I’m noticing numerous comments suggesting that we should hunker down and prepare for a terrorist attack because Bush’s poll numbers are so bad.
Three questions:
Why is it okay to make such a prediction, but considered crazy to speculate about 9/11?
If all these predictions of a terror attack come true, will anybody notice that there were thousands of predictions that such an attack would take place for purely political reasons?
What does it say about the ‘uniter not divider’ and the competency and thoroughness of the 9/11 commission, that we have such an incredible level of mistrust about the basic morality of our opponents?
Will a second-term president chance a major attack?
Think of the “political capital” he has been spending since the last election! (Not to mention our tax dollars!) Do you see anything about this group that shouts moderate? That is why I think is is so funny that we are not yelling “extremists” at them! They’ve given all their croneys tax breaks, spent and lost money as if it wasn’t theirs (which is wasn’t), started two wars and finished neither of them and is yakking about a 3rd. What would they stop at?
Yup. And blame it on those of us who oppose this illegal war. “See – you aided and abetted terrorists who seek to break our will. YOU brought this on us.” And then protesters will be arrested, opposing the Administration will be an act of sedition, Patriot Act II will be law…
The way to keep us any degree of safer is to challenge the Administration and Republicans on national security. Take that head on. Iraq has made us less safe, no more secure than before 9/11. We were “outward postured” before 9/11 and we still are today. And now, we have less military, fewer National Guards available, overtaxed first responders, and still no border security. We should build this case as this administration builds its Freedom Walk or whatever the hell the Clint Black shindig is called. 4 years later, no safer, less safe.
or personally doesn’t need to being term limited, but some of our more enduring systems could benefit from it.
It’s easy for me to see them “clumsily” letting something happen but it’s a big pill to swallow to think they’d fake it. Why would they, when voting is conducted on private property and the owners don’t allow anyone to check the counting?
Actor Brock Peters, best known for his heartbreaking performance as the black man falsely accused of rape in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” died Tuesday at his home after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 78.
Of all the architects of this pre-emptive war agenda, only one of them is an elected official (Cheney), and even he isn’t running for re-election. Having said that, Cheney and all his pals desperately want their insane agenda for perpetual war and ultimate control of first the Mid East and then the World to continue apace, whether they’re inhabitants of the White house and Pentagon or not.
To me it seems perfectly clear that if their desire to keep the huge military presence in Iraq is seriously jeopardized by public pressure to withdraw, there is not one scintilla of doubt in my mind that if they had the means and opportunity to facilitate a significant attack on US citizens on US soil as the only means of furthering their cause that they would do so with little or no hesitation.
I’ve been called cynical for having this perspective on these characters, but really it’s not cynicism. I believe Cheney, Feith, Wolfowitz, Perle, Ledeen, and all the other major neocon players are true psychopaths, lacking the basic human attributes of respect, tolerance and compassion for their fellow man.
I’d love to be proven wrong.
As for questioning 9/11, while I don’t necessarily believe these same maniacs had an active hand in enabling that atrocity, I certainly don’t discount the possibility that they might have. Certainly, by the afternoon of 9/11, I’d be willing to bet that Wolfowitz, Perle and Feith would have been toasting the idiot bin Laden with champagne if they could have had such a celebration undetected.
You ask about the morality of our opponents? What morality? They have no morality at all and their only loyalty is to their own delusional ideology.
coffee you’ve been drinking this week, but when you run out, please let me buy you some more.
Chocolate Ink asked me last night if I was kidding about what I heard the CNN news reader say during the news break on Aaron Brown’s show. Nope. I just went to the transcript and found it, word for word …
One of the watershed moments of my life.
Oh gawd, I’m laughing so hard….
“Ah, I remember it well.” Jesus.
“Each of us in our own way can try to spread compassion into people’s hearts. Western civilizations these days place great importance on filling the human “brain” with knowledge, but no one seems to care about filling the human ‘heart’ with compassion. Until now. Brad and Jen 2-gether 4-ever.”
– Dalai Lama
I’m think I’ll barf now.
This just proves how fucked up our news and their priorities are.
OMG Susan -how funny!
No my dears,I wouldn’t put it past this administration to do Anything to boost their numbers. But then I am an old,cranky cynic, who was protesting Nixon in 1973.
