Smoke and mirrors

Just a few thoughts on the ABC/Disney "Path to 9/11" brouhaha, and to the wide and disparate gamut of on-line reactions and observations:

-BOLLOCKS!

How reprehensible! I don't care what ABC is now claiming about "docu-drama" and "based in part" and "blah blah blah we never claimed this was anything other than a fictionalized account blah blah blah no different than Fahrenheit 911 or The Da Vinci Code." Bollocks!

The network has only taken this position in the face of withering criticism of the out-and-out lies reportedly espoused in the screenplay. They partnered with Scholastic, for God's sake, in an effort to pass off this piece of blatant propaganda as a scholarly documentary, deserving of serious study in our nation's classrooms.

This is a shameful indication of what television has become. And it should be a wake-up call to a public that's slumbered far too long that presentations of "fact" on our flat-screens are not to be trusted on face value - and that we damn well better start demanding a change.

-GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

Here's a video that we've all seen in the past, but is well worth watching again now. Thanks to James Raven at The Psychotic Patriot for highlighting a sobering moment of real culpability for 9/11.

As long as everyone seems so desperate to find one. Which leads me to...

-HINDSIGHT IS ALWAYS 20/20

Well, it is - as long as you're actually examining the facts.

Sure, it may be true that, viewed in the shadow of the 9/11 attacks, Bill Clinton could have done more to "eliminate" Osama bin Laden specifically. I mean, if only he'd had a crystal ball that spelled out in detail the events of the future, he might have dedicated his entire second term to the assassination of al Qaeda's titular head.

He also might have picked the winning MegaMillions number for the week he left office.

Instead, he "contented" himself with hunting down and imprisoning the individuals responsible for the 1st WTC attack in '93; holding weekly meetings on the emerging threat of the al Qaeda organization; and repeatedly trying to impress the importance of terrorism on a GOP-controlled Congress far more concerned with the President's penis than our national safety and security.

George Bush also could have paid a bit more attention to the admonitions of former Clinton staffers concerning the imminent danger of terrorist attack. Too bad that Dubyah's chief priority was to reject anything and everything Bubbba told him was important.

And then there was that vaguely-titled PDB - I mean who would've ever thought that bin Laden was determined to attack the U.S. in 2001?

Seems to me that if we're so intent on finger-pointing, the Bush White House looks like a much more appropriate target of our ire. Not to mention the fact that there are still far too many unexplained coincidences about that terrible day to completely dismiss the idea that there was some "inside help" in the orchestration of the attacks and their immediate aftermath.

-SMOKE & MIRRORS

So there are compelling reasons to objectively evaluate missteps that contributed to America's complete vulnerability 5 years ago, and to hold those individuals who committed gross negligence accountable.

But some of our collective zeal to name a scapegoat for 9/11 misses the point of what international terrorism really is - and misleads a moronic public into believing that by simply choosing the "right" political party, they will guarantee their absolute safety. This, to me, is perhaps the most insidious aspect of a propaganda piece like "Path to 9/11."

For it glosses over the real issue that we should be debating - what's been done by the Administration since 9/11 to address this demonstrably real threat - and replaces that debate with a divisive rhetorical argument over which party is to "blame" for events of the past.

And the only answer to that hypothetical is "both." And "neither."

The furor over ABC's little Swift-Boat docudrama is a perfect example of what the current incarnation of the GOP does best. Misdirection. Obfuscation. Smoke and mirrors. "Let's keep the populace focused on a discussion of the Clinton years, so they won't notice the here and now."

'Cause let's face it, kids - the here and now of our so-called "war on terror" has been completely botched by the ruling party.

From inadequate port security, to the neglect of chemical and nuclear plants, to the inflammation of anti-U.S. sentiments around the globe, to the resurgence of the Taliban, to the over-extension of our military and National Guard, the crisis at hand is not what President Clinton did or didn't do 10 years ago - it's what George Bush and the Republican Party plan to do tomorrow.

And based on their track record so far, that's a crisis of major proportions.

I guess what bothers me most about "Path to 9/11" - besides, obviously, the ongoing disgrace in this nation of Bush-friendly fabrications being fed to a gullible American citizenry as proven fact - is that the collective discussion we need to have over effectively combating terrorism will once again go unexplored, because of the carefully calculated firestorm that's erupted over a made-for-TV movie. Not that the implications of this piece of propaganda aren't serious, but the story doesn't end there

And we can't allow it to.

Because ultimately, it no longer matters if Bubba missed some opportunities that, in hindsight, he might have executed more effectively. With what we know now about the makeup of terrorist cells, chances are that Osama's death wouldn't necessarily have eliminated that particular operation.

Who can say for certain?

And while Georgie and Dicky and Donny and Condi should have done a better job of thinking with their brains in the summer of 2001, even that clearly titled PDB didn't necessarily provide dates, times, and flight numbers to be acted upon. The way I see it, it's rationally impossible to stop someone for whom even death isn't a deterrent, but is instead an integral part of the plan.

So boycott ABC and Disney if you want (my personal choice). Write letters. Make angry phone calls. Or watch "Path to 9/11" in its entirety. Tape it. Applaud its conclusions. Choose your own winner in this diversionary pissing contest.

But remember that the minute its final credits roll across the screen, the outcome of that contest ceases to matter. The problem of defending America - to the best of our ability - against terrorist attack is still real. It's still there. It's still unsolved.

And it's still being mishandled by the party in power.

ABC's misrepresentation of fact for blatantly political purposes is scandalous and inexcusable. But it would be equally inexcusable to let our national argument over this throw-away film to make us forget the ongoing incompetence of our one-party government - and its utter unpreparedness for the next 9/11.

The time has come for a change of plan. And that's the thing I hope against hope that all Americans will remember when November rolls around.