Paul Krugman: so right on 9/11

Writing this week on--what else?--the 9/11 anniversary, Nobel Prize-winning economist, writer, columnist and teacher Paul Krugman wrote the following in The New York Times: "What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful," he wrote. "The atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons." As I said, he couldn't be more right on this. Trouble is, people are attacking him for it and the column. When you combine the fact that, as I've written here before, that George W. Bush was warned about just such an attack more than a month earlier in a Presidential Daily Brief and he totally, utterly and completely shirked his duties and responsibilities by ignoring it, on top of his making political hay on this and using it to unilaterally and unprovokedly attack Iraq, which had nothing to do with this at all, it merely further proves Mr. Krugman to be absolutely correct in his brief statement. Links: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/the-years-of-shame/; http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/09/12/get_krugman_.html?wpisrc=twitter_socialflow

Quote of the day--on George W. Bush and 9/11

"Even if Bush could be forgiven for taking America, and much of the rest of the world, to war on false pretenses, and for misrepresenting the cost of the venture, there is no excuse for how he chose to finance it. His was the first war in history paid for entirely on credit. As America went into battle, with deficits already soaring from his 2001 tax cut, Bush decided to plunge ahead with yet another round of tax “relief” for the wealthy." --Joseph E. Stiglitz, Project Syndicate, Op-Ed, "The Price of 9/11", posted at Truthout.org, Wednesday 7 September 2011. Link to original post: http://www.truth-out.org/price-911/1315403131

Learn from 9/11?

There was a great article on NPR yesterday about 9/11--of course--and how we missed our moment and didn't seem to learn anything. (See link at bottom). But ike the French being in Vietnam, we learned nothing from them having been there before us. Then we went into Vietnam--and learned nothing. The Soviets in Afghanistan? We learned nothing. We've been there 10 years, we still know nothing. Same with 9/11. Learn from history? Heck, Americans don't even learn from current events. Link: http://www.npr.org/2011/09/10/140364367/after-sept-11-a-missed-opportunity-for-america?ft=1&f=1001

On this 9/11 Anniversary

I wrote earlier, I refuse to watch any of the coverage of this 9/11 anniversary. It depresses me for so many reasons it's nearly overwhelming. News junkie that I am, 'm going to skip them all. Besides the worst tragedy of all these attacks, what gets me most is that it was so unnecessary and so avoidable. The FBI, internally, knew Al Qaeda members were learning how to fly planes, hastily and in pretty good numbers, across the country and, worst of all, President at the time, George W. Bush had a Daily Presidential Brief back in August, warning that Osama bin Laden was trying to do this very thing. That is, that he was preparing to attack New York by plane. Finally, that same administration was still allowing small pocket knives on commercial flights across the nation. As you'll recall, that was how one group of terrorists were able to take over at least one plane, with small pocket knives. European security hadn't allowed such things for years. What it boils down to is, 9/11 shouldn't have happened, absolutely. It was totally, utterly and completely avoidable. That it did happen is shameful. Yet George W. Bush is off in Texas, fully enjoying his cushy, wealthy, fatcat life. It would be nice if Americans recognized and kept in mind his dereliction of duty and what it ended up meaning to the thousands of people who died that day, unnecessarily. Links: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/07/AR2006030700216.html; http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=131432&page=1; http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20040801215339657; http://www.slate.com/id/2097476/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bin_Ladin_Determined_To_Strike_in_US

Show of hands---who DIDN'T see this coming?

Report: Bin Laden son says sea burial demeans his family

What now? "Osama bin Laden makes scrambled eggs"?

Officials: Bin Laden home videos expected to be released

Hopefully the last word on O bin Laden

Okay, if WE say he's dead and that we killed him and THEY say the same thing--

Al-Qaida vows revenge for Osama bin Laden's death

...can not everyone now just please assume that he really is dead and we really did get him?

Please?

No "conspiracy theory"?


Also, since both sides agree--the killer and the killer's "friends"--that he's dead, does anyone REALLY need to see pictures?


Really?

The inevitable: ObL jokes

"It looks like President Obama has a new campaign slogan:  'Yes I Did'."  --Jay Leno

"I think the next election just got a lot easier for President Obama 'cause his response to every question during the debates will be:  'Wait, I forgot...Did you kill Osama bin Laden?  Or did I kill Osama bin Laden?  Oh, no it was me, wasn't it?'"  --Craig Ferguson

"Osama bin Laden was apparently shot twice in the face.

