Friday, September 11, 2009
"I Grieve"
Never forget, or they will do it again.
18 Comments:
By 
, at
Fri Sep 11, 10:31:00 AM:
Too true, too true.
Remain vigilant.
By , at
Fri Sep 11, 11:05:00 AM:
" Remain vigilant "..I don't think that the left has the same definition of that phrase as do those of whom are concerned for the safety of our country, countrymen, and ourselves. Apologizing to and appeasing tyrants by our government does not instill confidence of our government in me.
By , at
Fri Sep 11, 11:37:00 AM:
Oh, please, let the rhetoric rest for 1 day. What you say is crap.
By , at
Fri Sep 11, 11:39:00 AM:
Boy, can't wait for the comments on that.
Get an ennema, clear it all out.
By 
GreenmanTim, at
Fri Sep 11, 11:46:00 AM:
I live in the northwest Corner of Connecticut. This morning, driving to work in a chilly rain, I passed the Catholic Church, where a lone piper was playing in full regalia, the 1st Litchfield Heavy Artillery (a private militia unit) was out in Indians Wars campaign dress with one of their brass, 12 pounders, and a massive American Flag hung from a fully extended hook and ladder truck. No chance of folks in North Canaan forgetting 9/11.
By , at
Fri Sep 11, 12:45:00 PM:
" Oh, please, let the rhetoric rest for 1 day. " An endeavour towards which you should strive.
By , at
Fri Sep 11, 01:21:00 PM:
By , at
Fri Sep 11, 02:44:00 PM:
" Remain vigilant "..I don't think that the left has the same definition of that phrase as do those of whom are concerned for the safety of our country, countrymen, and ourselves. Apologizing to and appeasing tyrants by our government does not instill confidence of our government in me.
My God. Do you think only Republicans were killed when the WTC buildings collapsed? I lived through 9/11 too. I was one on those people you saw running down Trinity Place chased by the debris clouds from the building collapse. Those of who work downtown were reminded about our country's safety--about the terrorists who want to destroy us--every day we went to work after 9/11, and not just on anniversarys. For months we were reminded every time the wind blew a few degrees south and the air filled with the putrid smell of burning metal from the heap of rubble where the buildings once stood. Did you know that the rubble burned for three months and wasn't put out until the end of December? I bet you didn't. Those of us who worked beside it did. How could we forget?
We were reminded every time we walked past the papered wall of missing faces that lined the railing of Trinity Church, of every lamppost and streetcorner. Or were approached by the relatives who wandered the streets asking every passserby if they had seen their son or daughter or brother or mother. We were reminded every time the 16-wheelers barreled down Boradway towards the Ferry on their way to SI hauling 8 ton I-beams 6 inches thick twisted like pretzels.
We were reminded by the machine gun carryimg National Guards wearing face masks who stood at every doorway and intersection for weeks and weeks and weeks at the ready for the next threat, the next breach, the next attack on America. We were reminded by the spontaneous cheers that erupted every time a load of firefighters or relief workers or steel workers passed by at the start of the end of a shift. Those of us who volunteered to help the grieving families prepare the paperwork necessary to file missing claims forms and death certificates and DNA requests were reminded every time we looked into one of their tear-streaked faces.
Those of us who lived through the attack on our city will never, ever forget, and some of us are even Democrats. So please, please, stop with your smug, sanctimonious crap that the right cares more about America's safety than the left. No one who stood in my shoes or the shoes of tens of thousands of others who were downtown that day, and lived what we lived or had families members or friends who didn't live to tell us what they saw or died trying to save others like the man in the red bandana would EVER dare think such a thought much less say it out loud. We were all attacked on 9/11. Get over it. You don't get to own this one.
By , at
Fri Sep 11, 02:59:00 PM:
Mara,
You say, "We were all attacked on 9/11."
Very true. That's exactly what many of us were trying to convince the Left for 7 years, appealing for unity.
