist it. The whole Flip Flop bogus business was fueled by the media. The ultimate Flip Flopper was Bush and any good reporter would have been pounding that over and over.

I think the problems in 2004 were:
1) The Dems knew the media was biased towards the right and didn't figure out how to counteract it;
2) There was high potential of election fraud and the Dems didn't make sure the world knew about the paperless voting and the privatized right wing ownership of private vote counting code, let alone insist there must be a paper trail. They should have had their own independent post election poll. Nor did Kerry jump in in Ohio and demand a real recount and punishment for Blackwell for not following state law. Nor did he ask people to dive in and ask for FOI or hand recounts in all the swing states and organize it so "we know every vote was counted";
3) The Dems didn't frame things well. Kerry was too wordy. He didn't seem comfortable with his religion. He had a hard time with saying he was duped into voting for the Iraq war and realized later he was duped.
4) The Dems didn't seem interested/capable/comfortable going to conservative christians and showing them that Dems have just as much moral authority, if not more, than at least the Bush neocons. They should have recruited celebrities like the Dixie Chicks or a movie star AND ministers to rural areas and put on a show/information meeting. The candidates wouldn't have had to be at all of them, but they should have coordinated tons of them with the same message. Heck they should do that for the next election. Bypass the tv.

[Hippo_Tron]

125. 5) Kerry hired Shrum instead of Carville

Had 5 been corrected, 4, 3, and ESPECIALLY 1 wouldn't have been nearly as big of a problem.

[Hippo_Tron]

123. I've got an even harsher reality for you than that one

Election fraud did happen, which is why Kerry needed to be comfortably ahead if he was going to pull it off, not just squeaking by. Not only do we need a candidate and a party that can win, we need to be able to win outside of the margin of fraud.

[ThorsHammer]

86. Somewhat disagree

I'm not disputing that there may have been some fraud or other shaninigans. However, I do think Bush would have been in trouble w/o a war climate. As Moore pointed out in F911, his approval ratings were below 50% in August '01, and he really hadn't done much. 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc allowed him to paint himself as the 'war president', who would take a tough stand on terror and who was the only man who could keep us safe. IMO, without all this Kerry (or whomever the Democratic nominee was) would have won comfortably, making fraud a moot point.

[Hippo_Tron]

127. *'s presidency would've been a political disaster without 9/11

Had there been no 9/11, Democrats would've taken back the House in 2002 and made gains in the Senate. The field of people running for President would've been more open (remember * had 77% approval ratings when candidates started filing) and there's a very good shot that we would've been in the lead throughout the entire process and won in a landslide.

9/11 made *'s re-election a possiblity. Fraud put him over the top.

[ThorsHammer]

136. Exactly

Good point on the GOP congressional moves. W/o 9/11, Bush would have likely continued in the sub 50% approval range, in addition to facing more competition. Any decent Dem would have won convincingly, and would have made election fraud irrelevant as the margin would just have been too big.

[AntiCoup2K4]

48. Kerry & the DLC cost Kerry the White House.

[marcologico]

63. Very true. The security thing was huge, helped of course by Murdoch's

regular-as-rain 9/11 replays and terrorism "stories" (about six per hour, judging from when I watch Fox news when getting hair cuts) and Ridge's Office of Homeland Propaganda. Plenty of Maureen Dowd types fell for it.

And when you realize that, the whole "reporting for duty" line makes sense.

[Bridget Burke]

69. 9/11 has been beneficial to Bush & Co in many ways....

What an odd coincidence.....

August 2001 security briefing: "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S."

[Hippo_Tron]

129. It's hard to imagine that 9/11 is a coincidence

I won't accept LIHOP or MIHOP as firm beliefs without proof, but I know that something is very fishy about it. Either way, Bush STILL sucks and still murdered innocent Iraqis.

[erpowers]

133. Not Fighting Back

Not fighting back help cost Kerry the election. Kerry should have fought harder against the smears from the Bush camp. Also, if Kerry had given people more of an alternative to Bush he might have gotten more votes even if there was fraud in this election.

[whodiedandmadeUSgod]

3. Does she feel for the victims of the Iraq invasion?

Personally I couldn't sleep for weeks after 9-11 thinking of those victims.

[Hippo_Tron]

130. No, RWers think of "them" as responsible for the 9/11 attacks

Their mentality is, "well even if they are women and children, they still evil arabs." Truly sad.

[Warren DeMontague]

134. Yet for some reason the Family Saud is strangely absolved from that logic

..curious, isn't it?

[punpirate]

4. Well, Cinnamon...

... how was the kool-aid?

[AndyTiedye]

6. How Much Did the * Regime Pay You to Write That?

Yeah, we were so tuff on those terrorists, going after Iraq instead
of them.