A report from my pal Susan T in Michigan on their forum tonight:
We held our forum on the Iraq war and Downing Street memos, with John Conyers, tonight. It was a full house. We were a little worried we’d be “freeped” because of some abusive phone calls that came into the information line, but the crowd was great. Also on hand was Jim Marcinkowski, the former CIA agent who was a classmate of Valerie Plame. He arrived late because he was at a local ABC affiliate, filming a segment with Paula Zahn. I wonder if he mentioned our forum…….
The best part of the evening was having the opportunity to sit down and talk with Congressman Conyers, one on one. The whole while we were talking, a little voice in the back of my head was saying, “Judas Freaking Priest! John Conyers is sitting here, right next to me, eating lasagna and asking me my opinion on the war, and on whether or not he should introduce articles of impeachment?!?!?!? It was a very surreal moment. I had a good 15 minutes or so of great conversation with him. He is such a kind, sincere and soft spoken man, and so very down to earth.
I’d write more, but I’m so tired, I can barely keep my eyes open. But, I wanted to give you all a short update on my exciting evening.
Thanks Susan, I was wondering where this was going with him. He promised more hearings and have not heard of any since the first one, in the basement.
What has anyone heard of the Plame case lately?
It may be a good thing. There are no leaks out of Fitzgerald’s office. It may be September before we hear much more.
CooL! but was the lasagna any good?(giggle)
San Francisco Chronicle… (none / 0)
Sean Penn visited Iran this past June and has a
4 or 5 part article about his trip in the SF Chronicle. Very interesting. It began yesterday.
I’ll try to link it.
by Pam from Calif on Tue Aug 23rd, 2005 at 11:00:13 PM EDT
(Just reposted so that the link is embedded – Susan.)
…”we have such an incredible level of mistrust about the basic morality of our opponents?”
Years of experience.
I see a lot of joking and hilarity on this thread so let me add a more serious note.
First, even if ten million people “expected” a terrorist attack, nobody will remember it one second after it happens. Everyone will be too busy shouting and screaming about it, each from their own angle. And the attack won’t be the focus of the shouting but who to BLAME for it.
What’s always been super curious to me is how nobody has blamed anyone for 9/11 except for the individuals who actually flew the plane. Not one administration official has ever been fired much less demoted much less even charged with neglect in any report, statement or press release. Nor has one FAA official, one member of the military, one agent or employee of any intelligence agency, nobody.
If a fox broke into your chicken house, would you blame just the fox or would you also blame your dogs who were supposed to keep watch over the chickens? Bush just tells the chickens the dogs were “helpless” to prevent it and now the dogs are running around patting down the chickens and making sure they don’t have toenail clippers, meanwhile the foxes are multiplying.
Secondly, there already HAVE been terrorist attacks and terrorist incidents. They weren’t on a 9/11 scale or a 7/7 London scale but they’ve been there. People arrested for possession of bombs and stockpiles of serious weaponry. People arrested who had plans to attack houses of worship. People who had plans to attack the subway system. People who planned mass murder. People who attacked schools. People who drove around the freaking capital of the United States terrorizing millions of residents. These have just been forgotten.
People who mailed anthrax that killed people and frightened millions… Of course whomever sent the anthrax is still walking around a free man because they’ve never been caught. Again, the foxes are multiplying INSIDE this country.
The USA isn’t safe. It isn’t even close to being safe. I’m not saying run around in complete fear but the chickens aren’t holding the dogs accountable at ALL. And nothing’s changed except cosmetic changes to the crappy fence that never kept the foxes out in the first place.
Pax
and having said all that, you still are one of the few people who really understand the potential for the dog to become the fox.
To paraphrase the people who run things, you’ve got to keep your chickens close but your foxes even closer.
In a country as heavily saturated with advertising as the United States, Americans demonstrate a surprising ignorance of just how it works. Remember that Goebbels for all his mastery was just copying a purely American invention.
Pax
you’re not blaming the holocaust on the innovative marketing of oatmeal?
.
[…] Watson issued a cable to all IBM’s European subsidiaries, saying in effect: “Don’t tell us what you’re doing and don’t ask us any questions.” He didn’t say, “Don’t send machines into concentration camps.” He didn’t say, “Stop organizing the military forces of Nazi Germany.” He didn’t say, “Don’t undertake anything to harm innocent civilians.”