Also, we were all protected from further attacks for 7 years under Bush & Cheney.
By , at
Fri Sep 11, 04:19:00 PM:
Speaking of vigilance ....
Bill McGinn was an FDNY first responder at the 1993 attack. He was convinced that the terrorists would be back. With the support of his epidemiologist wife he helped make Squad 18 the first FDNY unit specially trained to handle bioterror. Ironically, he and his crew were in the North Tower on 9/11.
I had the honor of meeting Jim McGlynn socially a couple of years ago. He was an FDNY Lieutenant on 9/11 and one of about 15 people who crawled out of the collapsed North Tower alive. He and his crew had the luck of reaching ground level in Stairway B of the North Tower at just the right moment ... about 90 seconds ahead of McGinn's crew.
Link, over
By , at
Fri Sep 11, 04:56:00 PM:
Anon, McGlynn is one of the true heroes of 9/11.
As for Candide, I will comment tomorrow. Today is for heroes, not rhetoric
By , at
Fri Sep 11, 05:03:00 PM:
I too will reserve judgment on the cowardly leftists until tmmw.
By Dawnfire82, at
Fri Sep 11, 08:01:00 PM:
"Do you think only Republicans were killed when the WTC buildings collapsed?"
No, but it sure seems like it sometimes. See below.
"We were reminded by the machine gun carryimg National Guards wearing face masks... etc"
It was a pretty short trip from there to 'General Betray-us,' 35% of Democrats subscribing to some form of Trutherism, 'Bush = Hitler, Police State' signs for instituting new rules for the NSA which had they existed in 2000 would have prevented 9/11, claims that Republicans were unsophisticated jingoistic racial profiling thugs, and the harassment and murder of members of the US armed forces.
I think that partisan bickering on this day is as unseemly as on the 4th of July, but don't act so surprised that some rightists are bitter; they've spent the last 6 or 7 seven years being called fascists, thugs, imperialists, murderers, and idiots, in large part by doing things to defend the country's interests as determined by the elected government.
Leftists claimed that we deserved to be attacked. Leftists foresaw doom and defeat in Afghanistan. ("graveyard of nations" was the poetic phrase bandied about on CNN) Leftists accused the government of PERPETRATING 9/11. Leftists foresaw doom and defeat in Iraq, and actively worked to orchestrate the same by urging retreat and labeling strategies that had not yet even been implemented as failures. ('The War is Lost,' said Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader) Leftists lionized Iraqi terrorists in such hallowed terms as 'Minutemen.' Leftists demonized US troops with lies and slander. Leftists murdered and harassed US troops at home as political statements. Leftists went out of their way to insult their own countrymen or urge people to bring down 'the US Empire.'
I could continue but I'm tired of looking up links.
Maybe you didn't do any of those things, Mara, but 'Leftists' did. En masse.
And now that there's a Democrat as President, that behavior has strangely ceased. What a surprise. Even bona fide dyed in the wool anti-war groups have moved on since January. Turns out that it wasn't really the policies that were the problem; just the fact that Republicans were calling the shots.
Now that there's a Democrat in the White House continuing exactly the same wartime policies that Bush was pursuing, they have switched from anti-government, 'you're a fascist' protests to big government, 'we should all be socialist' activism.
So much for that moral superiority and commitment to peace they rubbed in everyone's faces. In essence, leftists abused, insulted, attacked, harassed, and occasionally murdered their political opposites for years and justified it as part of a moral crusade that turns out to have been a lie. But now on 9/11, a day they used to schedule vile, paranoid, and hate-spewing protests on, they want unity and happiness.
There was much liberal commiserating about "Why do they hate us?" in the days after 9/11, with much mention of our flaws and weaknesses. Perhaps a similar response is called for here.
Because if you're shocked that conservatives are bitter and pissed off, you haven't been paying attention.
"You don't get to own this one."
A revealing comment.
