Two Nations, godless, divisible
In 1947, a Republican Senator once said that "politics stops at the water's edge." He meant that America was united against its enemies. There would be no politics played at times of war. Little did he know about where this country would go.
One of the best memories I have, one of the memories that moves me, that causes my ches tto swell with pride in this country is in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Members of the U.S. Congress, Senators, Representatives, Democrats and Republicans gather on the steps of the Capitol and issue a defiant statement against the perpetrators of this horrendous act of terrorism and talk about how unified we are as a Congress and country. And then, when the press conference is over, they spontaneously break into "God Bless America." Makes me cry to watch it today. See it here.
Fast forward to December 2009. A terrorist boards a flight to Detroit and tries to set off a bomb. Passengers and crew grab him and hold him for the authorities.
What happened in the aftermath? Republican Rep. Peter King went on TV to criticize President Obama for taking 72 hours to address the attack. Other Republicans chimed in. Yet, when shoe bomber Richard Reid tried to use the same explosive to take down an airliner in 2001, President Bush took six days to respond and didn't receive criticism for it.
Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano has taken heat for saying the system worked. It was a poor choice of words. She meant that the terrorist was apprehended with no one harmed. But clearly the system did not work. She clarified her remarks later. Still, some have called for her to be fired or resigned.
Really? Who died in this attack? On September 11th, nearly 3,000 people were killed. And we never even talk about the countless others who were injured, who have suffered lung damage cleaning up ground zero and who have suffered psychological damage from the incident. And yet, who was fired? Did National Security Advisor Condi Rice lose her job? No, she was promoted to Secretary of State. CIA chairman George Tenet was awarded a medal.
Then of course, Dick Cheney had to open his mouth. "As I've watched the events of the last few days....it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war." Really Dick? You mean, the same President Obama who has stepped up Predator strikes in Pakistan? The one who already sent an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan, the war Dick neglected. The one who just ordered another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. The one who is prosecuting terrorists from Guantanamo Bay. The same President Obama who has stepped up attacks in Yemen. Is that the President Obama Dick Cheney is referring to who is pretending we're not at war?
How much time would you get if you punched a former Vice President in the fucking face?
The GOP has tipped their hand. They've tipped their hand by having Michigan gubernatorial candidate and ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee Pete Hoekstra using the latest terrorist attack to fundraise. They've tipped their hand by rushing to criticize President Obama even more than condemning the terrorist thug who tried to kill 300 people.
I can hear them now. "Democrats criticized Bush." When did that happen? It didn't happen in the aftermath of 9/11. Go back and watch that video I linked to. Every Democrat in Congress except one gave Bush the authorization to go after the terrorists. 9/11 legitimized the Bush presidency. Those of us who couldn't stand the man knew that we had to put partisanship aside when faced with an enemy who didn't care if we were Democrats, Republicans, Independents, black, white, Chistian, Jew or atheist. We knew we had to set aside our differences and stand behind our president and our country.
But today's GOP isn't prepared to do that. Dick Cheney has been telegraphing it all year long with a constant stream of criticism. The moment we're attacked and Americans die, they've shown that they're going to exploit it politically. They're going to criticize President Obama and the democrats and try to score cheap political points off of the corpses of Americans. The Democrats could've done that. They could've reacted after 9/11 and blamed Bush for allowing 3,000 people to be murdered. Terrorism chief Richard Clarke tried to get them focused on Bin Laden but couldn't. We could've went that route. But it would've torn the country apart. Some things are bigger than politcal parties. Some things are bigger than cheap political points.
But now we know that the Republicans won't stand as Americans the next time we're attacked. They'll stand as Republicans. Wait and see. It's shameful and disgraceful. That's how it's going to be 2010, an election year. It's going to be brass knuckles. Take no prisoners. I'm ready for it. It's sad that its come to this. But I know how to fight people like this.
The formula is simple. It's the old Al Capone / Chicago way. They bring a knife, I bring a gun. They send one of mine to the hospital, I send one of theirs to the morgue.
