September 12th

(freedom works: regular grassroots folks with angry red faces, hitler signs, baseball caps,
and intimate ties with pharmaceutical companies)

I watched a replay of the 9/11 broadcast yesterday on MSNBC. It was chilling. I knew every step that would come next. And I remembered exactly how I felt eight years ago. I'm sure you remember, too.

So here we are, on 9/12. I remember how I felt on this day eight years ago, as well.

~ I was scared. Would there be another attack?

~ I was angry. Who on earth would think they have the right to kill so many innocent Americans?

~ I was bewildered. Why would people hate us so much?

I was looking for answers. I was looking for leadership. I was looking, quite frankly, for someone to tell me how to react. How to feel. What to believe.

Enter President Bush. Firm. Resolute. The Decider. He told us all who to fear, who to hate, and what to do. Bomb the crap out of Iraq. That'll do it.

We all know how that turned out.

Ironically, after spending billions of dollars and sacrificing thousands of young soldiers, after lying to the American people about weapons of mass destruction, after ignoring the health care crisis here at home and bringing the world to the brink of total financial collapse - the Republicans now have all the answers.

Thousands of people will be marching on Washington today, at the urging of Glenn Beck. They are part of the 9-12 project, proudly sponsored by FreedomWorks, founded by Dick Armey, a corporate lobbyist.

Great. Let's instill so much fear in ourselves that we can't think straight. Then let's have the corporate lobbyists tell us what to do.

If this is the 2009 version of "9-12" please tell me - what was this year's version of 9-11? A black man getting elected to the White House? That same black man having the audacity to lecture white folks, using fancy schmancy words? Trillions of dollars in debt that can be directly traced to the failed policies of the BUSH ADMINISTRATION?

Please. One of the strongest lessons of 2001 was - be careful who you believe. The loudest voices are not necessarily speaking the truth. Even if they're yelling "you lie."

Be careful, America. We've been here before.

Be careful.

~~~

I want my country back ... or do I?

(God bless America. Please. Even though we probably don't deserve it.)

Arlen Specter held a town hall meeting on Tuesday, where he met a young woman named Katy Abram. Like many in the crowd, Katy is opposed to health care reform.

“This is about the systematic dismantling of this country,” said Katy with great passion. “I'm only 35 years old, I've never been interested in politics ... We don’t want this country to turn into Russia. My question for you is, 'What are you going to do to restore this country back to what our founders created, according to the constitution?'”

The next day, Katy appeared on Hardball. Here is a link to the video clip.

Lawrence O'Donnell attempted to skewer her, asking hardball questions like "Since you are opposed to socialized medicine, have you encouraged your parents to refuse their Medicare coverage?"

Katy was wide-eyed and giggly, which at least is better than red-faced and apoplectic. She didn't seem to feel obligated to defend her position, but she did a good job of stating that position over and over. Again, she insisted that she had never really paid attention to politics before.

When asked why she felt no outrage until now - why the Bush years, 9/11 and the Iraq war failed to rouse any particular interest, - she said, "I trusted the government. I didn't really care."

But.

According to a posting on Daily Kos (link here), Ms. Abram is more politically involved than she let on. She is apparently involved in Glenn Beck's 9-12 Project.

What is the 9-12 Project? I'm glad you asked.

Here is the 9-12 Mission Statement:
"The 9-12 Project is designed to bring us all back to the place we were on September 12, 2001. The day after America was attacked we were not obsessed with Red States, Blue States, or political parties. We were united as Americans, standing together to protect the values and principles of the greatest nation ever created."

Wow. Who wouldn't want to go back to that proud, patriotic day?

You know -
~ The day when we were scared to death, wondering when the shadowy terrorists might strike again.
~ The day when we woke up to a new, dangerous world and realized just how strongly people hate us, and how destructive hate can be.
~ The day that started our long, painful slide into misguided wars, secret domestic spying programs, waterboarding, soaring federal deficits, and the politics of fear that kept W in the white house for 8 long years.

There was a certain amount of innocence, even on 9-12. Things went downhill from there.

In Glenn Beck's own words (September 9, 2005):

"You know it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims' families? Took me about a year. And I had such compassion for them, and I really wanted to help them, and I was behind, you know, "Let's give them money, let's get this started." All of this stuff. And I really didn't -- of the 3,000 victims' families, I don't hate all of them. Probably about 10 of them. And when I see a 9-11 victim family on television, or whatever, I'm just like, "Oh shut up!" I'm so sick of them because they're always complaining."

Beck went on to rail about the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, calling them "scumbags" and exclaiming, "when I saw these people and they had to shut down the Astrodome and lock it down, I thought: I didn't think I could hate victims faster than the 9-11 victims."

So. Is this the country that you want back, Mr. Beck and Ms. Abram?

A country where we are all banded together against the rest of the world?

A country where victims of terror are hated and hurricane survivors are called scumbags?

A country where it's acceptable to lie and scream and throw out terms like "Nazi" or "Socialist" to prevent your fellow citizens from obtaining health care?

Instead of looking back to 9-12, let's close our eyes and imagine a country where we can band together with the rest of the world. Where we can talk to each other without having to lie or scream. Where we care about our neighbor's well being, and we do what it takes to make sure no one has to suffer because an insurance company has decided they are not worthy of treatment.

I think that's closer to what our Founding Fathers had in mind. Don't you?

~~~