HAPPY SEPTEMBER 11TH, GOP

[NanceGreggs]

Happy September 11th, GOP!
By Nancy Greggs

As most of the nation readies itself to mark the Fifth Anniversary of September 11th in a somber and introspective mood, we realize that our elected Republicans are preparing to celebrate the event that enabled them to dismantle what was once our great democracy.

As the citizenry mourned its loss on that harrowing day, the machinations were already begun to turn a tragedy of massive proportions into a winning strategy that, five years later, has culminated in an America that is no longer recognizable – that is, in truth, a country that is no longer even America.

One can already envision the backslapping that will take place on Monday amongst those of you who have worked so tirelessly to divide a nation, to frighten a populace into unwitting submission, and to applaud those among your ranks who participated so enthusiastically in the back-stabbing of your fellow citizens.

There will be the inevitable photo-ops; the prayerful countenance as you leave a memorial service, the concerned visage as you meet with the families of those taken. But your unfettered joy is already palpable, as you revel in the irreparable damage you have done since that fateful day.

In the last five years, you have supported a war on a people that had no connection to the attack on our country, you have besmirched the reputations of the colleagues who tried to reason with you, belittled and insulted those who have challenged you, and have enabled a president to usurp powers beyond the limits prescribed by our Constitution. And when the lies and incompetence of this administration have been proven time and again, you have added insult to that ultimate injury through your persistent denial of the truth.

I, like every other American citizen, once held onto a dream that was (or so I believed) my birthright: to see my children live a life better than my own, and to leave them a country even stronger, freer and more just than it had been in my lifetime. That dream, thanks to your efforts, is now dead.

What I will leave my children instead is only my nostalgic memories of the America that once was; a nation that, for all of its flaws, took pride in its freedoms, its sense of justice, its compassion, and its never-ending striving towards loftier goals.

We, a horrified nation, have watched as you voted for policies that deprive hard-working Americans of their jobs, their property, their right to speak freely, their right to legal recourse, their right to privacy, their right to transparent government, their right to fair elections – and, most importantly, their right to honest representation by their elected officials.

But what is even more troubling is your support of torture, of secret prisons, of blatant inhumanity in the guise of protecting the populace, of immoral behavior in the name of God and country – and now your crowning achievement, the sanction of the use of weapons that will continue to kill and maim innocent people not only now, but for decades to come.

Were I addressing people of higher moral standards, I would remind you that every time a child is killed by the remnants of the weapons you have sanctioned, that every time an innocent man or woman is tortured, that every time a soldier dies combating an enemy you created, their blood is on your hands. But that would simply be an appeal to your conscience – and clearly, you have none.

But to the victor belong the spoils, and now is your moment to joyously celebrate what you have accomplished in so short a time: a nation united now divided, the goodwill of the world now turned into enmity, the monies that could have accomplished so much now squandered on achieving so little, the pride that was once an integral part of citizenship now turned into shame.

Even though the rest of us may not be in the same carefree mood, it’s not like you will be alone in your glee. You will be joined by the corporations that you have enriched, the individuals whose wealth you have so cautiously preserved and, most importantly, the enemies of our country who undoubtedly recognize that their aim to topple American democracy is now, thanks to you, a mission already accomplished.

[stillcool]

1. awesome....

my favorite:

We, a horrified nation, have watched as you voted for policies that deprive hard-working Americans of their jobs, their property, their right to speak freely, their right to legal recourse, their right to privacy, their right to transparent government, their right to fair elections – and, most importantly, their right to honest representation by their elected officials.

[Not_Giving_Up]

2. Well said!

Nominated!

[JeffR]

3. Here's hoping their glee ends in November

and the hard work of digging this nation out from under their handiwork begins in January.

[Bjorn Against]

4. Beautifully stated

Thank you for speaking the truth Nancy, it is about time people start speaking the obvious. Many in the right-wing are glad September 11th happened because it has helped them to push their agenda. Remember Bush's trifecta comment?

[havocmom]

5. Bravo

Damn straight!

[zulchzulu]

6. So many innocent collateral damage needed for PNAC and democracy's death

May the Repugs rejoice in the death of freedom and Democracy for Stalinist Corporatism and Endless Wars!

All Hail The New Pearl Harbor That Killed America!

:sarcasm:

[ladym55]

7. You hit it again

It hasn't taken long to dismantle our government and put our nation's future at risk.

This is the part that struck me the most:

Were I addressing people of higher moral standards, I would remind you that every time a child is killed by the remnants of the weapons you have sanctioned, that every time an innocent man or woman is tortured, that every time a soldier dies combating an enemy you created, their blood is on your hands. But that would simply be an appeal to your conscience – and clearly, you have none.

