REALITY- Eleven years have passed since that fateful Tuesday morning that changed the way Americans perceived the outside world. As none will ever forget, on that day, more than three thousand human lives ended when The U.S. security structure failed to protect our borders from four hijacked passenger aircraft. It is well known by now that 19 terrorists, most of them from Saudi Arabia, hijacked 4 commercial passenger jets bent on crashing those huge airplanes into various targets within the United States. It is sad to say that on that day the terrorists did succeed in 2 of their 3 surmised goals, One Boeing 757 crashed into the Pentagon, two Boeing 767's destroyed the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City, and the fourth jet, a Boeing 757, was shot down over Shanksville, Pennsylvania said to have been on course for The White House.
A moment of silence please.
There are a myriad of ways to feel about the tragic events of September The Eleventh 2001. I hope that most would feel respect for the people whose lives were taken that day. Respect for the passengers on each of the four doomed flights having no idea that this day would be their last. Respect for those who woke up the morning of September The Eleventh feeling as though it was just another Tuesday in New York. Beautiful weather, busy streets, and a job to do. Respect for the men and women in uniform who may have expected to face an ordinary day on the force or in the fire station but knew deep down the risk they faced every time that they put on their uniforms. Those intrepid first responders put on their uniforms and were greeted that Tuesday morning by beautiful weather, busy streets, and a job to do. I write today out of respect for those who were lost and for those who persevere.
Eleven years later and the images of heroism are still compelling.
Eleven years later the images of non-reaction are also compelling. This is what Republican President George W. Bush was doing after he was told by one of his handlers that "The nation was under attack." I think we can at least assume that George W. Bush was smart enough to understand that his handlers did indeed mean that this nation here, The United States of America, the nation that Bush was sort of president of at that moment was in fact the nation that Bush had just learned was under attack. While W. may have indeed at that time understood that his nation was under attack, could have been an attack from The Planet Mars for all he knew at that moment, it is clear that George W. Bush had absolutely no idea how to react or what to do. In a stunning piece accidental comedy the above photo features a rare image of the actual thoughts of George W. Bush which can be seen listed on the purple display to his right.
Appointed President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld swore that they would bring the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Osama Bin Laden, to Justice. They failed.
What they did succeed in doing was starting two illegal wars, one of them at least in the exact wrong place, rolled back environmental regulations to the point where one oil company (BP - British Petroleum) would soon be responsible for the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, and as a farewell show they crashed The United States economy into a mountain creating the second largest financial crisis in American history. When things got tough this is how The Republican Party handled it. Poorly.
So poorly that when it came time to elect a new president in 2008 the Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain couldn't out run his predecessor or his opponent and his party lost control of The White House and The U.S. Congress.
Over the course of President Barack Obama's first term in office his administration has worked to end the second Iraq War, his policies have stopped the bleeding of the worst financial collapse in American history since The Great Depression. Despite unprecedented Republican obstructionism President Obama has managed to begin the stabilization of The American economy.
President Barack Obama also pursued policies towards and issued the order to kill Al Qaeda terrorist leader and mastermind of the September The Eleventh Terrorist Attacks Osama Bin Laden.
For once Vice President Joe Biden actually did say it best "Bin Laden is dead and G.M. is alive."
But that's enough history, this is about the future in specific the future of the citizens of The United States of America. The near future, November 6th 2012, the day that Americans will once again make time to make history. On that day the people of The United States will vote to decide the next President of The United States.
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are the Republican candidates running for president and vice president respectively. Paul Ryan introduced a budget that would end Medicare and believes that a woman should be forced to bare the child of her rapist. Somehow this position, which has been adopted as part of The 2012 Republican Party Platform, is referred to as "pro-life" when in point of fact this position can best be described as "anti-woman". While Mitt Romney is a wildcard.
Willard 'Mitt' Romney has been on nearly all sides of all of the issues to date. I believe that the one thing that Romney has said along the campaign trail thus far that he has truly meant was that he believed that he should be president because it was his turn. Romney was born to wealth and has made more money throughout his professional life by closing other people's businesses down and putting every-day Americans out of work.
Mitt Romney refuses to follow the established history of presidential candidates by releasing his tax records. Most likely because W.M. Romney is afraid to be honest with the American people about how he got to where he is today. In fact 'Mitt' Romney is not even running for president under his real name. He gets a stage name? Like Shawn Michaels or Lady GaGa?
President Barack Obama has faced impossible challenges, greater odds than a more generous god would have allowed, and the unprecedented obstructionism of The Republican Party who's top representatives have said that their one goal over the last four years has been to make sure that Barack Obama was only a one term president.
The Republican Party's goals had nothing to do with helping you.
The goals of The Republican Party have nothing to do with helping the American people.
The goals of The Republican Party have nothing to do with moving this great nation forward into a future where the hungry are fed, the poor are kept warm, and the politicians and businessmen who have tried to hoard supplies, opportunities, and resources just for themselves and those closest to them at the expense and exclusion of decent hard-working Americans are held accountable for their destructive actions. A future where those criminals are treated as criminals deserve to be treated.
Despite what President Obama has endured over the last four years he has accomplished more than anyone thought that he could. He restored dignity and honor to the office of President of The United States. He ended a needless war in Iraq, hasn't started any other "pre-emptive" wars, and brought the terrorist Osama Bin Laden to justice when he predecessor "Didn't know where [Osama Bin Laden] is" and "Frankly Didn't spend that much time on him".
All of President Obama's administration's accomplishments came on the heels of the George W. Bush Administration arguably eight of the worst run years in American history. Imagine what President Barack Obama could do in a second term, a term that starts here and now not drudging through the mistakes of the past.
President Harry S. Truman said it best "If we don't make a mistake, what a paradise we could make of this world."
We must not make the mistake that is the Romney / Ryan fiasco.
We must choose to re-elect President Barack Obama to a second term so that we can all have a chance to move forward.
And as Always,
Ps. This blog is dedicated to the memory of all whose lives were lost or fractured forever on that fateful Tuesday morning, and to all those who have given their lives before and since in service of the cause of freedom for Americans and all others around the world.
