Sept. 11 -- International Wacko Day

Won't it really be something if September becomes International Wacko Day, as we go on?

We've got this crazy preacher who's created an international incident with threatening to burn the Qu'ran on the ninth anniversary of Sept. 11. Imagine who all is going to come out of the woodwork next year on the 10th!

Then from there, it'll just have to get crazier to top the previous year.

So we're left with an act of madness, the original 9/11, being commemorated by our nation of perpetual victimhood by wilder and stupider acts of madness from that point on.

George W. Bush was the first wacko, of course. He needed to commemorate the event by going to war with a country that had nothing to do with it. But, to be fair, he already wanted to invade Iraq; he was just looking for an excuse.

For a while there, we thought Sept. 11 was going to become Patriot's Day (or something like that.) But that idea was just as wacko because, What does it have to do with patriotism? The idea of patriotism was co-opted and exploited by the Republicans to justify their years of criminal activity.

Happy Wacko Day ... I personally still have a "September 10 mindset" (a dirty word all those years ago), but, hey, in my defense, today is Sept. 10. What other "mindset" should I have?

Aren't we all a little wacko (myself excluded) for letting the terrorists win? We should've just gone back to normal.

The System Worked

It is shameful how the Republicans and some in the media, who are either too hyper partisan to care about the truth or to lazy to double check and tell the whole story, have twisted Janet Napolitano's words on whether the system worked or didn't work.

First, I don't know what kind of system they're talking about that will prevent every bad thing from ever happening. If that's the system they're expecting to be in place, they're going to be sorely disappointed every time. (I should say, in regard to the Republicans, to them any kind of terrorist attack is good news; 1) because they want to turn everything against President Obama (that's the kind of folks they are); and 2) because with fear mongering they hope to retake power, why? So they can fear monger us into keeping it, like they did in the Bush years.)

It's not too hard to actually see or read what Napolitano said. And anyone who knows how to read won't read it differently, unless, again, it's simply partisan spin you're after and not the truth.

Once this incident occurred, everything went according to clockwork, not only sharing throughout the air industry, but also sharing with state and local law enforcement. Products were going out on Christmas Day, they went out yesterday, and also to the [airline] industry to make sure that the traveling public remains safe. I would leave you with that message. The traveling public is safe. We have instituted some additional screening and security measures, in light of this incident, but, again, everyone reacted as they should. The system, once the incident occurred, the system worked.

First, there was an incident. That's the breaking in of reality against any system that is not perfect. How can any system be "perfect" against the countless variables that life presents? It looks like what she's talking about there is the system as it "reacts" to the incident ... in the phrase "everyone reacted as they should." Then the last sentence only says "the system worked "once the incident occurred." There's no other way to read it, except for ne'er-do-wells like the Republicans.

(If they can't read a couple sentences and get the actual gist of them, how is it we would trust us to keep us "safe" in a complex and dangerous world? Bush would actually be at war with Timbuktu by now!)

Republicans Play The Fear Card -- Again

Maybe this is the only card these guys have, the fear card.

The latest thing (two things) that America needs to be "verrrrrrry afraid" of are, 1) Putting the terrorism suspects on trial; 2) Moving the Gitmo bunch to a prison in Illinois.

It seems to be like the obvious implication of the fear card is that the Republicans don't believe America is up to any challenge. Whatever we want to do, according to the Republicans, we can't do it. Don't try. Simply stop in your tracks and no nothing. Whether it's health care, climate change, and now dealing with the terrorism suspects in some kind of rational way, it simply cannot be done! It almost makes you wonder why they want to hold office, since they're only message is, No. Stay inside, cover up your head, and shiver in fear.

How we were ever able to keep these guys in Gitmo all these years without them getting loose, I guess there's no explanation for that. It must be luck. Because the Republicans certainly don't think we have any competence. We've been keeping people in prison for centuries -- and the prison technology is improving all the time -- but suddenly it can't be done.

So the Republicans' message is, Since it can't be done, you better be afraid that someone is trying to do it, because they're sure to fail. It's hard to picture them agreeing with Ronald Reagan that it's "Morning In America," because all they see is sunsets. The sun has set on America's ability to succeed, according to the Republicans. Failure is not just an option, it's our only option!

We might wonder, Why would anyone vote for these clowns? I guess they're banking on fear, since it was good in the Bush years for a while. The more afraid we are, the more we'll huddle in close to the Republicans to keep us safe. But since they're doctrine clearly is It can't be done, that's small comfort. We need the Republicans to keep us safe, but the terrorists are going to get us -- like they said, it's not a matter of if but when.

OK, my take on this. I'll take someone a little more optimistic. Like President Obama. Who thinks not only can we maintain the American system of justice, but we can succeed at things we put our mind to.

I don't think these terrorism suspects are 40 feet tall with four arms and an ability to conceal an arsenal up their arsenhole. Since they're people -- this is a big surprise, people just like we are -- we, being people just like they are, ought to be able to handle them, especially given our superior position as the jailER and not the jailEE.

