This is a perfect example of the lefts attempt to stick every single Americans head into the sand, to bring back the days of appeasement, to bring back an American Chamberlain and "be great again." Because you see dear reader, the days in which we pretended there was no evil, that there was no one who wanted us all dead or enslaved, were the days when we were "great."
Sigh….
Times columnists are not allowed to endorse candidates, but there’s no rule against saying who will not get my vote: I will not vote for any candidate running on 9/11. We don’t need another president of 9/11. We need a president for 9/12. I will only vote for the 9/12 candidate.
What does that mean? This: 9/11 has made us stupid. I honor, and weep for, all those murdered on that day. But our reaction to 9/11 — mine included — has knocked America completely out of balance, and it is time to get things right again.
It is not that I thought we had new enemies that day and now I don’t. Yes, in the wake of 9/11, we need new precautions, new barriers. But we also need our old habits and sense of openness. For me, the candidate of 9/12 is the one who will not only understand who our enemies are, but who we are….
We can’t afford to keep being this stupid! We have got to get our groove back. We need a president who will unite us around a common purpose, not a common enemy. Al Qaeda is about 9/11. We are about 9/12, we are about the Fourth of July — which is why I hope that anyone who runs on the 9/11 platform gets trounced.
Nevermind that we stuck our heads in the sand for 22 years prior to 9/11. Didn’t work out so well did it? But ok, why worry about that when we could just build a hospital for Cubans. That will fix everything:
You may think Guantánamo Bay is a prison camp in Cuba for Al Qaeda terrorists. A lot of the world thinks it’s a place we send visitors who don’t give the right answers at immigration. I will not vote for any candidate who is not committed to dismantling Guantánamo Bay and replacing it with a free field hospital for poor Cubans. Guantánamo Bay is the anti-Statue of Liberty.
There it is, we should care more about what people think of our country rather then protecting our country. A perfect illustration of your typical lefties thinking process.
Now be careful with the following passage, do not drink any fluid while reading or you may ruin your computer monitor:
I just attended the China clean car conference, where Chinese automakers were boasting that their 2008 cars will meet “Euro 4” — European Union — emissions standards. We used to be the gold standard. We aren’t anymore.
Yeah, China cares soooooo much about the environment. Why can’t we be just like them Daddy?
So Thomas Friedman longs for the days when illegal immigration is not worried about, when Osama and al-Qaeda isn’t worried about, when terrorism as a whole isn’t worried about. 4,000 Americans dead…..so what, they couldn’t possibly do that again could they?
Sep 13, 2001 Paris embassy attack (foiled)
Fall of 2001, anthrax attacks in US
Dec 22, 2001 Reid the Shoe Bomber tries to take down airline
Dec 2001, Singapore US and EU embassy attacks (foiled)
Oct 2002, Bali Bombings
Oct 23, 2002, Moscow Theatre attack
Dec 21, 2002, Kurnool, India train attack
Dec 27, 2001, Chechen Parliament Bombing
May 12, 2003 Riyadh Compound Bombings
May 16, 2003, Casablanca Bombings
Feb 6, 2004, Moscow Metro Bombing
March 11, 2004, Madrid Train Bombings
May 29, 2004, al-Kohbar Complex massacre in Saudi Arabia
Sep 1, 2004, Beslan School Massacre
Jul 7, 2005, London 7/7 bombings of Underground trains and buses
Jul 23, 2005, Bombings of Egyptian tourist sites
Oct 13, 2005, Coordinated Chechen attacks across multiple Russian government buildings
Oct 29, 2005, Delhi India bombings
Nov 9, Amman Jordan Bombings
Jul 11, 2006, Mumbai, India train bombings
Jul 31, Train bombings in Dortmund and Koblenz, Germany (foiled)
Aug 10,. 2006, Massive trans-atlantic airline bomb plot foiled in UK
Jun 2007, London car bombs (foiled) and Glasgow car bomb attack
(h/t The Strata-Sphere)
I’m just glad that Americans didn’t listen to the Thomas Friedmans of the world after December 7th, 1941. They were out there to be sure, but they were marginalized, as this man should be. We have enemies who wish to see us gone, sticking your head in the sand will not make them go away. Taking precautions against further attacks and then taking the fight to them will.