Those are our leaders--our WONDERFUL AMORAL "CHRISTIAN" leaders.

All the lives lost so that a group of incompetents can attempt to build themselves an empire.

:grr:

[bonito]

8. Sadly kicked but not going away.

[Change has come]

9. I would love to hear Mike Malloy reading this on air.

Well done. :patriot:

[NanceGreggs]

10. So would I.

He read a piece of mine on-air a few weeks ago, and it is an honour I will never forget.

[Change has come]

29. I was listening

This piece is even better. :patriot:

[Auntie Bush]

12. KO could do an excellent job of reading this beautiful but sad essay.

[NanceGreggs]

14. Oh, that it could happen!

But truth be told, KO already employs the BEST American writer in the country -- himself!

[Kurovski]

11. Excellently put.

K&R.

[oasis]

13. Bravo!!

[fuzzyball]

15. How would YOU have retaliated against the 911 terror attack?

If you were the president on Sept 11, 2001, what steps would
you have taken to prevent more mass murders of 3000 civilians
in New York City? Note that this was not the first attack on
US assets by Al Qaeda. All the other previous attacks which
include WTC bombing in early 1990's, US Embassy IN East Africa,
US Naval ship, Khobar towers, Marine barracks etc. went pretty
much unanswered. Is it your opinion that we should not retaliate
and hope that sopme day Al Qaeda will be satisfied after murdering
X number of Americans? OTOH if you think we should retalite, will
you please detail the steps you, as president would take?

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

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

[fuzzyball]

17. Is that the best argument you can come with?

Just accuse everyone of being freepers without presenting
a counter-point?

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

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

[JeffR]

18. How would the gentleman in your avatar have responded to 9/11?

And if you think his approach would have been remotely similar to the current Administration, you don't know much about either Administration.

[fuzzyball]

22. The president I admire, Billy Clinton would have retaliated by

giving the Taliban regime in Afghanistan 72 hours to dismantle
Osama's training camps and hand over Osama. If that was not
complied with he would have taken military action to remove
the Taliban regime. I have no reason to believe he would have
then attacked Iraq.

But, I am still curious to find out what the author of this
thread would have done.

[JeffR]

24. While we wait for her response

Are you implying that everything the White House and their rubberstamp Congressional buddies have done in the last five years has not been calculated to exploit, leverage and consolidate power while invoking the memory of an attack they failed to anticipate (or worse)?

I'm not going to dismiss you out of hand as a Freeper, but I'm not sure how even levelling your question is a relevant response to the OP...

[fuzzyball]

26. Answer to your first question is No, as for the relevance of my post

it is directly related to the topic of 911. I understand
there is a movie being released soon about 911.

So, it is obvious this administration is exploiting the 911
terror attack to their advantage. But, at the same time it
makes no sense to me to ignore the attack, and not think about
what is the best approach to preventing further such attacks.

[JeffR]

28. Well, if I read the OP right

It's not about the attack; it's about the exploitation. So again, I'm not clear on the writer being held to account for what she would have done in response. Seems a little off-topic...?

[petgoat]

33. The best approach to preventing further such attacks is

simply to pay attention. Bush ignored warnings from 11 countries,
3 FBI offices, and the CIA. George Tenet was running around with his
hair on fire. FAA had 52 warnings about al Qaeda.

9/11 could not have happened under Clinton or Gore. Richard Clarke's
plan to go after al Qaeda militarily and financially would have been
implemented, and the country would have been on alert for reprisals.

[tavalon]

38. Yeah, there's a "docudrama"

coming out. I find the term amusing beyond belief because the beginning of the word makes it seem as though it is a documentary and therefore imbued with some truth. From what it looks like the movie would be better named bullshitdrams or liedrama.

Billy Clinton? Snort!

[petgoat]

32. Would Clinton have provided the proof that Taliban demanded

that Osama was guilty?

Or would he like Bush have started bombing instead?

Under Clinton, would Afghanistan have turned into the
opium farm it is today?

[fuzzyball]

36. I saw the TV broadcast of Osama personally describing how he

spearheaded the 911 attack. It was on all major TV networks.
That would have been enough proof for pres Clinton to take
action. Clinton had already sent cruise missiles to destroy
one of Osama's terror camps before 911.

[petgoat]

41. Was that fat Osama or Skinny Osama? Was it on abc by

any chance?

[LeahMira]

54. Not a few people

said, at the time, that the U.S. should have involved the United Nations. Certainly we had the sympathy and support of the entire world immediately after September 11 and certainly, even at the time, other nations had reason to be concerned about Al Qaeda.