Good grief, Republicans. Please go away and think it over. Americans want an optimistic message. A steady stream of We can't do it doesn't quite cut it.

Terrorists Just Want To Have Fun

Here's a couple of insights from EverdayInsight on Twitter. They seem more interesting by their sequence.

The first is very benign, "People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing." This is why the terrorists rarely succeed. They're not having enough fun. Instead, they "harm their own cause no matter how valid their concerns might be."

The Taliban, Hamas, And Republicans

Who's against President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize?

The Republican party, the Taliban, and Hamas.

Birds of a feather.

Who's against America? The same bunch.

Tom Ridge Backpedals, Changes Story

5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. There it is.

Tom Ridge, under no pressure from absolutely no one, suddenly and for no reason other than his own determination, suffering no influence from anyone, changed his story about being pressured by Bush administration colleagues to raise the terror level during the 2004 campaign or any other time.

Yes, it seems it is still in print that that is what he said a few weeks ago, and meant to say. But now he realizes, no, nothing of the sort occurred.

We'll post details if we find them, of his thinking process. Because we are absolutely sure that there has been no outside influence on this decision to revisit his thoughts and re-remember them differently. As far as any pressure, again, we can lay all that to rest. It didn't happen. It's not happening now. It will not happen in the future.

How Do You Like That?

The people at McCain's rallies, what can you say about them? Somehow they are able to get out of their house, travel to where the rally is being held, go through the process of getting in, then further work through the process of getting a seat, then manage (who knows how?) to get in position to be chosen to ask a question, then they ask it, and it's like, "Duh. Me brain hurt."

Ha ha, how did these goofballs, dingbats, morons, and losers manage all that other stuff? Were they kidnapped off their couch and hauled there unaware? They probably do know how to sit on a couch somewhere, I don't know, it's feasible they do. They appear to be politically aware enough to know that there's an election coming up, and in general who the candidates are. The one lady thought Obama was an Arab, which would be kind of a long commute for him.

I saw a couple clips, Arab lady, and the guy whose wife is going to have a baby on April 2, and he's not sure he wants to bring a child into the world in a country that has Barack Obama as president. But he insisted he would allow the birth to take place, and that it would take place here in the United States regardless of his political qualms. McCain's got that look on his face that says, this question is going to be a bomb.

Is it that guy who thinks Obama is a terrorist or has terrorist associations? I don't know. I've seen a couple other videos, I guess, people in line. One of some really disgusting women, who take over the show, and the other of just quick clips of GOP losers calling Obama a terrorist. The thread that runs through the whole thing is, These people are flaky.

So McCain, who's shown himself on occasion to be a coward, managed to screw up his courage enough to assure the folks that Obama is actually another human being, that he's not an Arab, that he's not scary. So settle down and shut up.

Being the true believers in the GOP cause -- i.e., deadenders in the last throes -- they booed their nominee.

The Flow of the Conversation

McCain tells Charles Gibson the reason he didn't confront Obama to his face about Ayers is that "It didn't come up in the flow of the conversation."

Give me a break! Either Obama has dangerous terrorist connections or he doesn't. If he does -- and McCain found a place to bring up something as trivial as hair transplants, which if memory serves also had nothing to do with the conversation -- then he has done his country a serious disservice. It looks like McCain seriously could be a coward in the face of terrorism. How else can you spin it? He has shrunk in the face of terrorism while trying to shift the conversation to hair transplants.

And if Obama is the terrible terrorist threat to this country that McCain is claiming, why be out there "pallin' around with him," shaking his hand, patting his arm?

So McCain, you coward, either say it to his face or shut up.

"Terrorist!" "Kill Him!"

Do you think JOHN McCAIN will be proud of this after he goes down to a well-deserved defeat? Wasn't McCain the guy who said he was going to run a "respectful" campaign?

McCain Wouldn't Take Out Bin Laden

I don't see the payoff for McCain on this Pakistan border argument.

Without me looking up the precise language, Obama's idea is basically this: that if we had actionable intelligence of bin Laden's whereabouts we would take him out. Sarah Palin, even with her ignorance, said the same thing. But McCain retracted her statement for her!

So, he's telling us that if he had bin Laden in his sights he wouldn't pull the trigger. There's bin Laden, let's say literally one inch over the border and McCain has some scruple about getting him.

Heightened Terror Alert

Must be an election year.

Terrorist Watch List Hits 1,000,000 Names

According to a tally maintained by the ACLU, based on the government's reported numbers, the terrorist watch list has hit the one million name mark!

A couple years from now, it will probably be easier to go the other direction, that is, just list those who are not on it.

The list has some strange aspects to it, as it includes members of Congress, nuns, war heroes, and people with common names like Robert Johnson and Gary Smith.