God damn us all.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXx
Notes: Whew! What a rant. It had been building. Needed to vent. I'm good now.
One of the best memories I have, one of the memories that moves me, that causes my ches tto swell with pride in this country is in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Members of the U.S. Congress, Senators, Representatives, Democrats and Republicans gather on the steps of the Capitol and issue a defiant statement against the perpetrators of this horrendous act of terrorism and talk about how unified we are as a Congress and country. And then, when the press conference is over, they spontaneously break into "God Bless America." Makes me cry to watch it today. See it here.
Fast forward to December 2009. A terrorist boards a flight to Detroit and tries to set off a bomb. Passengers and crew grab him and hold him for the authorities.
What happened in the aftermath? Republican Rep. Peter King went on TV to criticize President Obama for taking 72 hours to address the attack. Other Republicans chimed in. Yet, when shoe bomber Richard Reid tried to use the same explosive to take down an airliner in 2001, President Bush took six days to respond and didn't receive criticism for it.
Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano has taken heat for saying the system worked. It was a poor choice of words. She meant that the terrorist was apprehended with no one harmed. But clearly the system did not work. She clarified her remarks later. Still, some have called for her to be fired or resigned.
Really? Who died in this attack? On September 11th, nearly 3,000 people were killed. And we never even talk about the countless others who were injured, who have suffered lung damage cleaning up ground zero and who have suffered psychological damage from the incident. And yet, who was fired? Did National Security Advisor Condi Rice lose her job? No, she was promoted to Secretary of State. CIA chairman George Tenet was awarded a medal.
Then of course, Dick Cheney had to open his mouth. "As I've watched the events of the last few days....it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war." Really Dick? You mean, the same President Obama who has stepped up Predator strikes in Pakistan? The one who already sent an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan, the war Dick neglected. The one who just ordered another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. The one who is prosecuting terrorists from Guantanamo Bay. The same President Obama who has stepped up attacks in Yemen. Is that the President Obama Dick Cheney is referring to who is pretending we're not at war?
How much time would you get if you punched a former Vice President in the fucking face?
The GOP has tipped their hand. They've tipped their hand by having Michigan gubernatorial candidate and ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee Pete Hoekstra using the latest terrorist attack to fundraise. They've tipped their hand by rushing to criticize President Obama even more than condemning the terrorist thug who tried to kill 300 people.
I can hear them now. "Democrats criticized Bush." When did that happen? It didn't happen in the aftermath of 9/11. Go back and watch that video I linked to. Every Democrat in Congress except one gave Bush the authorization to go after the terrorists. 9/11 legitimized the Bush presidency. Those of us who couldn't stand the man knew that we had to put partisanship aside when faced with an enemy who didn't care if we were Democrats, Republicans, Independents, black, white, Chistian, Jew or atheist. We knew we had to set aside our differences and stand behind our president and our country.
But today's GOP isn't prepared to do that. Dick Cheney has been telegraphing it all year long with a constant stream of criticism. The moment we're attacked and Americans die, they've shown that they're going to exploit it politically. They're going to criticize President Obama and the democrats and try to score cheap political points off of the corpses of Americans. The Democrats could've done that. They could've reacted after 9/11 and blamed Bush for allowing 3,000 people to be murdered. Terrorism chief Richard Clarke tried to get them focused on Bin Laden but couldn't. We could've went that route. But it would've torn the country apart. Some things are bigger than politcal parties. Some things are bigger than cheap political points.
But now we know that the Republicans won't stand as Americans the next time we're attacked. They'll stand as Republicans. Wait and see. It's shameful and disgraceful. That's how it's going to be 2010, an election year. It's going to be brass knuckles. Take no prisoners. I'm ready for it. It's sad that its come to this. But I know how to fight people like this.
The formula is simple. It's the old Al Capone / Chicago way. They bring a knife, I bring a gun. They send one of mine to the hospital, I send one of theirs to the morgue.
God damn us all.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXx
Notes: Whew! What a rant. It had been building. Needed to vent. I'm good now.
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