[Patsy Stone]

21. I would have listened to advisers

I would have read and understood the August 6th PDB cryptically entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Within the US". I would have paid attention to the FBI agents who noticed some people were taking flying lessons but had no desire to learn how to land the plane. I would have checked the lists of the most wanted against those who legally entered the US (as many of the hijackers did).

Retaliation against al Qaeda is not the same as invading a country with no ties (no real ties other than refuted hearsay) to the horrific acts at hand.

I wouldn't have given up in Afghanistan, I wouldn't have let Osama go and then say "I don't really spend that much time thinking about him."

Finally, I wouldn't blame it on Bill Clinton when his desire to go after al Qaeda was met by cries of "No war for Monica!" by my own party. But we were supposed to forget that, right? Clinton accused of wagging the dog?

How's that for a start?

[fuzzyball]

23. I whole-heartedly agree with your line of thinking..all makes sense.

[NanceGreggs]

25. Interesting question (as though you really want an answer)!

What would I have done?

I would NOT have sat in a kindergarten classroom, paralyzed, after being told my country was under attack.

Once forcibly MOVED by someone who understood the situation, I would NOT have stopped for a photo-op outside said school before getting down to business.

I would have gone directly to the nation's capital and taken charge, instead of flying around the country like a frightened and confused idiot.

I would have called upon the nations of world, who pledged their support within minutes, to assist in tracking down those responsible, instead of setting plans in motion to invade Iraq (which had nothing to do with 9/11, and I, unlike the Idiot-in-Chief, would NOT have LIED to the country about Hussein's alleged involvement).

I would have reaped the benefits of a nation of citizens now united in their outrage and their demands for justice, instead of doing everything in my power to divide them, one against the other.

In the long term, I would NOT have told the American people that this was the result of people who "hated us for our freedoms", and then proceed to restrict, deny and eliminate those very freedoms.

In the meantime, thousands of American soldiers are dead or wounded, tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis are dead, the world hates us, terrorist violence has risen sharply since 9/11, and Americans will spend decades paying off the debts that this administration has incurred to accomplish absolutely nothing of value.

In the meantime, Bin Laden (who, according to WH legend, is resposible for 9/11) is calling his friends over to watch ABC's "Path to 9/11" on Monday night, free as he ever was.

[fuzzyball]

27. You would not have attacked Osama's terror training camps in Afghanistan

and forced capture of Osama? I ask since you did not include
it in your response. As for attacking Saddam's Iraq, I agree
it was wrong, premature, foolhardy, improperly planned, and
irrational.

[Change has come]

30. now fuzzyball...

tell us what you have done. What are your credentials?

[NanceGreggs]

31. I work in the legal biz, so you will excuse my lapsing into ...

... that kind of mindset.

But your question is premised on facts not in evidence.

While it is easy to surmise, in hindsight, what we believe anyone would or would not have done in the aftermath of 9/11, we CANNOT possibly know (a) if it ever would have occurred in the first place under a different administration, (b) if a president OTHER than Bush would have been privy to information that we, to this day, still do not know.

If I were president at the time, I cannot say what I would have done -- neither could anyone. Because none of us knows what the REAL facts were, or are.

I think all of us would say today that if we were apprised of who was responsible, we would have used every power at our disposal to retaliate.

But after everything I have seen and heard from this administration in the past five years, I am convinced that those truly responsible were a lot closer to home than the wilds of Afghanistan.

[fuzzyball]

35. We live in a great country.....

we can criticize the admin and not get arrested and shot.
Thank goodness we don't live in Stalin's Russia, Saddam's Iraq,
Hitler's Germany, Mao's China, or any of the other brutal
dictators ruling in various countries.

I really have no proof if those responsible for 911 were a lot
closer or not. I have little choice except trust the findings
of the so called bipartisan 911 commission.

[tavalon]

40. Well, you've managed to stay in the game for over 100 posts

so I'm going to assume (dangerous game, that. Eh?) that you are just misinformed and are here to become more appropriately informed. In that spirit, how's about you pull up a chair and get informed? There is a wealth of information here on DU. I would recommend that you not jump into the fray again until you've spent that time.

Also, if you are going to "trust the findings" of the 911 commission, you might actually want to read their book. Feel free to give us a book report, though I would recommend sticking with what they actually said in the book - I wouldn't rely on the "docudrama" cliff notes movie version if I were you.

I will give you one thing, nay two things, you spell purty good and yer grammer ain't half bad.

