9/11 Changed Everything *Sigh*

Here we go again. Ten years after the media enabled Bush and Company to use our grief over 911 to take us to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the media is still using the "anniversary" of 911 as a weapon of mass distraction from the real issues facing the American people. It's Deja Voodoo all over again.

I can't pass by the TeeVee without a Talking TeeVee Pundit Head either reminiscing about "that fateful day" or parading then NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani , NY Governor George Patki, or some other republican who was in charge in front of the TeeVee praising them for their courage and leadership on 911 while hollering how they will never forget the victims of 911 blah, blah, blab, blab.

I will never forget that George W. Bush was the pResident on 911.

I will never forget that prior to 911 Bush was on a month long vacation.

I will never forget that while on his month long vacation NSA Condolezza Rice presented a PDB(President Daily Brief)that said Osama bin Laden determined to attack inside the United States.

Question; If 9-11 Had Happened When a Democrat Was President, Would the Republicans Have Impeached Him or Her?

Think back to the weeks immediately following 9/11. Couldn't you just hear the likes of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter had this happened on Bill Clinton's or Barack Obama's watch? In the midst of the grieving, wouldn't you just have loved to listen to all the public threats of Congressional hearings about "what did the White House know" that would have been demanded by the Jim DeMint's and Michele Bachmann's of the world?

And I can just see the Muslim witch hunt that would have ensued under Congressman Peter King's direction (much like the one he's involved in now). Can't you just imagine the Fox News and talk radio roundtable discussions about how the President "failed to keep us safe" and how he was "weak on terror!"

Are survivors,friends and family of the victims going to have to relive 911 over and over again for eternity? How can we heal if we are forced by the media to relive that day over and over again for ratings?

Annette John-Hall, in her Philadelphia Inquirer column, writes that media coverage leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11 is beginning to take a toll on some family members of victims.

Hard to believe it's been a decade since terrorists hijacked jetliners on Sept. 11 and used them to kill thousands of innocent people, changing the world forever.

Feels like 10 years flew by. But at the same time, it feels like we've slogged our way through 20.

Media coverage begins as early as a month in advance and slowly churns to the actual day, observed by endless tributes, memorials, and ceremonies.

Blogger Rite Jack says the media should call it what it really is
911 - What Evangelical Fundamentalist Religion gets us

As we jack up the vengeance factor every year, should we question the "what lives are worth" rate? THEY got 3000 of us, we got about 300,000 of them which cost us another 3000. That's 50 to 1. Which I suppose is about right because we are all so friggin' exceptional.
Doing the math. Cost of both wars at $1.5 trillion, divided by 300,000 dead Muslims, I come up with $500 million each. I am overwhelmed with ZEROS, but time and again that's what I get. Can that be right? Math person help!
The problem with the old line, "Oh you never ask questions, when God's on your side," is it works for everyone.

Speaking of doing the math, has anyone but me noticed how the TeaPublicans and the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads can recite the exact cost of the stimulus and other domestic spending, but nary a word about the human and monetary cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and 911's continuing toll on the U.S? What's up with that?

Total direct U.S. government spending on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars so far: $2,000,000,000,000

Amount that represents per U.S. household: $17,000

Percent by which bills yet to be received are expected to increase this amount: more than 50

Amount the U.S. is expected to spend this year on the war in Iraq: $48 billion

On the war in Afghanistan: $122 billion

Number of children who could be provided with health care for two years with the money being spent on those two wars in 2011 alone: 43 million

Here are some gop campaign slogans I composed during my tenure at Left in Alabama which are even more appropriate today.

GOP Campaign Slogans. All Hat and No Cattle.

Compassionate Christian Conservative, translation, we do our dirt in the name of the Lord.

No Child Left Behind, translation, No Child's Behind Left after we send them to war, gut public education and cut college student loans. Not to mention the impact high fuel prices are having because it raises the cost of food and the cost of heating and cooling homes.

Faith Based Intuitive, translation, lots of tax money for the Right Reverend Doctor Greedy Guts, unless of course your name is Reverend Wright.

Mission Accomplished, translation, high gas prices, record mortgage foreclosures, massive deficits, and debt as far as the eye can see.

Freedom isn't Free, translation, waive your flag while waiving your rights because 911 changed everything.

Support our troops, translation, support Bush and shut up.

Let the victims of 911 rest in peace.

Let the survivors go on with their lives.

Stop using our grief over 911 as a weapon of mass distraction.

911 changed everything.

But not for the better.

Enough of the revisionist history!