[librechik]

29. her name sounds as real as "Jeff Gannon"

[w13rd0]

5. can't fix stupid as shit

proudly casting my ballot for Dubya? sorry, those kind of Ron Silver/Dennis Miller conversions seem to only be accompanied by a similiar glazing over of the eyes and chronic degeneration of neural tissue

9/11 Republican = Knee-jerk Twit who let the terrorists win

[marcologico]

13. you got it.

Apparently there was a lot of this in November. By one account the only sector that actually DID increase its vote for W was white women, not evaneglicals, gun nuts or hispanics.

[fujiyama]

57. I'm reminded of a phrase from my friend

that aptly fits the situation,

"No matter what, you just can't fix stupid"

[madaboutharry]

8. She's full of it.

This women is a wannabee. Can't you all see her in middle school?
You all remember her type, pouring over Seventeen magazine and painting her toenails the new "in" color. The type who would stop talking to someone because it wouldn't be cool to be seen talking to that person. Yuk. What a stupid skank.

[Wilms]

9. With a name like Cinnamon...hate to judge.

But I think we'll manage without her.

[liberalmuse]

16. I had the same thought...

that is not a liberal name <sniff!>

[juslikagrzly]

26. Similar reaction

hate to judge anyone by their name, but for god's sake, Cinnamon? That's a name that inspires confidence, huh? What were her parents thinking? Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader?

[fujiyama]

58. It sounds like the name

of a pornstar or a stripped.

This reminds me of the Chris Rock skit where he said, you don't want to name your kids with a name that sounds like that of a stripper or a pornstar.

[Lindacooks]

50. That's what I thought too. What WERE her parents thinking??

Nobody can be taken seriously with a name like that.

[Bridget Burke]

70. She blames the name on her hippie background....

Living close to the land in the wilds of Marin County.

Reading the whole article also reveals lots of RW talking points. She started studying this stuff long before 9/11.

[Mad_Dem_X]

80. My *rabbit's* name is Cinnamon

Sorry, I can't take seriously any person with that name.

[Wilms]

104. Well now I feel bad for your rabbit. n/t

:)

[OneMoreDemocrat]

10. I think there are a lot of 9/11 Republicans............

Being a Republican these days has very little to do with believing in (or even understanding) a Right-wing ideology, and more to do with wanting to fit in with the in-crowd, to be with the folks who appear to have all of the power....no one wants to hang with losers.

[FreedomAngel82]

32. That's what I think

I think it's just the "in" thing to do. Right now it's very popular to be "patriotic" and the republican party, whether right or wrong, claimed that and so people don't want to be seen as unpopular and all that. Like everything else this too shall pass and then it'll be our turn. ;) I hope anyways. It's like in the 90's boybands and Britney Spears was the thing. Now days it's Christian music. :shrug: If the Backstreet Boys can make a come back surely we can too (they're about to tour and release a new single).

[OneMoreDemocrat]

37. Speaking of the 'in' thing.......

I was at an ice-skating rink the other day and the music they were playing as we skated around was that of a typical FM pop station, and the D.J. while relating the 'news' of the day, he referred to Bush as "G-Dub", this firms my belief that this 'tidal wave of Conservatism' is nothing more than a cult of personality with Dumbass at the head, and as soon as it's no longer in vogue (or we blow up the Earth) it will go away and Americans will just get in line behind whatever the next latest and greatest is.

[gtp1976]

73. Christian Music is "in" now?

Where?

[Warren DeMontague]

124. More Proof

That I don't have my finger on the pulse of Merika.

[Blue_Tires]

87. yeah, there are a LOT of bandwagon jumpers

that like to be associated with whatever party is in power (aka the 'winning team')

I saw this first hand back in the '94 election...half of the Dems I knew "converted" within 48 hours of the election results, just in time to join the celebration party.

The sports bandwagon mindset influences many more minds in America than people are comfortable admitting. IMO, there were millions of voters that didn't really care about the issues of who won, only that their vote went towards the winner. I think some believe casting a vote to the winner is some mini-validation of a voter's intelligence.

I play shooters online (half-life mods), and I used to use "Impeach Bush" as my name...In the year before the election, support and appreciation for the name was running 90 percent in favor, and 10 against....AFTER the election, support has been about 70 percent against and 30 percent for. I've had to change the name, because I got tired of trying to type out flamewars and play at the same time...

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

11. Yeah right. There's 3200 hits on her name on GOOGLE and

every one is a right wing reference.

She has no articles in archive in SFGate pre 9/11

http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/stillwell/archive/

A little neo-con UN bashing:
http://www.preventtruthdecay.com/cstillwell1.htm

A few of Cinnamon's choice articles:

http://www.campus-watch.org/docs/author/Cinnamon+Stillwell


Any Du'ers ever hear of this columnist prior to 9/11 to confirm if she ever had a liberal bone in her body?

[yinkaafrica]

15. Her evil motives are transparent as hell

[quaoar]

19. I haven't heard of her

Although SF Gate advertises her as an ex-liberal turned conservative.

