The 9/11 Commission and the current hearings are not about point scoring or shaving, not about the spin cycle or dirty laundry, not about ass covering or kicking - this isn't about "gotcha" moments. It is about the national security of the United States of America and the safety and protection of its citizens. We're all on the same side! Or we should be.
The apparent fact that a whole lot of . . . titular, perhaps?1 . . . Americans don't seem to realize this is extremely disturbing. That some number of these happen to be in government is . . . appalling. That some other number of these . . . perplexed? . . . Americans have some connection to the Constitutionally sanctified and democratically crucial fourth estate is . . . frightening.
I just can't find a word strong enough to register my complete confusion, my terrible dismay, and my utter revulsion.
Goddam, I am growing to hate the naughts.
. . .
The problem, as I see it, is that no one in the Bush Administration (or the press, for that matter) seems able to say, "We fucked up. We'll learn from our mistakes." About anything. Instead, all the time, it's, "We had a plan. Not just any plan, but a really cool plan. In fact, we implemented the plan! And the plan is working perfectly." I keep expecting one of them to tell us that the World Trade Center is still standing because their really cool planTM worked. Just you wait.
. . .
1 I use "titular" here not to suggest that somehow some people are not in fact "Americans". Rather I employ it to suggest that certain responsibilities at the confluence of citizenship and stewardship are not being taken seriously. Which is plenty bad enough.
Posted by Martial