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

"My Name is Barack Obama and I am The President"

If President Obama doesn't go for broke and bring it like Michael Douglas in the movie An American President, he might as well stay his Donkey in the White House and start packing.

Obama was inexperienced although intelligent. He's now had three years to get something done we can feel hopeful about. I don't think there's a person in the country, no matter what economic bracket they are in that feel hopeful. And the people I talk to feel as I do -- we got tooled.

We didn't get the hope or change he promised us when he campaigned for the job. We got a conciliator, a bargainer, a President who was always willing to give up something his supporters wanted in the name of bi-partisanship and compromise.

Which is why we Professional Lefty's criticize the President

I criticize President Obama because I think he and his team can do better. I critique them because we are in a world filled with gigantic problems and only a Democratic president is going to seriously address them. In addition to years of praise of Obama, I also verbally rap them on the knuckles when they screw up. And they have.

The stimulus should have been larger, and even within its limited size it should have been less about tax cuts and more about directly stimulative spending that had more of an effect on the employment figures.

On health care reform, Obama and the Democrats should have fought harder for a public option. I understand the votes weren’t there, but there is value both movement-wide and electorally in making the Republican party the one who killed the option, rather than have the Democrats take it off the table pre-emptively. As I’ve written before, there is value in inching the ball ahead for an initiative that you are destined to lose in the short run.

The inability to articulate a simple message around health care reform, and allowing congress to take the lead role on it past the point of absurdity were key factors in Republicans winning the House in 2010. It energized the conservative vote without a counterpart on the Democratic side. Had the fight for a public option gone on to the point where Republicans were the bulk of the vote sticking a knife in its belly, Obama and the Democrats would have had a stronger rallying cry going into the 2010 election.

It's not to late for President Obama to Offer a Bold Plan to Tackle the "Jobs Crisis" and No Cuts to Social Safety Network

It's not to late for President Obama to stop listening to his white side and listen to his black side.

It's D Day Mister President.

I think most Americans can agree that reducing the public debt is a goal we can all share-- and in the old days of thirty or forty years ago, when congress operated on a more collegial model that involved members from opposing parties getting together on weekends to achieve reasonable compromises over golf and highballs, the Rs and Ds could have found a way to press forward with reasonable deficit reduction plans without pushing us all to the edge of a cliff.

But for the new GOP, compromise of any kind defeats their central purpose, which is political totale krieg. This party's entire reason for being is conflict and aggression. There is no underlying patriotic instinct to find middle ground with the rest of us, because the party doesn't have a vision for society that includes anyone outside the tent.

Don't be skeered Mister President

Barack Obama deserves credit for turning the country in a more positive direction following the disastrous George W. Bush presidency. Obama has taken steps forward in several key areas--economic recovery, health-care reform, and financial regulation.

But the Obama record, so far, has not been nearly as strong as it could have been. And based on three major news stories from the past two weeks, we are starting to think there is a fundamental reason for that: The Obama administration is terrified of white people.

This fear, in our view, has nothing to do with the fact that Obama is our first black president. Rather, we suspect it has to do with the fact that Obama is a centrist Democrat. And it seems "centrist Democrat" is simply a fancy term for a liberal who is afraid of white people.

Here is what I wish President Obama would say tonight.

I am sick and tired of the gop infused, media enabled Tea Party holding our country hostage for their own sick, partisan, political gain. I love my country and I'm not going to let this bunch snatch the keys to the car and drive it back into the ditch and charge us for the the gas (h/t jk). For the past three years I was so busy keeping my job I forgot to do my job. Well, that ends right now. Tomorrow morning, the White House is sending a Stimulus/Jobs bill to Congress for its consideration. It's White House Resolution XXX, a bill that creates jobs, repeals the tax cut on the rich and doesn't cut Social Security and Medicare. It is by far the most aggressive stride ever taken in the fight to reverse the effects of the Bush mis administration. The other piece of legislation is the Affrodable Health Care Act. As of today, it no longer exists. I'm throwing it out. I'm throwing it out writing a law that makes sense. You cannot address health care until all Americans have access to quality, affordable, health care. I consider it a threat to national security, and I will go door to door if I have to, but I'm gonna convince Americans that I'm right (no pun). I'm gonna get MediCare for all. We've got serious problems, and we need serious people, and if you want to talk about character, TeaPublicans, you'd better come at me with more than a burning flag and a birth certificate. If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I'll show up. This is a time for serious people, TeaPublicans, and your fifteen minutes are up. My name is Barack Obama, and I *am* the President

Just do it Mister President. We've got your back.