It could be that she did not become a columnist until after her "conversion." Maybe she used her "conversion" as a vehicle to get her foot in the door as a columnist. She sounds like a San Fran version of Ann Coulter -- being as inflammatory as possible to stir things up.

[fnottr]

132. think about it this way

who the hell is going to listen to an unapoligetic conservative in San Francisco? Her conversion (true or not) is just a ruse to break into and be listend to in a very liberal area.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

25. How much has the WH paid this turd?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

27. Naaah...she's getting her money from Horowitz's gang

from the looks of it. I just hate these fuckers that say "I USED TO BE A LIBERAL"

She's a fucking tool

[slor]

61. I just looked into the history of her writings...

and I have yet to find an article that gives even a hint of being a liberal.

[marions ghost]

65. NOT surprising...

Can somebody in SF write to the editor a complaint with these links?
We need to call these pathological liars at their game. Cinnamon is another narcissistic opportunist like Gannon.

[Richard Steele]

81. Better yet, any proof she even EXISTED before then?

She seems to have suddenly appeared out of the blue, instantly becoming a contributor or even 'editor' to several Reich-wing propaganda holes.

Something smells, and it don't smell like cinnamon!

(or should that be "Nothing SMELLS like Cinnamon"?)

[bush_is_wacko]

12. Wonder how much she was PAID to make that statement. n/t

[nashville_brook]

17. my thought exactly n/t

[dweller]

18. One less quisling

and more room for the True Patriots.

steadfast!
dp

[Lexingtonian]

21. from Left to Right

I can't discover anything liberal about this person. From black-and-white to white-and-black thinking...it's a pretty common flip.

It certainly adds my suspicion that hardly any actual liberals voted for Nader.

[brindis_desala]

24. Some people need to upgrade their fiction reading.

But really, why are American liberals so gullible? Hearst has been dishing this slop since the Grimm boys were penning their fairy-tales.

[Clark2008]

22. Well, Cinammon, I know more 9/11 Democrats

People so fed up with Bush's lies, the deficit, the fundies taking over the party and the fact that Bush was so incompetent he couldn't stop at least ONE of the planes (well, maybe he did, but that's still up for speculation) from hitting its target that they gave up on the Republican Party.
I guess, all and all, it's pretty even.

[quiet.american]

23. So, let me get this straight

The only solution post-9/11 was to throw in her hat with the fool/thug/criminal/idiot on whose watch the Towers came down -- and who has done everything in his power to suppress his accountability in the worst attack on American soil, and who has actually deliberately increased the incidence of terrorism in the world with his criminal invasion of Iraq.

Congratulations, Cinnamon -- you are the first person I've ever referred to as a bonafide MORON.

[librechik]

28. NOT commonly known

except in her GOP-sanctioned imagination.I read about a million pages a day, and I've never heard that before. Oh wait, I never hang out at townhall.com

What a refreshing way to break into journalism! I'm sure her editor was DESPERATE to find "conservative voices" in San Francisco.

I

[Q]

30. Equating 'Bush got his war' with hating America...

...is the usual tripe from mindless sheep. Bush IS NOT America...even during a 'time of war'.

[Mad_Dem_X]

82. Exactly - people can still love their country

when they despise their president.

[IndianaGreen]

31. I am sure that Iraq was a solution alright!

I threw in my hat with the only party that seemed to be offering solutions, rather than simply tearing away at our country. I went from voting for Ralph Nader in 2000 to proudly casting my ballot for George W. Bush in 2004.

I am sure that Iraq was a solution alright since Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, or is Cinnamon Stillwell so dense that she cannot understand that. Stupid twit!

[Colorado Blue]

33. Uh huh.

[shance]

35. I can understand her becoming a 9/11 Democrat, but a 9/11 Republican???

seems a total contradiction.

[LTRS]

39. Here's the letter I wrote to her... man, what an idiot!

I've not read your column before today but from what you describe it's clear the right wing machine propaganda worked perfectly on you. I hate when I see that. You're right, you're not alone, but that just makes it even more sad to watch the inevitable destruction of this country -- on an economic, moral, and social basis. I happen to be a lefty who LOVES my country -- and those you cite are no more representative of the democratic party or their legislators that right wing nuts who shoot abortion doctors for sport are representative of the republican party.

The right wing arguments you now see eye to eye with are so easy to destruct, it really makes me wonder why intelligent people fall for them. Let's deconstruct for a moment and try to look at fact versus fantasy and rhetoric.

"Although my initial agreement with voices on the right centered on the war on terrorism, I began to find myself in concurrence with other aspects of conservative political philosophy as well. Smaller government,"

*** record deficits of 472 billion dollars per year is smaller government? Sorry, but the facts are that the size of government under Bush has grown at 2 to 3 times the rate of growth under Clinton. Check the Cato Institute -- all the facts are there for those who care to live in reality land.

