I took yesterday off. Because I knew if I typed anything, it would be, "Iraq has nothing to do with the War on Terror" over and over and over, in boldface.
And "Stop desecrating the memory of those who died on 9/11 by associating their sacrifice with the war in Iraq" in larger boldface.
And "How come no one is taking responsibility for the biggest foreign policy mistake in American history?" in the largest type of all.
I remember 9/11 all right: I remember the silence in that beautiful blue sky as all planes were grounded, a silence that reverberated with pain and anguish; I remember the funerals that went on for days and weeks; I remember wondering if any of us would ever laugh about anything ever again.
And I remember something else: all that godawful suffering and the fear that it engendered were cynically hijacked for political purposes by the neoconservatives in the current administration. That is what makes me feel sickest of all.
[I didn't feel all that was appropriate for yesterday. Today, however? Fair game.]
Well said!
ReplyDeleteAmen Sister. I heard a comment on NPR today that the 'Straight Talk Express' went by the wayside and you do whatever you have to do to win. I don't know if I should be happy for some real straight talk, but it made me so so sad for everything we've lost in this country. Just do whatever you have to do...who cares about the truth, or fairness, or ethics.
ReplyDeleteI know. It all makes me just bone weary. Really. I am so tired from it all.
ReplyDeleteOk , so I know you've said you're not sure who you're voting for, but it sure sounds to me like you do with those opinions! I'm right there with you on your feelings!
ReplyDeleteWell said. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for saying it. I was thinking it too.
ReplyDeleteActually, Anonymous, a person could still vote for McCain, if they can trust that he won't be beholden to the neocon agenda that has been followed these past 8 years. Perfectly reasonable supposition, in my view...
ReplyDeleteThank you for saying that. The war in Iraq only has anything to do with 9/11 because Bush and his cronies twisted it around in order to justify their own bad decisions.
ReplyDeleteJust a reminder - a president cannot declare war on his own. Congress had an overwhelming majority vote (house 296-133 and Senate 77-23) and there were over 5 countries that participated in the invasion and many more that supported the invasion. So, if one is looking for someone to take responsiblity, would it not be, at least the military that had the intelligence, the president and his administration and the 373 members of congress who voted for the invasion? I guess I am tired of hearing blame on ONE MAN. Drives me nuts. We all know that the president of the country no more makes an individual decision than my kids when they were toddlers. In fact, this whole election is kind of a joke because who is in Senate and on the Supreme Court is WAY more relevant for passing proposed policies and reforming laws and constitutions.
ReplyDeleteWhile Iraq was not a retaliation for 9-11, 9-11 made our country realize that Islamic extremist are a greater threat than we realized and when intelligence shows a threat, action is sometime necessary. Action was only taken after MANY attempts to get Hussein to cooperate.
KEEP BELIEVING
Umm, just a reminder: Congress never actually declared war on Iraq. What they did was authorize the spending that allowed the "pre-emptive strike" based on the phony evidence presented to them by the folks at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! I don't blame the Iraq War on one person; I blame it on 3:Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld. Don't forget that the military basically has no say in who they go to war against, since the Commander-in Chief is the President. Also don't forget that none of the so-called "intelligence" has proven to be true. In fact, I think if you do some research, you'll find that it has pretty conclusively been proven false. The war we needed to finish has been sorely neglected and may no longer be winnable. I'm talking about Afghanistan. And while the President can't do much without Congress and the Supreme Court, he sets the tone and the agenda, and I think it would be fatuous to pretend that the last 7 years haven't been about Bush's agenda. Just observing....
ReplyDeleteMost assuredly, I agree it wasn't Bush's sole fault. His only fault was not listening to people who disagreed with what his trusted (neocon) advisers were telling him. He had someone with tons of military experience (Colin Powell) disagreeing with the conventional wisdom, but Bush is, I'm afraid, intellectually lazy. It is so much easier to only listen to one side of an argument. It's also Powell's fault, for not making more noise. I blame the Senate, but only somewhat - they were presented with a very one-sided version of the facts by an administration that had a bridge to sell.
ReplyDeleteUnlike many people, I don't think President Bush out-and-out lied about what he knew. But he made poor decisions and was assisted in those poor decisions by the people in his administration who did not have the best interests of our country at heart. Or maybe they thought they did, but they were operating with geopolitical blinders on.
These sort of things happen, but what makes them almost unforgivable is the insistence of the current administration (not just the President, who I really feel is out of his depth and is being misled) upon conflating the war in Iraq with the war on terrorism. That is an out-and-out lie.
YES!
ReplyDeleteGood for you! You go, girl! I love reading your blog and I especially love that you're not afraid to post on topics such as these AND that you have intelligent, well-reasoned opinions.
ReplyDelete--Susie Q
Um, once your kids are on their own and don't need you to deal with their socks anymore, RUN FOR PRESIDENT! :) 9/11 wasn't the cause of Iraq, it just created enough of the paranoia and the opportunity for the neo-c's to jump in and do reckless and insane things.
