In Memoriam

It was seven years ago today that the United States was forever changed... no politics, no snark, no punditry today.

Just a note.

We Will Never Forget...

The Weekly Rewind

Hear it is the end of another week. Time to take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of our favorite sport…politics. So lets get to the week that was in a little thing we like to call The Weekly Rewind.



Applaud: to taking action. This week, Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection launched a bipartisan, $300 million, three-year campaign to push for climate change legislation. Some of the “We” campaign’s TV ads “will team up offbeat celebrity couples” who “share a belief that it is important to address climate change,” such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and (wait for it) former Speaker Newt Gingrich. View the debut ad here. Okay, it’s not often if ever that we can say something nice in reference to Newt Gingrich, however we must give a tip of the hat to him stepping up and adding his voice to this very important issue. This is an issue that is important to everyone regardless of party affiliation, and the wait and see attitude is not gonna fly here folks.

Applaud: to taking on the establishment yet again. Director Oliver Stone currently casting his next film, Bush: The Movie. Word from Hollywood is that he’s negotiating with Elizabeth Banks (the nutty sexaholic in The 40 Year-Old Virgin) for the role of Laura Bush. Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) will play the President. And Robert Duvall is being rumored to play Dick Cheney. We hear it’s a roller coaster rid of stolen elections, strangleholds, deceit, debauchery, treachery, and a plethora of other things that you just couldn’t make up if you tried.

Applaud: to a growing number. 59 percent is the number of Doctors who “support legislation to establish a national health insurance program,” according to a new survey of more than 2,000 U.S. doctors. This number is up from 49 percent in the 2002 study. As with everything else that is painfully obvious, this country is slow to turn around, however it can be done.

Heckle: to taking a big step backwards. Fighting between Iraqi security forces and Shi’ite militiamen last month has driven civilian deaths in the country “to their highest level in more than six months,” according to new Iraqi government figures. A total of 923 Iraqi civilians were killed in March, “up 31 percent from February and the deadliest month since August 2007.” Mr. Cheney, tell us once again how we are winning the hearts and minds of those in the region now that the prior regime has been ousted from power?

Heckle: to more twisting and pulling. Prior to testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, House Republicans are launching a “full-fledged assault” on Democratic leaders, whom they accuse of trying to “legislate defeat” in Iraq. The campaign will include a “steady stream” of “op-eds and editorial board memos,” an “aggressive” TV and radio operation, and an effort to “engage conservative bloggers.” Also known as mindless drones.

Heckle: to a sad truth. While most agree the subprime mortgage crisis sparked the current economic downturn, some economists argue the Iraq war is deepening the economic pain. Even the most conservative economists acknowledge that Americans will eventually pay the price at home for a war financed entirely with borrowed money. Once again what ever happened to Iraq’s oil covering the cost of the war? Oh that’s right, that was yet another lie by the Bush‘Whacked’ Administration.

Heckle: normally on principles alone, however last month, President Bush said he would attend the Olympics in Beijing this summer because he views it as “a sporting event.” But given China’s poor human rights record, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Bush should consider “boycotting the opening ceremony.” In the words of Homer J Simpson…”D’oh”

Applaud: to not towing the party line. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, Army vice chief of staff Gen. Richard A. Cody said the 30,000-plus troop increase in Iraq and Afghanistan is “inflicting ‘incredible stress’ on soldiers and families” and posing “‘a significant risk’ to the nation’s all-volunteer military.” And just when will congress start actually listening ?.....

Heckle: to our forefathers turning in their graves. According to a secret Justice Department legal memo dated Oct. 23, 2001. For at least 16 months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, the Bush administration believed that the Constitution’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures on U.S. soil didn’t apply to its efforts to protect against terrorism, The memo’s existence was disclosed this past Tuesday in a footnote of a separate secret memo about interrogation policy. Oh I don’t even know where to begin on this one….

Heckle: to continually looking like a clueless deer in the headlights. For a man “who came into office as the nation’s first M.B.A. president , Mr. Bush has sometimes seemed invisible during the housing and credit crunch,” writes The New York Times. Even Bush’s conservative allies say that the President “is being eclipsed and is in danger of looking out of touch.” In danger of looking out of touch!? Too late ! BTW, I didn’t know you could get an MBA from watching Schoolhouse Rock….

Applaud: to more people seeing the light. Americans are more dissatisfied with the country’s direction than at any time since the New York Times/CBS News poll began asking about the subject in the early 1990s.” The new survey found that “81 [percent] of respondents said they believed ‘things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track,’ up from 69 percent a year ago and 35 percent in early 2002. And remember folks it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Heckle: a BIG Heckle to 80,000. Which is the number of jobs the U.S. economy shed in March, the biggest monthly job decline in five years. … The March unemployment rate jumped to 5.1% from 4.8%, highest since a matching rate in September 2005. These numbers were “more bleak than expected“; economists had predicted a decline “of 60,000 in non-farm payrolls and a rise in the unemployment rate to 5%.” Just remember we are only in an economic slowdown…..

and finally it’s time for our Tool of the Week.

This week it is Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). During a hearing this past Tuesday on an aid bill for sick New Yorkers, Rep. Issa callously dismissed the 9/11 attacks as “simply” a plane crash.

The New York Daily News reports:
The California congressman who called the Sept. 11 attacks “simply” a plane crash ran for cover Wednesday under a barrage of ridicule from fellow Republicans, first responders and victims’ families.

San Diego GOP Rep. Darrell Issa was under siege for suggesting the federal government had already done enough to help New York cope with “a fire” that “simply was an aircraft” hitting the World Trade Center.