"traditional societal structures,"

*** never been to the south, have you? Traditional societal structures in the red states = bigotry. Also a nice way of saying gays, blacks and Latinos don't deserve the same rights or opportunities as the rest of us.

"respect and reverence for life,"

*** like supporting the death penalty; not giving a damn about children the minute they start breathing; shock and awe bombs that kill whatever happens to be in the path; depleted uranium ammunition that has left 100's of thousands of children in Iraq with crippling mutations and birth defects and a sky high rate of cancer for everyone else in the country; and the one finger salute to the baby boomer generation as they reach their senior years with the dismantling of social security. Truly, you have to be kidding me if you think the republican party has any respect for life. What they have respect for is their ability to force their religious beliefs down the throats of every American.

"the importance of family,"

*** No, you mean the importance of SOME families. For instance, rich, white, heterosexual families. MY family, two women and a child, is not important to them in the least, I can assure you. That has been made perfectly clear to me.

"personal responsibility,"

*** You mean like admitting a screw up like oops, no WMD. Or saying gee, I'm sorry we ignored the warnings about 9/11? Or having damning portions of the 9/11 report suppressed until after the election? Or maybe when Tom Delay had the ethics rules of the house changed so that he could still remain in congress even if he does get indicted in Texas for his illegal activities there. Or perhaps you're talking about Dick Cheney creating an offshore subsidiary of Halliburton so he could do business with Iraq and avoid the sanctions that were in place for US companies? That kind of personal responsibility? Yeah. The republican party is just brewing with personal responsibility, isn't it?

"national unity over identity politics"

***What national unity? Bush is the most divisive president ever to hold office. And if you don't agree with him, his party brands you a traitor who hates America. Way to unite people, eh?

"and the benefits of living in a meritocracy all became important to me."

***Meritocracy? Like getting into Yale with C's? Like billions in no bid contracts for all your friends? Like having Daddy's friends back you in 4 failed businesses before setting you up to run for office with almost no experience? Please, don't make me laugh.

"In truth, it turns out I was already conservative on many of these subjects but had never been willing to admit as much."

***My condolences. Truly. May your VALUES return someday.

[quaoar]

49. Excellent letter

[Spirochete]

90. Utterly fantastic

Great letter

[Vox_Reason]

100. What a spectacular pimpslapping

I'm reminded of the old Mortal Kombat video game... "Finish her!!":toast:

[orleans]

105. what a fantastic letter

thanks for having the time and patience to write it to her!

[ticapnews]

40. Wonder if she has read Frank Luntz's playbook...

to see how he inspired the GOP to twist her emotions over 9/11 into votes for Shrub and neocons in Congress.

[Lisabtrucking]

41. Sounds like she's not too stable to begin with, fear can turn you

into a helpless person. Sounds like she went off the deep end, surly she feels for all the dead children and woman that bush dropped bombs on. I don't believe she was ever a liberal to begin with. She's another scum bag using the 9/11 tragedy too make a buck of the republican scum bags. I hate when people try and say they were a liberal then changed, onces a liberal always a liberal. To use 9/11 as a marketing tool is shameful.

[senseandsensibility]

42. Kerry won the San Francisco Bay area

by more than thirty percent, and by at least as much as Gore did in 2000. The Bay Area, where I live, is made up of very educated people and has a high immigrant population that trends liberal. They can see through all of *'s crap, and will see through all of "Cinnamon's" crap as well. Give me a break.

[ElectroPrincess]

44. I hope the freepers enjoy their new "cinnamon grrrl" because she's

not fooling those who supported Nader OR Gore. FREAK!

[kodi]

45. What a twit

Presents neither a sense of perspective nor proportion.

Completely brainwashed by the myth.

The al Quida got very lucky on 9/11, very lucky. but that luck was a result of a lackadaisical attitude by the Bush administration about terrorist attacks on the US. How mourning the dead absolves that crew who failed to protect the common real estate is beyond me.

2,500 Americans died on 9/11 at the TT, but that many die on the highways in the US in two weeks too. In memory of them, is the lady now going to push for reduction in the speed limits too?

I don't know of a single person on the Left who expressed cynicism on 911, only heartfelt grief for the victims and their families and damn few who did not support strongly the attacks on al Quida in Afghanistan.

As to the dear lady's "the first time in my life, had come to truly appreciate my country and all that it encompassed, as well as the bravery and sacrifices of those who fight to protect it.

I learned that lesson at 14 when I was a pall bearer for my dead uncle who came back from Viet Nam in a box.

But, it did not turn me into a Republican.

Whatever political stance the lady has today is at heart the same as it was yesterday, merely a reflection of a mind that takes short cuts in thinking things through.

[porkrind]

46. She's what's commonly known as "gullible, undereducated, and stupid"

Why invent a new term? :)

[Gloria]

47. Cinnamon---does she run a "dating" service or perhaps she

works for one of those phone sex outfits???

