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Art & Culture

various essays on, well, art and culture

Bookbinding & Conservation

lessons learned from this profession

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ok, I'm not the guy from SNL,
but I still have a sense of humor

'Jim Downey' Stories

mostly true stories from my
adolescence

Personal Essays

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Politics

Bush's Open Invitation to Bin Laden
Rejoice!
Deserving Better
A Taxing Question . . .
Three Things
Real Americans
Republicans for Voldemort
Please, Colin
Composite Bullets
Concealed-Carry

Society

observations on the human condition

Travel

take a trip with me

Originally posted as a DailyKos diary, 10 Sept. 2005


Bush's Open Invitation to Bin Laden

The American people are only just now starting to really understand that George W. Bush has made them less safe since 9/11.  As they watched the unfolding horror which was Katrina, and saw the criminally inept response by this administration, the initial reaction was one of identification and sympathy.  It was easy to look at the pictures and think:  "That could have been me . . . my family . . . my home . . . my city."

But now, as the full import of what has happened sinks in, and because of the anniversary tomorrow, another realization starts to emerge:  that rather than responding to the 9/11 attacks in a way which would have helped to protect America, this administration chose to bluster, blather about WMDs in Iraq, and waste money, resources and time.

One of the basic principles of any conflict, any war, is to hide your weaknesses so that your opponent cannot exploit them.  And now, thanks to the complete failure of our national government to respond to Katrina in a timely and competent fashion, we've shown our enemies just how vulnerable we are.  If we cannot prepare to deal with a crisis we see coming for days, how can we be prepared to deal with another spectacular terrorist attack which would come upon us suddenly and unannounced?  This is an open invitation to bin Laden and all his cohorts to attack us again, because the power of any attack they may choose will be magnified by the bungling of the response.  Rather than intimidate our enemies with our strength, the Bush administration has demonstrated our vulnerabilities.  Rather than show how well we could cope with any disaster, natural or man-made, the Bush administration has portrayed malfeasance in handling even the basic necessities of emergency response.

This is what is behind the falling poll numbers of this administration.  They claimed they would be the ones to make us safe.  They said only they could face the threats that our enemies present.  They maintained that they were ready for another 9/11, and would protect us.  Now, as the nation remembers and mourns those who died 4 years ago, the truth is evident to all:  George W. Bush may be president, but he has failed in the fundamental task of government to provide for the common defense and to promote the general welfare of the country.  We're more vulnerable now, and showing that weakness just invites our enemies to strike again.


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