UPDATE: From Paul Krugman:
Is it just me, or are the 9/11 commemorations oddly subdued?
Actually, I don’t think it’s me, and it’s not really that odd.
What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. Te atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.
A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?
The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.
12 Comments
Hilarious, I love poking fun at chasing a man who caused a national tragedy, while also poking fun at the economy. This will end my visitation of this site. Rot in Hell
No U, you have often made good comments on this site. I’m sad to see you go. But to be honest I’m not really sure what about this comic got you upset. I don’t think it is poking fun at either chasing bin Laden or at the economy, it is commenting about how our government’s response to this tragedy in some ways hurt us more than the tragedy itself.
80 Nations had people killed on 9/11. Close to 3000 people. Only the United States lost over 4000 in Bush’s war games to make him and his buddies even richer. Bush is a very rich, total failure in his whole life. “He who dies with the most toys wins.” On 9/11, I think of the 4000 needless American Deaths in Iraq. I think of the 1000s American maimed in Bush’s games. I think of the families disrupted in this country. I think of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed or maimed so Bush could have his fun. I think of those in Iraq who did not live their life in fear before March 2003 but after Bush allowed Al Qaeda into Iraq by not securing the borders first, constantly live their life in fear.
I think of my deer, turkeys, fox all gone because of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rove. That’s right: A national guardsman was sent to Bush’s game and learned how to kill. To keep up his skills he spends four to six hours shooting on his property. All the critters are gone. I fear for my sheep, my dogs and mostly my cats. After living here 27 years, and just getting grandchildren old enough to come through the woods and on his property with his permission, I’m building a fence to make a good neighbor. Even so I have half my property I can’t use because of stray bullets. And the vet is not to blame,he is mentally maimed. He is now a killing machine. It is the four who were never involved in any war. That’s what 9/11 means to me. Bush’s excuse to further destroy our country for his gain. I hope the big four never enter the pearly gates but rot in hell.
I think of the absurd mental whipping that we go through on every anniversary of 9-11 and wonder if it isn’t a mal-adaptive way of justifying the loss of American ideals (and lives) in the choice to use torture and ignore the Geneva conventions as “out-dated” and the endless war that this adventure has become. I think of hearing the plane take off from bin Laden’s cave in Afghanistan when he was surrounded and the American orders to “hold their fire” and then the useless about-face to Iraq. And then, I try not to think too much about what this country used to stand for before Cheney and his minions took over.
Ah, but the Bin Ladens are Bush’s friends in Texas. He got them out of the country after 9/11 during the no fly zone. He didn’t want to kill one of their brothers.
I enjoyed Candorville today. I must say, though, that thinking of what has come since 9/11 doesn’t take away the sad, hollow feeling in my stomach when I think of those who died and are continuing to die.
http://candorville.com/
I hope No U reconsiders. At first read, I didn’t get it and was a little offended but I reread “Rubble Speech Revisited” after NO U and Iron’s comments and realized that the post was not poking fun nor disrespectful.
Sometimes political cartoons are not cartoons but more like a panel from a graphic novel. This was no toon. This was serious commentary on how differently we would have responded if we had known the unanticipated consequences.
C’mon, No U. The cartoon’s a legitimate swipe at a man whose words proved to empty. Contrast Bush’s braggadocio with Obama’s much more dignified behavior when he actually launched a SUCCESSFUL attack on the man “who caused a national tragedy.”
I for one was extremely glad that Gore was not President during 911. I believe our then President’s finest moments were in the aftermath of 911. Did we make mistakes following 911, absolutley, did we make mistakes following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, correct again (Japanese American internments, at least we didn’t do that this time huh?) Rudy Guiliani was another person that did an incredible job as a leader.
If Krugman sticks to economics, I promise to stick to what I know. And if Krugman is so smart in economics why doesn’t he offer a solution to countries like Greece, instead of running his mouth?. He’s just another talking head putting money in his pocket, doesn’t know jack.
Ebdoug, millions lived in fear in Iraq before 2003. Saddam killed over 100,000 Shites in the south and 1000’s of Kurds in the north in retaliation while Bubba was scoping out his next intern and stood by and watched. I talked to those Iraqi’s they thanked our Soldier’s for coming. Bush has been gone for almost 3 years. Why are we still there, and why are Soldiers still dying? I think there’s enough blame to spread around, is Obama lining his pockets at our military’s expense. I don’t think so, and I don’t think Bush did either.
Dubya sorta had me with him on the Afghanistan invasion thingie. Lost me totally with the Iraq thingie. Lost me totally times 2 with the dramatic diminution of Constitutional rights. These weren’t mistakes, they were intentionals. Done on purpose and with malice and forethought. If one can believe any part of Cheney’s memoirs it’s the part about him and by inference Dubya having no regrets about what they did.
Oh, and most of the slaughter in Iraq occurred during the Reagan and Bush I terms of office. Not Bubba’s.
Krugman has addressed the Greek crisis repeatedly. For example 12 days ago:
“At the very least there must be a debt restructuring that actually reduces the debt burden rather than simply stretching it out.” – http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/greek-out/
And a year ago:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/opinion/09krugman.html
And numerous times before and between.
Granted, most of Krugman’s discussion of Greece has been oriented towards what the US can and cannot learn from the Greek financial crisis but Krugman is an American economist, not European emperor. Greece, and more importantly Germany, did not take his advice. He cannot be blamed for that.
As for Krugman not knowing Jack, you’ll have to ask him ☺
As for American presidents before Bush ignoring the massacres in Iraq, this photo of Rumsfeld, special envoy of President Ronald Reagan, shaking Saddam’s hand in 1983 puts “Bubba” in better perspective. http://www.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/handshake300.jpg
Most of the genocides referenced took place before the easing of relations during Reagan’s terms.
Check out this press release from George Washington University’s National Security Archive project for more perspective:
http://www.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/press.htm
There will always be opportunists. But heroes are rare. 9/11 gave us both.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFgEX7ac_KM