[Lorien]

52. A self centered thumbsucking bed wetter

Who believes that no other country or people have ever been attacked by terrorists,and that randomly lashing out at anybody of the same skin type as the terrorists keeps her safe. Pathetic.

I swear, repugs care more about feeling good about themselves than they do for maintaining America's integrity!

[regnaD kciN]

53. Proof of moranity...

The terrorist attacks on this country were not only an act of war but also a crime against humanity.

When it comes to "crimes against humanity," the world has seen its share...many of which were performed at our behest (Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Pinochet-led Chilean genocide, the Contras, Salvadorian death squads, the civilian toll of each Iraqi war) or cases where we could have intervened but chose to look away (Pol Pot's "killing fields," East Timor, Rwanda).

Many of those had death tolls orders of magnitude higher than 9/11...but, no, it only qualifies as a "crime against humanity" worth noting or caring about when people like us are the victims.

And they talk about Ugly Americans...

:argh:

[VOX]

54. Cinnamon's buns no doubt pointed rightward **long** before 9/11...

I totally agree with nothingshocksmeanymore upthread -- this still wet-behind-the-ears "columnist" probably never had a liberal bone in her body, ever. :grr:

[ComerPerro]

55. Not that 9/11 was the best thing that could have happened for Bush...

Are these people that fucking stupid? This woman is actually admitting that Bush's only claim to legitimacy is 9/11!

And yet the administration missed all those warnings...

Shouldn't that lead to some alarm bells going off?

LIHOP ... ... ...why wouldn't they?

[Crunchy Frog]

56. Sounds just like a Republican.

Make somebody else responsible for your life choices, in her case, the so called "left". Everybody that I know is a Democrat and I don't recall anyone behaving the way she describes.

My guess is that the story is made up. Freeper types have been caught before making up that sort of story and selling it to a gullible media.

[depakid]

59. Actually, you're simply another stupid propagandist

and I do mean stupid, because your aticle shows little if anything that passes for critical thought or analysis.

[sendero]

60. It must be pretty easy...

... to get through journalism school.

[Zynx]

62. She's slow to catch on.

There are a lot of these types and there have been since right after 9/11. They seem to think that 9/11 is just about the most significant historical event ever and think the whole world was changed by it. In fact, 9/11 would barely rate in a list of most significant events in this country, much less the world. These people need to gain some perspective.

[bunkerbuster1]

64. She was a "liberal" like Zell was a "Democratic Senator."

Lyin' little bitch, is what she is.

[zulchzulu]

67. 9/11 Repug = Clueless about PNAC and Chimpy dropping the ball

Perhaps this "journalist" could get up off her duff and do a piece on PNAC and White House ties...or she could just use this article to submit her resume to Faux Snooze...

[Rambis]

72. More lies from a neopug: Shock and awe!

Assholes!

[Felix Mala]

74. Her conscience has no problem with tax cuts for rich, attacks on

gays, destroying public education, ignoring civil rights and the entire rest of the list of right wing wet dream items all in the name of 9/11 victims? Who's the really cynical party that uses the deaths of 3,000 Americans to shove a hard right wing agenda down our throats.

[Cocoa]

75. aka a "Fox News liberal"

a "liberal," like Tammy Bruce, who consistently bashes democrats.

[rman]

107. I guess that makes her a "Faux Liberal"

-

[Name removed]

76. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bridget Burke]

79. There's no such thing.

But there are plenty of pretend ex-Democrats glad to whore themselves out to Bush. 9/11 is a good excuse--as it's been a good excuse for Bushie....

Such a fortunate event for some!

[tsuki]

77. Solutions? How about 210 border guards and a couple of cameras.

Quite a solution to making America more secure!

Another one that hears what she wants to hear and disregards the rest.

[ClassWarrior]

78. She may be an "ex-liberal" but she sure ain't an ex-Progressive.

"Liberals" are cartoons invented by Frank Luntz and Karl Rover.

NGU.

[oldcoot]

83. Does she even remember Osama bin Laden?

If she was really concerned about the innocent victims of 9/11, she would be angry that this administration failed to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. She also would be angry over the outing of a CIA agent by members of the Bush administration, which threatens national security.

[leesa]

84. What a dolt! How do these people become columnists?

[Warren DeMontague]

126. Because there is a seemingly endless market

for blatherers of this double-digit IQ Rightwingnut gibberish.

[Blue_Tires]

85. ummmm it's 2005...where the fuck has she been?

the time window when it was 'stylish' and 'en vogue' to jump the fence closed a good 2 and a half years ago. Please tell me this column is a reprint from 2002.

[GalleryGod]

137. My Immediate Take on this crap,Exactly !

:puke: Jeez ...and somebody with Editor after their name green lighted this horse shiite!
:argh: Hey, Cinny, "Catch this, Douchebag!":argh:

[PurityOfEssence]

88. Someone hurt us, so FUCK EVERYBODY

That's what this kind of response is. Regardless of the oppression and colonialism we've engaged in for selfish monetary gain that helped cause us to get popped, now we have the right to be true conservatives and take, take, take like there's no tomorrow.

