There But For The Death Of God Go I

I saw the lights reaching up to the sky from directly across the Hudson in Jersey City this evening. All through the morning, every television station showed from the WTC footprint the reading of names of the those now five years gone. Several channels had film footage of the attacks from 2001, and the Disney-owned network, ABC, had part two of putting the blame on Bill Clinton. This day depressed me all over again.

I'm glad, in a way, that there are many who find comfort in a belief that a loving, caring God has taken the souls of the departed, and that He continues to watch over us. There, but for the death of God, Go I. Personally, the reading of the names left me deeply saddened and frustrated. I find comfort only in the knowledge that my loved ones are all alive and accounted for. Of course, I still have a cousin in Iraq, and a Washington Post article (found on MSNBC) says the battle is lost in the western al Anbar province. My hope is that he, as well as the rest of our troops, come home soon.

Tonight on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, the host had a very powerful show. His anger was clear; he made none of his usual jokes. His entire final thought should be read or watched (click on link below), but I have taken two segments because I think his message is important.

...And I knew too, that this was the pyre for hundreds of New York policemen and firemen, of whom my family can claim half a dozen or more, as our ancestors.

I belabor this to emphasize that, for me this was, and is, and always shall be, personal.

And anyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft,"or have "forgotten" the lessons of what happened here is at best a grasping, opportunistic, dilettante and at worst, an idiot whether he is a commentator, or a Vice President, or a President.

However, of all the things those of us who were here five years ago could have forecast -- of all the nightmares that unfolded before our eyes, and the others that unfolded only in our minds -- none of us could have predicted this...

...

...When those who dissent are told time and time again -- as we will be, if not tonight by the President, then tomorrow by his portable public chorus -- that he is preserving our freedom, but that if we use any of it, we are somehow un-American...When we are scolded, that if we merely question, we have "forgotten the lessons of 9/11"... look into this empty space behind me and the bi-partisanship upon which this administration also did not build, and tell me:

Who has left this hole in the ground?

We have not forgotten, Mr. President.

You have.

I know there are many who think this criticism is not fair, but I remember speaking to a few conservative Republican friends of mine just before the first battle in Iraq. I told them that it was a mistake and would not be over as quickly or as easily as the Administration had predicted. At the time I said I believed that there would be a long, drawn out bloody war, and that the people would not give up their country very easily to invading Westerners. When it initially seemed like it would be over quickly, I was hopeful that I would need to eat my words. These several years later, I hate so much that I was right.

I never argue with my conservative friends about the war any longer. I did for a while, but there's no point any longer. I just hope that some of them will vote for change in November. We need a Congress who will stand up to the Bush regime.