| And finally, to round out a triumvirate of posts on really atrocious quotes, I bring you Stu Bykofsky, who writes (in a major newspaper):
America's fabric is pulling apart like a cheap sweater.
What would sew us back together?
Another 9/11 attack.
The Golden Gate Bridge. Mount Rushmore. Chicago's Wrigley Field. The Philadelphia subway system. The U.S. is a target-rich environment for al Qaeda.
Is there any doubt they are planning to hit us again?
If it is to be, then let it be. It will take another attack on the homeland to quell the chattering of chipmunks and to restore America's righteous rage and singular purpose to prevail.
Ugh. I don't know if this guy is a conservative, but this sure sounds like the usual war-proponent's bluster about how we should all shut up and follow "our" President, because...well...because he's "ours," even is if he is incapable of leading.
Steve Benen:
Our political system is premised on the notion that people are going to disagree with one another. To borrow a phrase, "That's a feature; not a bug." Americans have substantive policy disagreements about national security and foreign policy. The past several years have, thanks to an intentional White House strategy, driven people apart, which leads us to the contemporary debates Bykofsky seems troubled by.
Benen also notes that Bykofsky doesn't really mention exactly what or who we'd rally around if another 9/11 came. Personally I wouldn't be willing to put my trust in this current administration in anything they did in response to a massive terrorist attack, outside of immediate aid or investigation. I'd just suspect it'd be more of the same: pushing their radical ideology in the name of preserving national security. (And this is from a guy who supported - and still supports - our mission in Afghanistan.)
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Update: Weird. Apparently some righties are agreeing with Bykofsky! Wishing a massive terror attack so they can go ahead with their policies? I mean, I know some of these *sshats wanted to win their rhetorical wars at any cost...but are their egos really worth the deaths of thousands?
In any case, don't hold your breath for a post 9/11 II to actually benefit Bush or his few remaining hangers-on. Quite the reverse. I suspect most of us would prefer having someone competent and not so radical in office at a time of crisis... |
