Hiatus
It seems somehow fitting to resume this column today, after a one-year hiatus from the willful ignorance that had grown to define Bush's America. We've now come to the seventh anniversary of a terrible day, one seared into the memories of all those who bore witness that crisp September morning so long ago. Seven nightmarish years during which our once-great nation has lost so much more than the 3,000 friends, neighbors, and loved ones who perished then in a hail of flame and rubble.
I can't help but seethe at the way our "leaders" have dishonored the memory of those 3,000 souls, shamelessly using their deaths as an excuse for the dismantling and betrayal of our core democratic values; skillfully packaging that memory into meaningless magnetic bumper stickers, empty slogans, and commemorative paraphernalia; insidiously playing to our basest fears and lusts while denigrating reason, tolerance, and intelligence as traitorous, "elitist" characteristics.
And all with the obedient compliance of a cowed and uninformed citizenry.
Funny, but I'd hoped to see some sign of maturity in my fellow Americans as we came closer and closer to the end of George the Younger's incompetent reign. I'd crossed my fingers that the nation would finally grasp the enormity of the GOP's malfeasance, finally understand beyond a shadow of a doubt the need for radical change in Washington, finally demand the truth from it's political aspirants and show no tolerance for spin and lies, finally realize the precious things we've lost in America by not rising up en masse and toppling the Bush/Cheney regime.
Well, a guy can be wildly optimistic, can't he?
And yet, we stand here as a nation on this day apparently having learned nothing. I mean, take a look around, kids. Today, we'll bow our heads as always in reverent silence to the bravery and magnificence of Saint Rudy, exalt our current president for his brilliance in keeping our country "safe" by any and all means, swallow without question the usual conflation of 9/11 with Iraq and Iran. We'll weep collective tears for those 3,000 innocents, but forget to mourn for an instant the equally tragic losses triggered seven years ago in the skies over New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.
Sadly, those losses we've chosen to overlook are the ones which will truly haunt us for a generation. The elimination of checks and balances over Executive powers. The abandonment of legal due process. The ascendency of the Religious Right. The embrace of state-sanctioned kidnapping, torture, and murder. The rape of our environment. The vilification of science and education. The criminalization of dissent.
Sorry, but I've become so bruised over time by the ongoing barrage of Republican doublespeak, misdirection, obfuscation, and outright lying that this "anniversary" only makes me angrier with each passing year. When will we finally wake up, America? When will we understand the true meaning of September 11th? When will we decide to atone for the horrible crimes and mistakes committed in its name?
When will we look deep into the hearts of this administration, its blindly loyal disciples, and those who would perpetuate its horrific policies and tell them, simply, "NO MORE"?
Dear God, I can only hope it's soon.
I can't help but seethe at the way our "leaders" have dishonored the memory of those 3,000 souls, shamelessly using their deaths as an excuse for the dismantling and betrayal of our core democratic values; skillfully packaging that memory into meaningless magnetic bumper stickers, empty slogans, and commemorative paraphernalia; insidiously playing to our basest fears and lusts while denigrating reason, tolerance, and intelligence as traitorous, "elitist" characteristics.
And all with the obedient compliance of a cowed and uninformed citizenry.
Funny, but I'd hoped to see some sign of maturity in my fellow Americans as we came closer and closer to the end of George the Younger's incompetent reign. I'd crossed my fingers that the nation would finally grasp the enormity of the GOP's malfeasance, finally understand beyond a shadow of a doubt the need for radical change in Washington, finally demand the truth from it's political aspirants and show no tolerance for spin and lies, finally realize the precious things we've lost in America by not rising up en masse and toppling the Bush/Cheney regime.
Well, a guy can be wildly optimistic, can't he?
And yet, we stand here as a nation on this day apparently having learned nothing. I mean, take a look around, kids. Today, we'll bow our heads as always in reverent silence to the bravery and magnificence of Saint Rudy, exalt our current president for his brilliance in keeping our country "safe" by any and all means, swallow without question the usual conflation of 9/11 with Iraq and Iran. We'll weep collective tears for those 3,000 innocents, but forget to mourn for an instant the equally tragic losses triggered seven years ago in the skies over New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.
Sadly, those losses we've chosen to overlook are the ones which will truly haunt us for a generation. The elimination of checks and balances over Executive powers. The abandonment of legal due process. The ascendency of the Religious Right. The embrace of state-sanctioned kidnapping, torture, and murder. The rape of our environment. The vilification of science and education. The criminalization of dissent.
Sorry, but I've become so bruised over time by the ongoing barrage of Republican doublespeak, misdirection, obfuscation, and outright lying that this "anniversary" only makes me angrier with each passing year. When will we finally wake up, America? When will we understand the true meaning of September 11th? When will we decide to atone for the horrible crimes and mistakes committed in its name?
When will we look deep into the hearts of this administration, its blindly loyal disciples, and those who would perpetuate its horrific policies and tell them, simply, "NO MORE"?
Dear God, I can only hope it's soon.
posted by Bob P @ 3:29 AM
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