Special Blog Post:
Only Numbers
The man at left was the leader of our country on that day: on September 11, 2001, he had been the President of the United States for 234 days. His name is George W. Bush; he is the 43rd President of the United States. One thousand one hundred forty-eight days after the attacks—on November 2, 2004—he won re-election, garnering 62,040,606 votes, while his closest rival received 59,028,109 votes. The man at right has been held responsible for directing the attacks upon the United States of September 11, 2001. He is Osama bin Laden. He has not been captured or killed in the 1,826 days since the attacks. He has, instead, continued to be the spiritual and inspirational leader of an organization called al-Qa'ida, which has in the intervening time been in part or in whole responsible for leveling as many as 30 significant, lethal attacks across a dozen countries, among them Spain, Great Britain, Egypt, and Indonesia.Since 2001, Mr. Bush and his allies in Congress have spent $430 billion waging a "global war on terror." This world-wide engagement includes large-scale wars in two countries, Iraq and Afghanistan, where a total of approximately 3,000 American soldiers have been killed, along with perhaps 70,000 civilians.
Yet, despite all of the thousands upon thousands of lives lost, the hundreds of billions of dollars spent, and the nearly two thousand days since the United States fell victim to the largest attack in history on its continental soil, the man in the picture at right, above, is still free, and by President Bush's own testament we must remain fearful because al-Qa'ida—as well as other, similar terrorist organizations—remains a clear and present threat to the United States and its citizens.
Lest we ever forget what has become of our nation in the years and days of George W. Bush's Presidency, we must continue the counts, for it is in the numbers that the truth shouts for all to hear, should we so choose.
The Dark Wraith has thus spoken upon the anniversary of a melancholy day.
Published 9/11/2006 02:11:00 AM
<< 23 Comments Total
A fitting reminder. I wonder at the blindness of folks that find Bush "strong on terrorism" after the one quote I for one keep remembering, the one where he says he really doesn't think about Bin Laden. Well, I guess he has recently because he is being used in recent stump speeches to show how much danger we are all in. Sheesh. Do you think someone had to remind Bush who Bin Laden is after all that time he wasn't thinking about him?
I find the saddest thing to be the number of people that consider the US and in particular the Bush administration to be terrorists are equal to if not greater than those that find Osama to be a terrorist... Perhaps Bush and the American people aught look at their definition of terrorist and then get on with the business of finding the man on the right and the left and bringing them both before courts on charges of crimes against humanity... Just a thought...
Peace.
"aught"? Maybe they "ought" to... Oh my...
"...where a total of approximately 3,000 American soldiers have been killed, along with perhaps 70,000 civilians." -- DW
As long as we're talking numbers, several websites
place the Iraqi death toll at at least 100,000, a number which has been estimated by The Lancet, which is the British equivalent of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
there was a time when we held our presidents liable for what happened "on their watch." it wasn't always fair, but we did it anyway, and the best of them stood up and accepted responsibility. as jon stewart would say "not so much anymore." the administration that swept into office on the claim that "now the adults are in charge" has proven itself to have baby feet of clay. their constant whine is "someone else is to blame, i didn't make a mistake." quite a few of our fellow citizens can obviously be fooled all the time.
Good Morning Dark Wraith and friends:
i truly do mourn for the world esteem that was given us in the immediate aftermath of these attacks. i have a newspaper page from the L.A. Times which shows candles being burned and a vigil kept in bejing, tehran, cairo, paris, london, moscow, riga, oslo and many, many other capitals and cities around the world. it showed the front page of le monde in paris which had the famous headline "We Are All Americans." that has been recklessly and shamefully squandered by the cruelty, clumsiness, brutality, and arrogance of this administration. they took a time when the world was truly united and ready to stand with us to bring something better from a tradegy of monumental proportions. now, five years later, we stand despised, mistrusted, and alone. dreadfully and dangerously alone.
the minstrel will pay special attention to banjo practice today. banjos are especially nice when combatting melancholy.
Pardon me, but I'm speachless. How far do we fall? Where is the floor?
3000 Dead at the WTC and what are the results of our actions?
Nearly 2700 dead US Soldiers, 16,000+ wounded, 100,000 dead Iraqis.
Do we feel avenged? Was it worth it?
More importantly, are we safe?
Well, seeing as how Bin Laden and AL Qaeda attacked us under the protection of the Taliban, and that now Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and The Taliban are operating freely in the border towns between Pakistan and Afghanistan likely planning their next attacks, my answer is NO.
Who's fault is it that we are not safer? I'm sure the wingnuts would say Clinton but the sad truth is it's Bush's fault that we have not caught Bin Laden or hampered Al Qaeda or deposed of the Taliban.
Bush decided to focus the bulk of our treasury, our military, and our intellgence on Iraq NOT getting the perpetraitors of 9/11 eg, Al Qaeda and Bin Laden.
Mr. Bush, go fuck yourself.
Mr. Bush, go fuck yourself.
Well said.
With his usual hysterically overwrought hyperbole, I think John Aravosis has captured this one just about right....
- oddjob
I am reminded.....
Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago,
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below.
On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone,
And the valley-people swore
They'd have it for their very own.
Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.
So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill,
Asking for the buried treasure,
Tons of gold for which they'd kill.
Came an answer from the kingdom,
"With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain,
All the riches buried there."
Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.
Now the valley cried with anger,
"Mount your horses! Draw your sword!"
And they killed the mountain-people,
So they won their just reward.
Now they stood beside the treasure,
On the mountain, dark and red.
Turned the stone and looked beneath it...
"Peace on Earth" was all it said.
Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.
Ashes beget nothing but ashes. Bush thought like old King Henry - as though with one phrase he too could eliminate that which plagued him. But ‘Wanted dead or alive’ didn’t quite match up to ‘Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest’ – and Bin Laden, unlike Thomas à Becket, walked away a free man. Now – I am not likening Osama to Becket; but neither is Bush like any of the monarchs he’d so dearly like to be. Now we are at that bloody morning after. What will be Bush’s just reward?
Good morning, Fat Lady Sings.
If Mr. Bush is fortunate, he will suffer the fate of all men in becoming dust from the dust whence he came.
If Mr. Bush is less fortunate than most, that which he was before returning to dust will be remembered.
To ensure that he will suffer that worse fate, we shall continue to write about him to the end of his days and beyond.
"If Mr. Bush is less fortunate than most, that which he was before returning to dust will be remembered."
Antony: "The evil that men do lives after them. The good is often interred with their bones." -- Julius Caesar
"This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.”
Plato
and I am very scared, but also really really pissed off
good afternoon dark wraith:
i have taken to referring to "al qa'ida and their republican allies" because it appears to me that they share the same agenda for the american public. osama wants to terrorize us and bush wants us scared enough to not grab our flintlocks for an appointment at concord bridge. also, it seems that for purposes of recruiting and public relations mr. bush is the one indespensible ally bin laden has in the world.
aside to elf: bravo on the plato quote.
Good afternoon, elf.
I share Minstrel Boy's kudos to you for that quote by the ancient Greek philosopher.
More generally, the well-read commenters here have given evidence by the quotes they have made that we as a people have no excuse whatsoever for what we are enduring with the Bush Administration. We knew better: history is rife with evidence of the destructiveness of the path we have taken.
And the transparency of Mr. Bush's lies and incompetence, which are so obvious to us, simply cannot be utterly opaque to those who adore him. This is one of those times in my life when I have seen large numbers—huge numbers—of my countrymen persistently, willfully, deliberately, wantonly abandoning what is right, effective, good, and proper for actions and ideas that are clearly and obviously not.
It is not the Osama bin Laden types of madmen in the world who worry me nearly so much as those who would seek their own destruction in a fit of willful, spiteful ignorance. It is that—and not al-Qa'ida or some other bunch of sick whack-jobs—who could herald not merely the permanent end of this nation's hope for the future, but that of a productive (if admittedly flawed) civilization our ancestors have built for us to enjoy, make better, and then pass on.
Perhaps that condemnation of the masses sounds like hyperbole; but perhaps it is less so than we might fear.
The Dark Wraith grimaces at the stupidity of those who would have even contemplated voting for that fool.
After seeing pictures of the very large military-industrial complex bldgs. being built in Iraq by Halliburton, it seems clear to me that Bin Laden has never been the focus of this administration, but perhaps rather as a decoy to show that the WoT is never done.
Not, at least, until the country is bankrupted by the expenditures. That's, of course, when the Chinese will have the opportunity to foreclose on us.
The only good thing about that scenario is that the neoconnies will finally get to see how the pros do repression.
The Dark Wraith sees intern possibilities for folks at the Project for the New American Century.
The Dark Wraith sees intern possibilities for folks at the Project for the New American Century.
BINGO......
Agree with t rogers, too. Bin Laden for them is a very useful scarecrow and little else. They have shown almost no inclination to actually capture him and I doubt they ever will. Doing so would remove their contention that Iraq is the center of everything worth doing on this front.
- oddjob
Good Morning Dark Wraith
also, it seems that for purposes of recruiting and public relations mr. bush is the one indespensible ally bin laden has in the world.
And Bin Laden is proving to be the one ally Bushco has in the world.
This is one of those times in my life when I have seen large numbers—huge numbers—of my countrymen persistently, willfully, deliberately, wantonly abandoning what is right, effective, good, and proper for actions and ideas that are clearly and obviously not.
Apparently Bush has seem them too. Bush Tells Group He Sees a 'Third Awakening'
Will somebody please Rapture these people.
Excellent reminders in numbers, Wraith. One also can’t help but wonder what $430 billion could have done had it instead been spent on good things.
Bush Tells Group He Sees a 'Third Awakening'
Will somebody please Rapture these people.
My Pet Goat, Sep 13, 01:10:29 PM
"--Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn."
~William Wordsworth
We should be thankful for those who are playing out their personal and man's collective fears and illusions on the "world" stage, thereby showing how futile these beliefs are.
A small light is easily seen in the darkest of places. It is up to each one to see, indeed BE, the light or cling to their illusions. Ultimately we reap where we sow and cannot be affected, unless we so choose, by another's delusion.
In every way we can, we may put a "mirror" up to these atrocities, illusions, delusions so that at some time the greater understanding may dawn. Each for his own growth and the collective evolution of man.
Thankful for those who hold that mirror steady and sure, more as teachers than judges, more as lovers than fighters.
A dear friend and teacher said to me often,"judge him not, record his deeds."
Sometimes I remember that.