I think that I might have OD'd on the 911 memorials. I think that I might have spent a little bit too much time reading about the victims and thinking about the day. I am quite angry and that puts it mildly.
The reality is that I am in more of a place in which I prefer to rant so if you don't like four letter words, are not interested in reading about the things that irritate me or are in desperate need of a restroom now would be a good time to sign off for a bit.
I am tired of reading all of the bullshit that is being spewed about the ABC series. I am tired of it because what I really hear them saying is that they think that the public is too fucking stupid to make up its own mind. I hear the Clintons and members of their cabinet trying to protect themselves and I hear all sorts of Republican claptrap too.
Well here is what I have to say to that. Fuck you and your stupid petty differences. Fuck you to the FBI, CIA, NSA and any other government agency that shirked its responsibility and obligation to the citizens of this country. By not sharing data, by protecting your own turf you helped contribute to one of the worst incidents that this country has ever seen.
As a baseball fan I really want to say "Say it isn't so Joe" but the sad reality is that it is true. We had the information and we could have prevented this tragedy, but we fucked it up and now thousands of people are dead, families are shattered and millions of lives have been irrevocably altered.
In case you are wondering I hold both the Clinton and the Bush administrations responsible for this. I think that they both dropped the ball. And while I am at it let me say that I am ever so tired of reading these fucking stupid comments about Dubya being too scared too act. I am tired of all the "My Pet Goat" comments.
You sound like a fucking moron. The POTUS is human. But let's get to the point. What do you think he could have done differently with seven minutes. How much information can you process in seven minutes.
What would you do if your staff informed you that planes had been hijacked and turned into flying bombs. I have read numerous comments in which people claim that they would have ordered the air force to shoot down airliners.
Ok smart guy. Which planes would you have shot down. You do know that you guarantee a rash of lawsuits and a thousand questions about whether those planes had been hijacked. Hindsight is 20-20.
What we know is that the most likely outcome is that planes that had not been hijacked would have been shot down. You would be responsbile for hundreds of deaths in the air and however many killed/maimed by falling debris from the plane.
You know what else I am tired of. Stop carping about how we squandered the good will of the world. Fuck that noise. This is the same world that watches while Africans kill each other with reckless abandon. The same world that has watched numerous tragedies unfold.
Sometimes you need to take care of your own first and then everyone else. And that brings me to the next point. When are we going to stop pointing fingers at each other and screaming about how bad things are. When are we going to just shut the fuck up and concentrate on fixing some of the domestic problems here.
The list is endless. Too many people are homeless. Too many children go to bed hungry. Too many people are going bankrupt trying to maintain their healthcare. Too many children are receiving substandard educations because we don't care enough to fix the schools.
When are we going to pay teachers what they are worth. Enough is enough. I am done with it all.
The war started before we got into Iraq. There were people who hated us long before any of this. But some of you are so fucking myopic and too fucking angry to see what stands in front of your nose.
This was the SECOND attack on the towers. It is one link on a chain of many attacks on the US as well as the many other attacks that have been launched against the west.
For me the bottom line is this. We have a number of challenges that face us. We have the resources to handle them. We have the ability to overcome them, but as long as we continue the partisan politics we will continue to come up short.
I have had enough of this blather for now. I need a cup of coffee and some fresh air.
2 comments:
I'm about 45 minutes into the miniseries and here's what I think:
1. It's awesome--production values, cinematography, acting, script. It's a tightly written espionage flick. If it weren't about true incidents, no one would argue that it's top-notch.
2. The initial thrust is to blame the terrorists for what's going on. This was no blundering accident. These people were very intent on causing murder and mayhem on a massive level and were ticked off as hell when only 6 people died in the first bombing. Regardless of the ideology, the terrorists are portrayed as bloodthirsty killers without remorse.
3. No question the ball was dropped multiple times. But by the same token, we are exercising hindsight here and it's easy for us to say which leads were real and which were ok to ignore. At the time, there was a lot of info coming across and limited resources, so the agencies had to pick and choose what they would follow. And they picked wrong.
4. Whatever we were doing post 93 was laughable. In footage of the 2001 bombers going through ticketing, they are asked meaningless questions (did you pack your bag yourself) which in no way would pick up a real hijacker. Meanwhile, multiple real red flags (lack of photo id, passenger being on a watch list) were ignored. Bottom line: we are all being inconvenienced with worthless "safety" checks which will in all likelihood not prevent a real terrorist from getting on board, instead of focusing on real threats.
5. The system in place at the time was working against us and in favor of the terrorists, and they knew this and took advantage of it. Both in terms of laws of surveillance, evidence, and due process. It was only when individuals broke with procedure that breakthroughs occurred.
Now, I don't know if this is true or not, but that's what I got from the film so far.
What's really important to take away from this is not a bunch of finger pointing and partison bickering. What we should be doing is looking at the screw ups, and figuring out what we're going to do differently from here on out. We've got the 20/20 hindsight. Now let's us it to our advantage.
What's really important to take away from this is not a bunch of finger pointing and partison bickering. What we should be doing is looking at the screw ups, and figuring out what we're going to do differently from here on out. We've got the 20/20 hindsight. Now let's us it to our advantage.
Hear, Hear.
Post a Comment