September 11
Today is the fifth anniversary of the September 11 2001 attacks on New York and Washington by al Qaeda terrorists. It's a struggle to know what to say, because so much has happened since that day.
On that day, I was at work in Toronto on the 11th floor of a 15-story building. There was a presentation room just around the corner from my area and there was a cable TV showing the building burning. I'll never forget it.
It was a human tragedy. It was an assault on everything our society believes in. It was mass murder.
The free world circled its wagons. The French said: "we are all Americans today." We knew who our friends were by their reactions. Palestinians danced in the streets. Iran was surprisingly subdued.
Air traffic was halted. Some people made new friends for life, as stranded passengers were welcomed into the homes locals in places like Newfoundland and Bangor Maine (both emergency stops on the transatlantic corridor).
We were all ready to fight. It was time. It was Pearl Harbour. We were unified and we were angry and we were sad and we were afraid.
And then something terrible happened.
Great events show what people are made of. WWII made icons out of FDR, Churchill, and Truman. Not so much for Neville Chamberlain and Robert Taft. Or George W. Bush.
It's incredible to be writing these words, almost a surreal experience, but the truth must be told: This administration is the worst collection of human beings in American history. They represent all the Deadly Sins (and most of the non-lethal ones). They've done exactly the wrong things every step of the way and for every moment since the attacks.
They are the worst of America. They are what America has expressly set out not to be. They are the living embodiment of everything America's enemies believe about us. And, now, how can we deny that we're that bad?
Where we've made the world safe through alliances and inter-dependencies, they've broken pacts and made us alone. Where we've respected human rights they've trampled them and tortured people. Where we've been a beacon of enlightenment and scientific rationalism, they've made us a religious state and deny science. Where we've been governed by democracy with open government, they've stolen elections and keep everything in total dark secrecy.
And their unifying theme is 9-11. You are safer from the threat of terrorism by giving your rights and freedoms away. You are safer if you stay uninformed - do not question your government. You are safer when your government tortures helpless prisoners and when it keeps them indefinitely without charges or access to any justice. You are safer when your sons and daughters are sent to a pointless war to die and to kill.
With all this safety, you must still be afraid. Fear should run your life and inform all your decisions. FDR was wrong to install Social Security so our elder citizens are not condemned to poverty, and he was wrong to say: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Wrong. Be afraid.
For as great as FDR was as a social reforming and war fighting president, Bush has been equally abysmal in his great failure.
It's hard to believe that America has become such a despicable pariah nation in just five years, but Bush/Cheney have proven that it's easier to destroy than to create. They've destroyed the greatest nation on the planet in a way that no external enemy ever could.
On that day, I was at work in Toronto on the 11th floor of a 15-story building. There was a presentation room just around the corner from my area and there was a cable TV showing the building burning. I'll never forget it.
It was a human tragedy. It was an assault on everything our society believes in. It was mass murder.
The free world circled its wagons. The French said: "we are all Americans today." We knew who our friends were by their reactions. Palestinians danced in the streets. Iran was surprisingly subdued.
Air traffic was halted. Some people made new friends for life, as stranded passengers were welcomed into the homes locals in places like Newfoundland and Bangor Maine (both emergency stops on the transatlantic corridor).
We were all ready to fight. It was time. It was Pearl Harbour. We were unified and we were angry and we were sad and we were afraid.
And then something terrible happened.
Great events show what people are made of. WWII made icons out of FDR, Churchill, and Truman. Not so much for Neville Chamberlain and Robert Taft. Or George W. Bush.
It's incredible to be writing these words, almost a surreal experience, but the truth must be told: This administration is the worst collection of human beings in American history. They represent all the Deadly Sins (and most of the non-lethal ones). They've done exactly the wrong things every step of the way and for every moment since the attacks.
They are the worst of America. They are what America has expressly set out not to be. They are the living embodiment of everything America's enemies believe about us. And, now, how can we deny that we're that bad?
Where we've made the world safe through alliances and inter-dependencies, they've broken pacts and made us alone. Where we've respected human rights they've trampled them and tortured people. Where we've been a beacon of enlightenment and scientific rationalism, they've made us a religious state and deny science. Where we've been governed by democracy with open government, they've stolen elections and keep everything in total dark secrecy.
And their unifying theme is 9-11. You are safer from the threat of terrorism by giving your rights and freedoms away. You are safer if you stay uninformed - do not question your government. You are safer when your government tortures helpless prisoners and when it keeps them indefinitely without charges or access to any justice. You are safer when your sons and daughters are sent to a pointless war to die and to kill.
With all this safety, you must still be afraid. Fear should run your life and inform all your decisions. FDR was wrong to install Social Security so our elder citizens are not condemned to poverty, and he was wrong to say: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Wrong. Be afraid.
For as great as FDR was as a social reforming and war fighting president, Bush has been equally abysmal in his great failure.
It's hard to believe that America has become such a despicable pariah nation in just five years, but Bush/Cheney have proven that it's easier to destroy than to create. They've destroyed the greatest nation on the planet in a way that no external enemy ever could.
posted by fiduciary at 10:29 AM
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