It looks like Dick Cheney may have been involved."  --Jay Leno

Links:  http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/osamabinladen/a/Osama-Bin-Laden-Jokes.htm
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/osamabinladen/a/Osama-Bin-Laden-Jokes.htm

Local's take on the bin Laden takedown that shouldn't be missed

"I hear over and over that Islam is a religion based on love, peace, and saffron grease. Muslims, real Muslims, refute violence and jihads, and flying planes into buildings full of secretaries and stock brokers. At least that's the story we get. If in fact that is the case, then Bin Laden shouldn't be considered a good Muslim in the eyes on non extremist regular Muslims.  As for the radical types. These clowns have decapitated Allah knows how many reporters and contractors, on video, which they posted proudly on Jihadtube, or whatever passes for it. We don't owe this particular group of cave men any courtesy or consideration. We do owe them the same thing that Osama got, which was one to the face and one to the chest. As for pissing them off, I think we accomplished that mission when we raided what passes for a mansion in the middle of nowhere and killed their poster boy."  --Midtown Miscreant 


Link to original post:  http://midtownmiscreant.blogspot.com/2011/05/ill-have-hypocrisy-special-and-glass-of.html?showComment=1304534051799#c6952682258885250411

Thank you, George W. Bush

From the news today:

Bush declines Obama's ground zero invite

– Tue May 3

WASHINGTON – A spokesman for George W. Bush says the former president has declined an invitation from President Barack Obama to attend an observance at New York's ground zero.

Obama plans to visit the site of the destroyed World Trade Center towers Thursday in the aftermath of a Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The al-Qaida attack, which killed about 3,000 people, occurred in the early months of Bush's presidency in 2001.

The spokesman, David Sherzer, says the former president appreciated the offer to attend but has chosen to remain out of the spotlight during his post-presidency.

As I said, above, I, for one, am most appreciative and grateful that he is staying "out of the spotlight" at this and any and all times.

Did you read, years ago, as I did, during President Bush's presidency when he was in New York City at the UN, making a speech and he crossed paths with former President Bill Clinton and he was quoted as saying to an aide--paraphrased--that you wouldn't see him around after his presidency?  Remember that?  I sure do.  I'll never forget it.

True to form, now-former President Bush knew himself very well.  He knew that, once out of office, he wasn't about to do any "heavy-lifting."  

He didn't do any of it during his presidency, heaven knows--we wouldn't have attacked Iraq if he had, among many other things.  He surely isn't about to start doing any of it now.

What he lacked in judgement during his presidency, he seems to have gained now, now that he is out of office.

And for all that I am very, very grateful.

Two old dogs learn new tricks

Great news. There are two stories out right now, showing two people of former mind-sets have, in fact, changed those minds and are now in favor of climate change initiatives, on the one hand, and religious freedom in America--even in New York City. First up, the climate change guy: The world's most high-profile climate change sceptic is to declare that global warming is "undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today" and "a challenge humanity must confront", in an apparent U-turn that will give a huge boost to the embattled environmental lobby. Bjørn Lomborg, the self-styled "sceptical environmentalist" once compared to Adolf Hitler by the UN's climate chief, is famous for attacking climate scientists, campaigners, the media and others for exaggerating the rate of global warming and its effects on humans, and the costly waste of policies to stop the problem. But in a new book to be published next month, Lomborg will call for tens of billions of dollars a year to be invested in tackling climate change. "Investing $100bn annually would mean that we could essentially resolve the climate change problem by the end of this century," the book concludes. That's some great news. Then, back here in the States, there's this on the misnamed "Ground Zero Mosque": ThinkProgress's Alex Seitz-Wald has video of Hatch giving an interview to Salt Lake City's Fox 13 News, in which he offers up soft-spoken yet strong support for the Cordoba Initiative's Park51 project in Manhattan. HATCH: Let's be honest about it, in the First Amendment, religious freedom, religious expression, that really express matters to the Constitution. So, if the Muslims own that property, that private property, and they want to build a mosque there, they should have the right to do so. He goes on, unfortunately, to ask if it's "smart to do so" (build the "mosque" there and backtracks, not unlike the President a while back but still, he's saying it's all about religious freedom so good on him. If this keeps up, who knows? Maybe we can even gain back hope again. Have a great day, y'all.