Alternet on 9/11
A friend of mine pointed me to an article on alternet.org written by Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi. In it, Taibbi asks a simple question that has gone unanswered for over 5 years: why were we attacked on 9/11? His article is not an exploration of various theories of anti-Americanism; Taibbi is actually more interested in what, if anything, our country learned about ourselves and our place in the post-Cold War world as a result of the attacks. Basically, Taibbi argues that we have simply ignored the whole issue and have refused to learn anything, especially in regards to why this sect of Islamic fundamentalists hates us so much. I wholeheartedly agree, and I offered this answer as to why that is to my friend:
My take on this is that, for good or ill--nahhh, just for ill--our nation took its cue from the moron in the White House. If we had had a President who really wanted to tackle this issue seriously, and wanted to be sure all of us knew that s/he was, we'd have responded (and would be responding) differently. It's obvious that a lot of people look(ed?) to Smirky for guidance and leadership, and even though he has never given it to the nation as a whole, people have acted like he had. Our nation has been undergoing one long, devastating con job, and is only barely waking up to it. (And, of course, the rabid 35-40% that still view Bush favorably will clearly never wake up.) We have no leadership in this country that is really looking out for us as a whole, except for a few pockets of rationality here and there. From the White House through Congress to the media and business, the only "looking out" is for #1, the future and the safety of our citizens be damned.
Why this isn't obvious to every single one of the citizens in this nation is a matter of awareness. I'm sure there are some people who honestly believe that George Bush is a saint come to save us from Hell, and that the entire world outside our borders is filled with heathens who deserve to die. These people are sick and twisted by their faith into creatures so devoid of true principles or morality that they are beyond help. Others are more evil than sick--they know full well that Smirky and his gang are raping the American public for profit, but they are the few that benefit along with these felons (or even worse, only think they are), so it's all good for them.
The vast majority of people who don't get it, though, are merely ignorant of what's happening. They either have no time to become well-informed--since the demise of actual journalism in the country circa 1980-1983, it is increasingly difficult to do so without devoting a good portion of ones time and thinking--or they simply don't care enough about their fellow human beings to think about or act on what the ruling junta has done to us all. We can probably guess that most societies are filled with this type of ignorance; how else can one comprehend the actions of the majority of the German populace in the 1930s and 1940s?
We still have a window of opportunity to shed our ignorance and act to restore our national dignity. The next two elections are crucial to our country's history, because if we don't send the Republicans back to their black hole of self-absorbed callousness and amorality, I honestly think the entire earth's population will never forgive us for our sins. Our economy is already rotting; we are kept afloat simply by the good graces of our creditors, who for some reason or another think it best to keep loaning us money or buying our assets. If that spigot were shut off, we'd face an immediate fiscal devastation that would plummet us into the worst depression we've ever seen. The more countries we piss off, the fewer will do business with us at all, and the Republicans are showing very few signs of calling off our Imperial dogs.
Given our Constitutional mechanisms, there really isn't a viable alternative to a two-party system, so the only rational method by which we can attempt to restore sanity to our government this quickly is by voting for any Democrat at hand, almost without regard to his/her policy aims. Once safe from the threat of social, if not actual, annihilation by Republican misrule, we can try to pull the Democratic Party back to its historical (since FDR, at any rate) position to the left of center through the usual process of running more progressive candidates in our primaries. For now, though, it is imperative for the health of our country that we rid our government of those who have done nothing to help us achieve peace in our time.
My take on this is that, for good or ill--nahhh, just for ill--our nation took its cue from the moron in the White House. If we had had a President who really wanted to tackle this issue seriously, and wanted to be sure all of us knew that s/he was, we'd have responded (and would be responding) differently. It's obvious that a lot of people look(ed?) to Smirky for guidance and leadership, and even though he has never given it to the nation as a whole, people have acted like he had. Our nation has been undergoing one long, devastating con job, and is only barely waking up to it. (And, of course, the rabid 35-40% that still view Bush favorably will clearly never wake up.) We have no leadership in this country that is really looking out for us as a whole, except for a few pockets of rationality here and there. From the White House through Congress to the media and business, the only "looking out" is for #1, the future and the safety of our citizens be damned.
Why this isn't obvious to every single one of the citizens in this nation is a matter of awareness. I'm sure there are some people who honestly believe that George Bush is a saint come to save us from Hell, and that the entire world outside our borders is filled with heathens who deserve to die. These people are sick and twisted by their faith into creatures so devoid of true principles or morality that they are beyond help. Others are more evil than sick--they know full well that Smirky and his gang are raping the American public for profit, but they are the few that benefit along with these felons (or even worse, only think they are), so it's all good for them.
The vast majority of people who don't get it, though, are merely ignorant of what's happening. They either have no time to become well-informed--since the demise of actual journalism in the country circa 1980-1983, it is increasingly difficult to do so without devoting a good portion of ones time and thinking--or they simply don't care enough about their fellow human beings to think about or act on what the ruling junta has done to us all. We can probably guess that most societies are filled with this type of ignorance; how else can one comprehend the actions of the majority of the German populace in the 1930s and 1940s?
We still have a window of opportunity to shed our ignorance and act to restore our national dignity. The next two elections are crucial to our country's history, because if we don't send the Republicans back to their black hole of self-absorbed callousness and amorality, I honestly think the entire earth's population will never forgive us for our sins. Our economy is already rotting; we are kept afloat simply by the good graces of our creditors, who for some reason or another think it best to keep loaning us money or buying our assets. If that spigot were shut off, we'd face an immediate fiscal devastation that would plummet us into the worst depression we've ever seen. The more countries we piss off, the fewer will do business with us at all, and the Republicans are showing very few signs of calling off our Imperial dogs.
Given our Constitutional mechanisms, there really isn't a viable alternative to a two-party system, so the only rational method by which we can attempt to restore sanity to our government this quickly is by voting for any Democrat at hand, almost without regard to his/her policy aims. Once safe from the threat of social, if not actual, annihilation by Republican misrule, we can try to pull the Democratic Party back to its historical (since FDR, at any rate) position to the left of center through the usual process of running more progressive candidates in our primaries. For now, though, it is imperative for the health of our country that we rid our government of those who have done nothing to help us achieve peace in our time.
posted by bryduck at 11:19 AM
3 Comments:
Yikes. And true. Sigh.
:*
-TBO
President Clinton tried, right up to his last days in office, to settle the Palistine problem.
Enter Bush, who ignored the situation, and even ridiculed Clinton for his efforts.
I believe that to be key to the hatred toward us, and a main cause for 9/11.
You're right, Jack. As much disdain as Clinton (and the rest of us who had an inkling) as he must have felt for Smirky, he played it fair when dealing with the incoming "Administration". Clinton attempted to warn Smirky and the gang about bin Laden's imminently threatening posture, but what did Rove do in response? Push some nonsense--completely bogus, of course--about how the Clintons trashed the White House to the media. Nice 9/11 there, Smirky. I hope your quick and painful decline into senescence comes soon.
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