Regardless of all the exploitation we've engaged in, someone hurt us a little, so all of our massive, incomparably larger guilt is wiped from the slate of history, and we're given a blank check to fuck everyone else FOREVER.

Conservatism is selfishness. Empathy is a foreign concept. Others are inferior and should accept their status as such.

This is disgusting, and endemic. Maybe Ayn Rand's objectivists will win out in the end: selfishness is the glory of mankind.

The world is just meaner and meaner with every passing justification.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

89. If that's all it took to turn her into a Republican, then she

wasn't really a Democrat to begin with.

"Oooh, now I'm scared of the big bad Arabs, so I'm going to let Daddy Bush protect me."

:crazy:

On the other hand, I wonder if she's just like all those "life-long Democrats" who keep writing LTTEs about how wonderful Bush is and how horribly Stalinist the Democrats are.

[EVDebs]

91. She obviously hasn't read "Crossing The Rubicon" or heard of

wargames on 9-11-01 Vigilant Warrior etc, or Ptech (Saudi software firm with FAA/intell access), etc etc etc.

This would make her a 9-11 Democrat, in a NY minute.

[cestpaspossible]

92. My email to Ms. Stillwell:

Ms. Stillwell,

I read with amusement your emotional rant entitled
"The Making of a 9/11 Republican".

I must inform you that 'buying into' the prevailing
attitudes of your surroundings and 'writing off all
Republicans as ignorant, intolerant yahoos', didn't show
you to be a liberal, it simply showed you to be a sheep,
a blind follower, and yes, a bigoted one at that, an unreflective
individual who followed the easy path instead of thinking
for yourself. Your conversion to Republicanism after 9/11
can't help but remind a student of history of someone in
Central Europe who made a similar political conversion after
the events of February 27, 1933.

Given the malleability or perhaps abscence of your core beliefs,
one must wonder which thought-fad you will be following ten
years from now....

Sincerely,
cestpaspossible

[otohara]

116. Ohhh...Ouch - Bravo

nice letter :thumbsup:

[jburton]

93. I've seen her at Election Night parties

OK, not exactly her, but people just like her.

She shows up at the victory party *after* the election winner has been announced on TV.

She didn't do shit during the campaign, has no passionate political beliefs, and loves to declare herself a swing voter.

Everbody loves a winner.

[d_b]

94. Funny stuff.

"I used to be a liberal, hell, I even voted for Nader. But then 9/11 happened and I realised how much the left hate America; Consequently, I now vote Republican.

Give me a fuckin' break.

[proud patriot]

95. Cinnamon reminds me of those "hippies"in it for the drugs and the sex

sadly

[ZootSuitGringo]

96. I say, she's a great big fool,

just like many American voters.

[Cha]

97. What a blind bat!

Can't see the freakin' forest for the trees..never occurred to her that maybe..just maybe we would never have had 9/11 if a gd bush hadn't been in office!! :mad: :grr:

[Tactical Progressive]

98. Republicans are always pretending to have been Democrats

Like it gives them some open-minded credibility.

But this: "There was little sympathy for the victims of this horrific attack, only an irrational hatred for their own country." is absurd.

And this: ".. and acted as if nothing had changed." is ridiculous. I remember post-9/11 clearly, sorry.

And this: "years of indoctrination in which we were always presented as the bad guys." comes from what media or group? None, that's what.

This person was never a Democrat. If they voted left to any extent, it was a shallow committment until they could hook up with an easily-digested ideological home.

Phony ex-Dems all spew their misrepresentations with similarly snide, dishonest demagoguery.

[IndianaGreen]

99. I think her idea of Left is anyone to the left of Hitler or Mussolini

She is full of it! This is the equivalent of saying "some of my best friends are (fill-in the blanks).

[RadiDem]

101. LOL ! She's as much an ex-liberal as Zell Miller is !

[GOPBasher]

102. She's an idiot. Period.

[The Flaming Red Head]

103. Other than the fact that she's another blind idiot

and I've never heard of her. yeah whatever.

[Warren DeMontague]

106. What a fucking doofus. Nice lineup of classic RW straw men she sets up to

tilt against.

Let's see. You've got the "keffiyeh wearing hippies with shirts saying intifadeh" because of course all of us on the left are anti-Israel and anti-semitic to boot, against a backdrop of "peace, patchouli, and tie-dye" (Got much of an axe to grind against your hippie parents, there, lady?). You've got the people who hate America and didn't give a damn about 9-11.

Yeah, right. What you've really got is an asshat aspiring pundit who sees that it's far easier to get recognition on the right side of spectrum and that there are even more slots open for the highly desirable "reformed liberal" brand. To boot, it takes far less -none, actually- work and brainpower. Just regurgitate alot of bullshit talking points and stereotypes from right-wing hate radio.