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) sharply criticized his fellow conservative’s remarks, stating, “New York was attacked by Al Qaeda. It doesn’t have to be attacked by Congress.” In his statement yesterday, Issa tried to insist that he only “asked tough questions about the expenditures” during the hearing.

Congratulations Rep. Issa you’re our Tool of the Week. Putz…..

That’s it for this week.

Be good, stay informed, later……

Remembering 9/11/2001 - A Word from Scott

Six years ago on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I was on vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC with my family. It was the first true vacation trip for my 8 year old son. He loved the beach the first moment he saw it and had tried to spend every waking moment in the sand and surf since we had arrived just 2 days earlier.

Even though most schools had started a week or two earlier, there was still a good amount of people who had chosen the ‘off’ season to bring their families to the beach. Sunday and Monday, children could be seen running back and forth playing in the waves and looking for seashells brought in by the tide and the waves.

The mood on the beach, and in the country for that matter, was as it had always been, relaxed and for the most part carefree. The tragic event that was about to befall us was incomprehensible to most people.

Yes, other parts of the world had suffered acts of terrorism over the years, and even our own embassies and military had tragic losses, but again, those occurred in other parts of the world. We as a nation saw ourselves as basically untouchable on our own soil. How wrong we were.

When I awoke that Tuesday morning, I did what I normally do, I staggered into the kitchen and made a pot of coffee. Being that I was at the beach I decided to go out onto the balcony and take in the sounds and smell of the surf. I noticed the morning walkers out on the beach and a few families that were out early to try and get a pick of the shells that the early morning tide had washed ashore. All in all it was starting out to be a beautiful day.

Then I turned on the TV in living room…

As a habit I turned on the Today Show. Katie Couric and Matt Lauer were talking about reports coming in that a plane had just crashed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. I woke up my wife and told her what was happening. We sat and watched as NBC went to a live shot that was coming in from a helicopter over New York City. When I saw the smoke I thought naively that this must have been some terrible accident.

I was proven wrong not 17 minutes later when on live TV we watched as a second plane flew directly into the other tower.

My son had awoken by this time and was watching TV with his mom and dad. He was 8 years old and started asking dozens of questions. We answered him as best we could. We were transfixed by what we were seeing, and had nearly as many questions as he did.

Over the next hour we watched as reports came in regarding the possibility that other planes could be flying towards other buildings…. other targets.

Those fears were realized with reports of a plan crashing into the Pentagon, and a half-hour later reporting that another plane had crashed into the ground in Pennsylvania.

What was next? The White House? The U.S. Capital? What about other cities across the country? In my home state of Illinois my thought was of all the people in and around the Sears Tower.

As the hours passed my wife and I decided that we needed to do something in order to distract ourselves and our son from the horrific scenes that were on literally every TV channel. As adults we were dealing with a multitude of emotions at the loss of so many innocent lives. But for our young son, the images were only of un-imaginable destruction and the only emotions were confusion and anger.

Everywhere we went that afternoon, we ran into other families who were obviously out with their children trying to do the same thing. Children not old enough to grasp the gravity of the mornings events, were instead able to read the concern on their parents faces. And there was a somber calm at ever turn.

We understood what our children could not, that the world as we knew it had taken a drastic change and that nothing would be the same. Six years later, things are still changed.

Restrictions and heightened conditions surround us. The world that we grew up in may never again exist for our children and our grandchildren. My son, now 14 is still afraid to fly. He still has occasional questions but can now follow them up with statements of ideas of retribution for those who backed the cowardly 19. I think we have all had similar thoughts.

Are we as a nation doing everything right? Are we doing absolutely everything we can to protect ourselves, and still not infringe upon individual liberties? Have we gone over the top? I don’t have the answer. However, we have not had another attack on our soil since that fateful day.

Let’s take a moment to remember not only the national tragedy that occurred, but the thousands of personal tragedies that occurred. Today is a day to remember those friends and family members who were lost on this day. Some helping others, others just trying to live their lives.

Let us never forget.

cross-posted @ Scott's Rant Spot

Remembering 9/11/2001 - A Word from Kemp

I have twin daughters who, thankfully, were not yet born when our nation was attacked six years ago.

Six years… it hardly seems like it’s been that long, but it has…

Six years ago last night, a nation went to bed… not knowing the horror we would face the next day.

Every generation has an event that changes their perspectives and their lives… JFK’s assassination, the Challenger explosion, the Oklahoma City bombing…

But unfortunately, we had one that, for lack of a better word, trumped them all…

On September 11, 2001, millions of Americans watched in abject horror as those who were threatened by our freedom and our way of life savagely attacked our country.

Almost everyone can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the attacks.

But life went on… like it should. As a whole, we were able to heal, but we will not, and should not, ever forget that day when our happiness, our freedom, our safety and our resilience seemed lost amid a sea of hopelessness, pain, remorse and newly-found vulnerability…

We got them back… we found our resilience, we rediscovered our freedom and our happiness, and while at times our safety is brought into question, we haven’t had an attack on our soil since that fateful day six years ago… we, as a nation, were able to move forward after the attacks, albeit sometimes slowly.

Although six years have passed since the events of 9/11, the spirits of those who lost their lives, the heroes and innocent people lost during that day, are still very much alive.

There will be ceremonies and services across the nation today to commemorate the horrific events of six years ago… a day that touched everyone in this country in some way.

But for some, 9/11 was much more than just a national tragedy, it was a personal one as well…

Family, friends, colleagues and neighbors were lost that day… and immeasurable lives around them were forever changed.

Let’s take moments today to remember them all and remember that the lesson to be learned from this horrific event is that the American spirit will prevail after being struck down and we will emerge stronger, and more confident, after a fall.



cross-posted @ Kemp’s Blog