[tavalon]

39. Premature?

When would that stupid ass idea have been mature? I'm suspecting that you need to be reminded that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. Most people here would not need such a primer but you seem a bit confused on that point and a few others. Osama and Saddam are not linked in any way but I'm sure you know that, right?

[Wednesdays]

37. Hey! There's a great talking point

In the meantime, Bin Laden (who, according to WH legend, is resposible for 9/11) is calling his friends over to watch ABC's "Path to 9/11" on Monday night, free as he ever was.

We ought to put that in our signatures.

[grizmaster]

42. "went pretty much unanswered"? that's a lie

Clinton is the only president to attack Osama before 9/11. And Clinton caught, jailed, tried, and convicted those who committed the first WTC attack.


As to a response to 9/11, I would have gone after those who committed the crime, not get bogged down in some pointless qWagmire in Iraq.

[newspeak]

53. right on, Grizmaster

would have apprehended and tried those involved, not start a war!!!!

[newspeak]

52. how would I have responded?

First, after I was sworn in, I would have listened to Clinton's advisory group who warned me that terrorism would be my main focus. Then I would have gathered my intelligence advisors from both CIA and FBI and reviewed the information they had so far. Knowing that information and a plan had been created to take out OBL by Clinton's group after the USS Cole bombing, I would have listened and gaged whether or not I would implement the plan that they had formulated. Of course, the Attorney General that would be appointed would focus on terrorism instead of prostitutes and small time MJ users. Since the chain of command at Norad has been effective, I wouldn't take my time in May to change the chain of command. My time in office is only eight months in, so I definitely wouldn't be taking a vacation. When they present the August PDB to me, I read, instead of having someone brief me, and form a group to think how we can deflect an attack on our soil. Because of the PDB, I would not condone major military exercises to be performed that inhibits a response by a military in case there is an attack. So, the operations would be done singularly, instead of, all at once. I'd meet regularly with both the heads of CIA and FBI, so that communication could flow through all departments about the newest intelligence on terrorism. I'd hire more translators in said intelligence departments to respond quickly to alarming transmissions. When Germany and Russia called me, heads up somethings coming down in our country, I'd notify the airports and airlines to follow a stricter security pattern. Of course, I would have a safety policy with the FAA to include locked cabins for pilots, it may not yet be in place, but I would initiate the policy as soon as possible. When I found out about the planes being highjacked (look at the timeline), I would be in contact with Norad, not Cheney or Rumsfeld. I would have had jets scrambled as soon as the highjackings (since I do not have to contend with numerous military exercises), the warning would be given to the planes-one plane may have hit a building, but I guarantee the others would be down. You asked.

[dweller]

20. destined for the Top

:kick:ing from the lower rungs.



dp

[flyarm]

34. thank you Nance..this should be on the front page of every paper

and read on every network..but we all know that will never be...i have sent it out to all my internet groups..

and i thank you for wonderful , thoughtful writing!

fly

[Mad_Dem_X]

43. Another beauty, Nancy!

Very well written!

[wiley]

44. No Idea Who you are but you could easily be Ben Franklin reincarnate!

You really rock.

[Vinca]

45. An amazing piece. It can't be said any better. nt

[kentjay]

46. the irony of 9/11 is that

simply put,bush failed to protect us,that is the u.s.just as if a soldier on guard duty failed his post,yet he and the thugs use 9/11 to push their agenda.9/11 alone is sufficient reason to impeach bush.if a blowjob is impeachable,them failure of office duties are as well.i need not do a follow up of what has transpired since that infamous day.i might point out rummys stupid remark that there are no good bombing sites in afgahnistan,did he forgot about the opium crop?if that had been wipe out al-qaeda would be fundless,so it goes on and on,one disaster after it another.so impeach this fucker.

[NanceGreggs]

47. Hey, welcome aboard, kentjay!!!

Re your comment about the opium crop:

Been thinking what a great (and snarky) commercial the Dems could make on that point:

"If you've noticed that there are more illegal drugs available in your neighbourhood, don't forget to THANK THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!"


:hi:

[kentjay]

50. thanks,agree they

want to keeo everyone doped up,or bush needs to fuel his habit.

[Maestro]

48. Awesomely written!

I hope you forward that to Chimp himself; not that he would be able to understand it, but still do it nonetheless.

[GusConsultore]

49. Bush

I love this. Bush didn't know how UK's government works. Didn't understand why Blair has to resign.

http://www.miserywatch.com/2006/09/political_crisi.html

[mithnanthy]

51. I look forward to everything you write!!!

Thanks!

[Riddler]

55. This should be sent to everyone's Republican Senator or Congressperson

with the author's permission, of course.