You know, I was at the same protests this dumbfuck was in the Bay Area. The largest anti-Iraq war protest had something like 100,000 people at the Civic Center in SF. I saw one- exactly one- sign having anything to do with Palestinians or Israel, manned by one small group of International ANSWER people who were looking rather lonely. I have never heard any anti-semitic remarks at any antiwar protest, nor have I seen the Israel bashing that rightwingers seem so obsessed with playing up. Of course, I've never seen a "hippie spit on a returning soldier", I've never seen Michael Moore burn an American Flag, I've never heard of a schoolkid being punished for reading the bible at lunch, and I've never seen any of this other made-up shit these right-wing nimrods love to work themselves and each other up with.

Of course, the SF Chronicle -the folks who torpedoed Kevin Shelley immediately after he went after Diebold- loves this kind of crap. They think if they work hard enough they can "reform" all the liberals around here, so that even though we may still be, say, pro-Gay rights, at least we'll stop fucking with the corporate interests, developers, rapacious landlords and others who apparently aren't making enough money in Northern California the way things currently stand.

As for Cinnamon- what, voting for Nader in 2000 proves you've got Liberal Cred? Just doubly means you're an asshole, to me. (No offense, really, about half my friends did the same.. but it doesn't indicate a real strong level of judgement in my mind, more like childish scorched-earth infantilism and a poseur's approach to progressive politics. At least none of my Nader 2000 people did the same thing this year, and sure as fuck none of them voted for Bush) Certainly not something to stick on your resume.

[deutsey]

109. I suppose she would've become a "Reichstag Fire Nazi" too

What strong convictions this person has.

[Vickers]

111. deutsey nails it

:thumbsup:

[UTUSN]

112. My E-ltr to Her

Haha: You claim that after terrorism, you went on to share the wingnut agenda:

"...I began to find myself in concurrence with other aspects of conservative political philosophy as well. Smaller government, traditional societal structures, respect and reverence for life, the importance of family, personal responsibility, national unity over identity politics and the benefits of living in a meritocracy... ...."

You also quoted somebody saying "(Shrub) got his war," and somehow you equated this with "hatred for country." Shrub is not the country. Wingnuts don't own God OR the country.

It is no secret that the cabal behind Shrub had been planning the Iraq attack for 10 years. You *do* know about the PNAC, don't you? But beyond that, in the maelstorm of supposed reasons for the Iraq attack, the unspoken is very likely to be the REAL reason: Personal animosity in revenging the wimpy father.

* "Smaller government"? Haha. Words are not needed here.

* "traditional societal structures" - Yeppers, check out the personal lives of: Shrub, the Shrub brothers, GINGRICH, Lynne CHEENEE.

* "life" - but not people's life CHOICES. And notice how wingnuts supposedly revere "life" while they are FOR executions and death by war, and once all of those revered births take place, see how all manner of option for social welfare and individual choices are VERBOTEN!

* "personal responsibility"!!!! - I'm laughing too hard here. The hallmark of the Shrubbites is NO personal responsibility.

* "meritocracy"? - Ah, yes, Orrin HATCH trots out his demand that ESTRADA and GONZALES and the other wingnut tools be approved BECAUSE of their ethnicity/race, and claiming that Libs are RACIST for opposing these wingnut TOOLS. That's not wingnut "meritocracy", that's wingnut racism and quotas.

You are not the first person to "convert" (either way, but we'll focus on wingnutism): Al CAPP and RAYGUN were Libs first. Jane FONDA has floundered around from one end to another. Dr Laura went back to her roots then bailed. There were Dems for Ike and Raygun Dems. People who turn are more about themselves and some eternal quest. Even if you were to "come back," I wouldn't trust you. Wingnuts love "converts" like Chris MATTHEWS, but they KNOW the MATTHEWSs are JUST tools and NEVER assimilate them.

[Darth_Kitten]

115. Good letter

:thumbsup:

[robbedvoter]

114. Just stay out of NYC, dear. We are "BUSH KNEW" kinda town

I have somewhere the NY Post cover to prove it.
It's the "life time Dem ploy". The much missed MWO had a "life time GOP-er letter writing contest.

[Warren DeMontague]

128. Just because the SF Chronicle gives an unwarranted percentage of airtime

to the 20 or so wannabe conservatives in SF, doesn't mean they are any kind of contingent. The people in SF are, by and large, overwhelmingly progressive. I can't, however, say the same for certain media outlets which are in the bag of corporations, landlords, and developers.

[Warren DeMontague]

135. Anyway our Mayor Kicks Your Mayor's ass. Respectfully Speaking.

I'll take Gavin Newsom over Bloomberg any day.

[trudyco]

117. Is Sfgate the San Fransisco Chronicle? I am sooo disappointed!

How can they even think this obvious Neocon plant is for real? She got in about every talking point she could.