Perhaps one way to deal with all these potential terrorists is to adopt the McCain "Kill An Iranian" policy. So, to get started, if your name is Robert Johnson or Gary Smith, please go by your local federal building for a free carton of cigarettes. And if you're a suspicious nun, don't feel like you're left out; you too can pick up the habit.

Mr. Khalid's Neighborhood

Is anyone else out there -- like me -- starting to sense, however slightly, that the Bush White House has some desire to use fear mongering for their own political ends?

I suppose the sense of this started to dawn on me -- I dunno -- immediately when Bush was elected, when he started talking down the economy. And I've grown in the conviction (ha ha) that it's so! No one else has noticed that? OK, it must just be me...

But what do you make of this? The Supreme Court ruled that detainees at Guantanamo Bay have legal rights. In other words, being human beings, I guess, and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable right, among them apparently being life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they have some right, however slight it may be, to know what they're charged with and to see some semblance of due process to determine their guilt or innocence. Shocking!

So here's the White House's spin on this, that now the detainees will be released and will be walking our streets! This from Dana Perino: "I'm sure that none of us want Khalid Sheikh Mohammed walking around our neighborhoods," referring to al-Qaida's former third in command.

Can you picture that? Khalid strolling down the block? "How you doin' today, Mrs. Brown?" "Great, Khalid, how's your wife?" "She's good. Oh, hello, Mr. B!" "Hey, Khalid, old man, glad to see you're finally out of Gitmo!" "Yeah, thanks, it was really just a little misunderstanding." Little Jenny's ball rolls across the road. Khalid tells him to stay put, "I'll get it for you, Jenny!" "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies, Khalid?" "You have to ask? Let me see how much money I've got."

Terrorist Fist Jab

Oh no! Maybe this really is a terrorist fist jab! Bush and Lieberman do it!

The Tired Terrorist Card

Joe Lieberman is out there playing that same old tired terrorist card once again. It turns out, once again, that we can never get away, that we absolutely need the Republicans to keep the presidency in perpetuity because... here it comes... repeat after me... the terrorists are going to get us otherwise.

It looks like the Republicans have given the victory to the terrorists. The actual truth is that they just got lucky on 9/11, with our own government (Republicans) asleep at the switch. But now, thanks to Bush's lack of vigilance and the luck they had that one day, we need to live in fear forever.

The old terrorist card is getting very very tired. But not so much, apparently, that they won't keep playing it. The Republicans' politics of fear needs to be rejected once and for all.

(As for Holy Joe, the faster he's kicked to the curb, the happier we'll be.)

Does the GOP Have to Run on Absurdities?

Some quotes here will be from this article.

A pre-Sept. 10 or post-Sept. 11 mindset? Is this really a good way to categorize thinking? I don't think so. For anyone who says it, it says to me that they're admitting they didn't know anything about terrorism on Sept. 10. They were just going merrily on their way, not taking the threat seriously, not understanding the enemy, in other words, in an irresponsible way.

That has to be their admission, because now that they have a post-Sept. 11 mindset, their argument goes, there's nothing that can stand in their way to get the terrorists! Not land, seas, mountains, rugged terrain. Nothing. Not even our own Constitution and way of life is so precious that we shouldn't quickly trash and trample it in this pursuit. (Of course this is their way of grabbing more power, then never letting it go, all part of a ruse to convince us they're actually doing something.)

That's all pretty absurd in and of itself. But there's never -- never -- a good explanation when they're called on it, why the Iraq war had to be fought. Because the phrase "Sept. 11" is all important, any fool could tell you you'd need to get the guys who did Sept. 11 first. Then any mopping up, any fleeing of the remnant of those guys you could legitimately pursue around the world. So Obama can criticize Bush, McCain, the rest of this incompetent bunch, saying, "These are the same guys who helped to engineer the distraction of the war in Iraq at a time when we could have pinned down the people who actually committed 9/11," and they have no answer to it. Their answer is to look up, whistle at the sky a few seconds, and change the subject.

"On his campaign plane, Obama told reporters that Osama bin Laden is still at large in part because Bush's strategy toward fighting terror has not succeeded." It's absurd that McCain would be running, with his post-Sept. 11 mindset, on their great record against terrorists. Since the main guy, OBL is still out there! This is absurd. If you're a Republican, you need the subject to be something else, anything else. Do they not think we remember which party has held office the last eight years? All the while allowing OBL to run free? Bush was the one who said he wasn't too concerned about bin Laden. I never heard John McCain criticize him for saying that.

And finally, Obama said the government can crack down on terrorists "within the constraints of our Constitution." McCain's aides criticize this basic truth!

Good heavens, GOP, do you really not want to have a Constitution to go by? When John McCain, in your fantasties, swears to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, are those meant only as empty words? It's absurd, ridiculous, what the GOP has done the last eight years in trampling the Constitution, then they come around like the wolves in sheep clothing they are every election cycle asking for our vote.