He then bifurcated the management of IBM Europe–one manager in Geneva, named Werner Lier, and the other one in New York, in his office, named J.L. Schotte. So all communications went from Switzerland to New York. Ultimately there was a Hollerith Department called Hollerith Abteilung–German for department–in almost every concentration camp. Remember, the original Auschwitz tattoo was an IBM number.
That’s why even the paper forms in the prisoner camps had Hollerith notations and numbered fields checked. They were all punched in. For example, IBM had to agree with their Nazi counterparts that Code 6 in the concentration camps was extermination. Code 1 was released, Code 2 was transferred, Code 3 was natural death, Code 4 was formal execution, Code 5 was suicide. Code 7 was escape. Code 6 was extermination.
War profitering is of all ages – winner takes all!
Grandfather Prescott Bush | Grandfather Joseph Kennedy
~~~
Edward Bernays. Walter Lippman. Do you know who those two are?
Pax
Indeed I am, in a sense:
See the Creel Commission for more info.
Pax
The dog has Been the fox, for lo-these last five years.
that analogy was spot on!!!! Thank you. It will increase my nightmares but it is so true.
I happen to think the DOGS are the ones feasting on the CHICKENS and blaming FOXES.
It’s okay to make this statement because it is normally seen more as a joke then a prediction – at least it is to me.
I don’t think there’s any thing wrong with 9/11 speculations. So long as everyone keeps in mind – extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence.
(Puting on my tin-foil hat)
My neighbor and I were talking a few months ago and I happened to mention that I had campaigned my ass off for Kerry (even though I am an independent, which I mentioned as well), ANYWAYS…. He shook my hand and thanked me for trying. It turns out he is a Dem and was very active in local politics in Mass before he moved to this small CT town.
But that isn’t what I came here to talk about…
Yesterday my neighbor’s son mentioned that, last week, his friend asked him to help him pick up and bring home a new gun… He was thinking : “OK, he needs a lift to get it.”
When they got to the store he realised why he had asked him as his friend came out of the store with a 50 cal. The friging thing would barely fit in the pickup truck with the tripod taking up half of the pickups bed, and a flash supressor hanging out the back and all…
I looked at him and said “WTF? Does the guy need to shoot down an airplane or something? Those things are meant to shoot at armored vehicles?”
My jaw nearly dropped to the ground at this kids response:
“With the way things are going, you never know if bush is going to call for martial law… If that happens I know I’ll be blowing shit up… I know that I want to have that guy as a friend if it ever happens.”
I really don’t think that it is that out of the mainstream to truely distrust anything coming out of the White House anymore. In fact, I think it is almost mainstream to be more afraid of what bush is capable of doing than it is to be afraid of terrorist attacks from al Quaeda or any other middle-east terror group.
Nobody believes a God-damned thing they say, and nobody trusts them at all. Figure the odds, eh?
(Can I take the tin-foil hat off now? I like to hear the voices in my head…)
This is starting to make me think of black humor in hospital operating rooms,or M.A.S.H.
.
Important follow-up diary
by creve coeur ◊ Wed Mar 16th, 2005
PART OF DIARY —
HOOVER INSTITUTION CONFERENCE
Biological and Chemical Weapons (BCW)
Remarks of National Intelligence Council Chairman
John C. Gannon
——————————————————————————–
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
November 16, 1998
Be sure to look at the timeline of ANSER Homeland Security coming into existence.
| ANSER | ANSER Homeland Security | John C. GANNON | INTELLIBRIDGE CORP. |
At present looking at London Bombings and FBI Investigation on Anthrax Attack
Hatfill connection to SAIC | South African Project Chemical and Bio warfare after some links in recent diary.
~~~
Boo – all of us (including george) have got our own fantasies and illusions to protect. I don’t think you’re crazy and I know you don’t think I’m crazy – do you? Lucky for us you have gathered a community of like-minded people around you.
But unfortunately we are surrounded by people who cherish completely different illusions. I don’t think it’s possible that all of humanity will ever agree on one definition of truth.
Yes, yes.
Build the wave, then ride it home. If it crashes harmlessly on the beach, no one will notice.
But if an attack does come, see above..