By , at
Fri Sep 11, 11:18:00 PM:
FDNY Bill McGinn was a friend of mine, if you couldn't tell. There's over 20 people I knew who died on 9/11 ... people I knew enough to cross the street to say hello to ... three guys from my rugby team, my sister's best friend's husband, etc ... but thankfully no one I'd be seeing at Christmas. I tried to join Keefe Bruyette twice -- in which case my odds of writing this would be 50/50, as half the firm got killed on 9/11. My first interview with them -- I swear -- was the day after the first attack in 1993. John Duffy -- later to become CEO -- kept the appointment by meeting at a local restaurant. His son later got killed on 9/11. FDNY McGinn's son is now 17 and doing fine; but the 15-year old daughter went horrorshow ... even though mom is devoted -- money damages can't fix everything.
9/11 didn't affect me directly at all -- my connection is typical for New Yorkers -- we all have our stories. But I was close enough to see how much it cost others. NYC has always been THE TARGET. We know it, we live with it ... until we're strafed by Air Force One, it's subliminal.
This is all backdrop to my big shoutout "FUCK YOU" to the posters here who continue to hijack 9/11 to a political agenda ... you couldn't even wait a day, could you. That mentality has put us on a bad course ... everything that Bin Laden and Mohammed Atta could have wished for. We let the bad guys win, for it. "We have met the enemy, and he is us." FUCK YOU
ps It bothers me when we call 9/11 a "tragedy." There was nothing "tragic" about it. It was murder.
Link, over
By , at
Sat Sep 12, 05:59:00 AM:
Link again,
My apologies for having a Joe Wilson moment there.
By , at
Sat Sep 12, 11:11:00 AM:
From Link,
My apologies again for going ballistic. This stuff makes me spitting mad. I'm actually usually laid back.
In the spirit of building consensus, here's what one guy "in the middle" thinks:
9/11 justified us tracking down -- and even killing -- all those who planned and facilitated mass murder. Like the Israelis did after Munich. If we assassinate all the leaders of Al Qaeda, fine by me.
It justified our taking some extreme defensive measures in the immediate aftermath -- e.g. Jack Bauer stuff. Waterboarding was OK by me. Obama and Holder are "investigating" this now only for shameless political reasons.
We were justified in invading Afghanistan when we did. I don't know what we're doing there now -- my sense is we should be a lot lighter or heavier on the ground -- not what we have right now. I think a smaller force and a lot of drone aircraft should work. Otherwise, I don't see an end game. Obama is reluctant to go small because of political considerations -- he doesn't want to be attacked on this in 2012 -- are you happy now Olberman and Maddow?
Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. We were misled. The Democratic Congress are guilty here too -- for them to flip on this now is hypocritical. They largely voted for the Iraq invasion -- many were on committees with access. MSM failed us too -- they can't report anything right because they've been totally co-opted by the Beltway.
Iraq is what splits political consensus in the US today, because Bush-Cheney hijacked 9/11 to their agenda. It made Bush a weak domestic President who had to piss away trillions to buy the 2004 election, and cost Republicans much of their traditional base in 2006 and especially 2008. Obama cynically used Iraq to play the moveon.org crowd, even though he never took a strong position against Iraq when he could have.
I have issue with the idea that Bush-Cheney "kept us safe". I have no idea how many plots they foiled. I may be very wrong on this, but I doubt there were many serious ones -- mostly because I can't trust these guys after what I now know about Iraq. Cheney is insane -- which is why Obama wants him in the news.
.... I bet I could get most Americans to agree with the foregoing. It's not fully shared by either right or left, but that's where I think most Americans are at today.
Link, over
By , at
Sat Sep 12, 06:45:00 PM:
Link,
You are completely wrong when it comes to Iraq. You have no idea what you are talking about. You lack any sense of geopolitical prospective whatsoever. You know nothing about the history of the conflict and refuse to educate yourself. That is all.
By , at
Sun Sep 13, 08:53:00 AM:
So you're still drinking the neocon Kool-Aid, Candide?
Link, over