See author page
Friedman sometimes makes good sense, but here is out to lunch…it’s pretty pathetic that he could think like this after we’re making gains in the Iraq war, and making gains internationally too. France has new leadership who value US partnership, same with Germany…the only people who hate the US are the world’s left, a la the media, universities, and fringe groups (who are praised by the media and given a platform at universities).
The message is getting out — we will win in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and in the hearts and minds of morally rational people who won’t “bury their heads in the sand.”
“What does that mean? This: 9/11 has made us stupid. I honor, and weep for, all those murdered on that day. But our reaction to 9/11 — mine included — has knocked America completely out of balance, and it is time to get things right again.”
“- mine included -”
Gotta love that line. It’s like, yeah, I did some too, but ignore that and NOW listen to me when I say the opposite…
wha?
Look, I know the man’s trying to say that there’s too much fear-mongering going on in America, and he’s right. 911 was a huge, scary wake up call, and on 912…there was no more hiding from the reality that a world wide death cult of suicidal Islamic holy warriors wants to kill us. Well, I thought there’d be no hiding from it. I thought that people’d accept the fact that when people say, hey, we’ve gotta increase our security or we’re open to attack…I thought people’d wake up, realize that, and accept it. Sure, it’s a scary thought that we need more security in America, but presenting that fact on 912 shouldn’t have been the scarier of two choices:
recognize the threat of Islamic holy warriors
OR
be afraid of an American political party because they tell you things you don’t want to hear
Unfortunately, while some Republicans-bankrupt of other issues to flaunt-focused on the need for increased security (including the direct confrontation of the death cult that is Al Queda), on the opposite side of the spectrum many Democrats chose to work against increasing security by downplaying the threat posed by Islamic jihadis. This was done even as the towers still burned. Since then, Republicans have focused less and less on security issues and more (particularly post 11/06) on ethics, fiscal conservativism, etc), but Democrats and the party leaders have added fuel to the fire by denouncing the very security efforts Freidman talks about.
I understand what he’s trying to say. He wants Americans to focus more on hope, and on being Americans than on the security debate that 911 exploded. What he doesn’t do is point out the amazing, deliberate, and direct effort to downplay, destroy, and work counter to the very security that he himself has pointed out as needed in America, by Americans. Why? Because to end the debate over Gitmo, FISA, OIF, OEF, etc, one has to face the fact that the Republicans were right, AND that Democrats are not only wrong, but that they deliberately seek to disarm this nation (see also Department of Peace instead of Department of Defense).
That’s not gonna happen-not yet, but it’s absolutely gonna happen on day1 if a Democrat is elected President. Ok, they’re not gonna say they were wrong or that Republicans were right, but they will all of a sudden start (and they already have) beating their chests with what have been Republican positions as if they were DNC ones all along.
What’s forgotten here is that, there is no going back.
Friedman wants to go back to September 10, 2001. He calls it “… getting our groove back.” I call it being stupid.
Unfortunately, stupidity is spreading at an exponential rate.
In the 9-10 world, we allowed attack after attack to occur. I have to find the old AT/FP CDs (I had the ‘joy’ of being the Level 2 AT/FP guy on 9-11) which listed all the attacks and trends through the Clinton years. Most of these never even made the news.
This censorship of a growing danger to the USA was criminal. It also allows the “truthers” and other morons, some in their ignorance, to think 9-11 was some grand conspiracy by a President 6 months into power (but had no cabinet, a hostile congress, and a vandalized White House to deal with).
The TRUTH is we were attacked again and again in the 90s and Clinton did NOTHING aside from lobbing very expensive cruise missiles at empty camps and some other mis-adventures (like GEN Clark almost starting a war with Russia, running away from Somalia, ignoring Rwanda, allowing China to have access to Loral’s technology for campaign donations, etc).