ReplyDeleteI wish everyone would waste way more time trying to understand what WE could change about our way of doing things that would make future 9/11's less likely to occur. I hear almost no noise on that one and it makes me sick. So far, all those people have died in vain.
I disagree, SC. Bush isn't intellectually lazy. He would need to have a few more synapses firing to get him up to that level.
ReplyDeleteBut, I completely agree with every other thing you said.
Were the attacks on 9/11 planned out and executed SPECIFICALLY during the 9 Months that Bush was in office or planned during the YEARS prior to his election? Would we even have HAD the attacks on 9/11 if the President prior to Bush spent less time canoodling (and denying it) and more time on following up on the intellegence given to him that something was going on? Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI have a similar conundrum. As an adult, I can't always say anything I want, anytime I want to. Bummer, eh?
ReplyDeleteI hate the conflating too. It is so ignorant and self-serving. Ugh, ugh, ugh!
ReplyDeleteDespicable!
Phew! I don't need to try and protect you against GOP Mom on my blog anymore. It is quite obvious that you can hold your own, and you could most definitely beat me up. Just label me Rodney King as I whine "Can't we all just get along?"
ReplyDeleteOf course we can - as long as whoever wins the Presidency this fall remembers that almost half the voters didn't agree with him. I, for one, don't think Republicans are evil simply because I don't like the Bush administration. On the other hand, any candidate who would insist on demonizing the other half of the electorate would be continuing this winner-take-all, divisive mentality that has not done our country any good whatsoever in the past.
ReplyDeleteWe have to share America, guys, whether we like it or not. All those people who didn't vote for the winner aren't just going to go away!
Um yep. Pretty much sums it up nicely. My vote would be for the stay at home parent who has to budget a paltry paycheck towards a household budget. Anyone enterprising enough to pull that off should have no problem balancing a fiscal budget. For starters, every elected official under my jurisdiction would be required to take a serious pay cut that situated them more in line with that of their constituents' paychecks. It certainly makes it harder to throw big lobbyist parties if you have to serve Oscar Mayer vs Boar's Head.
ReplyDeleteAmen!! And I agree with Tammy on her assessment of Bush's intelligence. :)
ReplyDeleteBrilliantly put SuburbanCorrespondent and excellent arguments in your posts in response to those that disagree. We are all entitled to our own opinions and it's nice to see a good, intelligent conversation occurring without junior high name calling to those with differing ideas... wtg with having the guts to state your ideas. blessings, ~miss shannon
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought Canadian politics drove me crazy. It's kinda nice to know that every country has it share of frustration and we {Canadians}are not alone!
ReplyDeleteSuburban Correspondent -- I gave you an award over at my blog for this post.
ReplyDeleteI agree with every word. Thank you for saying it!
ReplyDeleteMy last comment must have gone to spam. I applaud your political bravery. I totally agree. Thanks for saying this.
ReplyDeleteJen (12 comments back) - Nowhere do I try to lay the blame on the Bush administration for 9/11. You are probably correct that the Clinton administration dropped the ball on that one. I am simply protesting the administration's using 9/11 and the war on terror as a reason to go into Iraq.
ReplyDeleteWhew! It's refreshing to read this. There was no way we should have gone into Iraq and broken all our promises about rebuilding Afghanistan, etc. I don't get into politics on my own blog, but I'm glad you did.
ReplyDeleteBrava girl! I sincerely believe that we're where we are today simply because a certain group of people decided to prey on people's fear.
ReplyDeleteI was living in NY City on that day, and had my husband on a flippin' plane in Washington DC, and not in touch for the whole damn day I have SO wanted to blog what you just said. But I am NOT American so I didn't think it was my place. Thank you for doing it for me. God Bless too.
ReplyDeleteJumping in late to add my 2 yen. Bush's own pres secretary wrote a book laying out the FAILED plans of Bush. From the beginning (before 9/11) Bush had his team of 5 (Cheney, Condi Rice, Andy Card, Rove and Rummy) drawing up plans to take out Saddam. Everyone should read this book, I hope who ever is elected sure does. (What Happened, BY: Scott McClellan) The problems with Washington run deep. I do think Clinton also holds some of the blame. IMO, the first president who tells it like it is get's my vote. The reality is a grave one, we broke Iraq, we MUST try and fix it. Afghanistan is a MESS, we must try and fix it. Our own economy is in the TOILET, again we have to fix it. I don't hold the lending companies solely accountable. Plenty of people got themselves in over their heads. Our economy is tied DIRECTLY to other countries (China holds billions in loans to US). It may mean we as a society change the way we view things. Not so much shopping, driving that SUV for 2 more years and not getting a new one, keeping that smaller house, or paying a bit more in taxes. I don't know the solutions, what I do know is we are leaving a world to our children that they do not deserve.
ReplyDeleteSC, sorry to go so far off topic. As for our military, they did not present any evidence regarding the threat. That was the CIA. IF our military is/was taking part in intelligence gathering it is my hope that it is NEVER made public. Some things the media just doesn't need to know.
Amen, oh, amen!
ReplyDelete