There are a few "9/11 Republicans". They are people who were scarred sh*tless over 9/11 and think Bush is tough enough to keep Osama away. They stick their heads in the sand about his Abu Gharaib abuses, or the lessening of Americans civil rights, because at least he's keeping the bad guys away. But that's about it. That's why shrubs opinion polls go up when its terrorism and goes down when its anything else.

There are some people who like to join the "winning team" but I don't think that was the case this time. For one thing, it was too close to call. Even if they did vote for the winning team this time, none of them would relate to Cinnamon's talking points.

Its just more RW propaganda. Trying to frame what they want people in the middle to believe about the neocons.

Wonder if she gets GOPoints for this.

[musette_sf]

118. I've been checking the Chronicle's LTTE section

since this rancid little piece of Bu$h-worship floated to the top of the Gate. No letters yet. Assume that this will be pounded around in the Sunday opinion section and will be the lead LTTE topic. If not, then Bronstein can go piss up a rope as far as I am concerned. Besides, he already will rot in hell for what he did to Mark Morford. Yeah, Mark still gets his column, but he was really neutered for a while after Bronstein killed the Daily Fix.

[Warren DeMontague]

122. The Chronicle Regularly Pisses me off these days.

It seems to me that they want to cater to the upwardly-mobile yupster wealth contingent and larger Corporate America. It's as if they will accept that the Bay Area has a lot of "liberals", but they would really prefer that they be fiscal conservative yuppies who drive SUVs.. They'll accept that there are Gays here, but they'd much prefer that they all be Log Cabin Republicans.

They clearly had it in for Kevin Shelley, and the fact that the smears started immediately after he began seriously going after Diebold and paper trail free BBV always smelled like some seriously rotten shit to my nose.

Screw the "Chron".

[IndianaGreen]

119. Cinnamon Stillwell sounds like those that say "I am leaving DU because.."

then it turns out that the person was a conservative all along.

Our corps of DU researches have yet to find a single piece written by Cinnamon Stillwell that can be categorized as being remotely liberal or progressive.

[anaxarchos]

121. Quick, someone introduce her to Dennis Miller... n/t

[erpowers]

131. Misinformed

I do not get these people who claim that they were "disenchanted with the left and disappointed with the obstructionism and lack of vision of the Democratic Party." The only thing I can think of is that they are misinformed. It was the obstructionism of the Republicans that may have allowed 9/11 to happen in the first place. It was the Republicans in the Congress who sided with the computer industry to stop the President from breaking into one of the computer of one of the terrorits from the first WTC bombings. It was the Republicans in the Congress who sided with the Saudi government and prevented the American government from stopping the financing of Saudi terrorist here in America.

How could she talk of "lack of vision of the Democratic Party." The visions have come from the Democratic Party. It was the Democratic Party that pushed for hybrids and electric cars as a way to get us off foreign oil. The only thing the right has come up with is invade other countries and use up all the oil.

How could this person be disenchanted with the left when it was Bill Clinton who oversaw one of the biggest if not the biggest economic booms and balanced the budget. Balancing the budget is something that no Republican has done in many years. So she voted for the guy who took this country from a budget surplus to a budget defecit in four years.

She talks of people shouting "Bush got his war" and said that people showed very little sympathy for those who lost loved one in the attacks, but Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks. It seems that after there were no weapons of mass destruction found she would have decided not to vote for Bush.

So it seems that these people who call themselves 9/11 Republicans are just misinformed. They do not know the ideas that have come from the Democratic Party and what the Democratic Party did to stop terrorists attacks from happening.

[Spinoza]

138. One element

in her screed does ring true....

>snip<
"Like many a political convert, I took it on myself to openly oppose the politics of those with which I once shared world views. Beyond writing, I put myself on the front lines of this ideological battle by taking part in counterprotests at the antiwar rallies leading up to the war in Iraq. This turned out to be a further wake-up call, because it was there that I encountered more intolerance than ever before in my life. Holding pro-Iraq-liberation signs and American flags, I was spat on, called names, intimidated, threatened, attacked, cursed and, on a good day, simply argued with. It was clear that any deviation from the prevailing leftist groupthink of the Bay Area was considered a threat to be eliminated as quickly as possible.

It was at such protests that I also had my first real brushes with anti-Semitism. The anti-Israel sentiment on the left -- inexorably linked to anti-Americanism -- ran high at these events and boiled over into Jew hatred on more than one occasion. The pro-Palestinian sympathies of the left had led to a bizarre commingling of pacifism, Communism and Arab nationalism. So it was not uncommon to see kaffiyeh-clad college students chanting Hamas slogans, graying hippies wearing "Intifada" T-shirts, Che Guevera backpacks, and signs equating Zionism with Nazism, all against a backdrop of peace, patchouli and tie-dye."

I have personally seen this kind of behavior at anti-war rallies I attended in Berkeley and San Francisco. Frankly, I was embarrassed for my own side.