Remember 9/11

Everyone should remember September 11 when voting tomorrow. The Bush Campaign thinks that this would help Bush. It won't.

Remember the month before September 11, when Bush received a Memo saying that Al Quaeda was determined to launch an attack in the United States, and then he promptly went on vacation.

Remember September 11 itself, when Bush went right ahead with his photo-op and then disappeared into a bunker in Kansas while the rest of us had no idea how many more planes were out there and how many more attacks were yet to come.

And most of all, remember September 12, when all Americans were united in a resolve to defend our country, when everyone, Democrat and Republican alike, was willing to rally behind Bush for the good of America, and when all of the countries of the world declared solidarity with America in the battle against terrorism.

I heard Al Franken speak the other day, and he said that Bush "blew it" by squandering the opportunity with which he was presented as a result of the unprecdented level of national and international unity in the wake of 9/11. To be sure, Bush did "blow it." But what he did was far worse than that, far more insidious. Bush twisted the feelings of justifiable outrage that all Americans felt after September 11; he manipulated those feelings for ulterior motives; and then he exploited the outpouring of patriotism that rightly flowed from the horrors of 9/11 and used it to lead our country into an unnecessary and ill-conceived war in Iraq. Remember that when voting tomorrow.

I recently had occasion to Google "9/11." When you do that, you come up with page after page of websites advertising all sorts of 9/11 chatchkes. You can buy 9/11 pins, 9/11 posters, 9/11 hats, 9/11 t-shirts, 9/11 tablecloths, 9/11 shoes -- the merchandising is endless. Apparently, virtually any worthless piece of junk can be transformed into a money-maker just by slapping a 9/11 label on it.

My first reaction when seeing this was to express horror that people could exploit the memory of 9/11 for profit in this way. But really, is it any different from what Bush has done? Bush took an unmarketable war against Iraq -- a war that Cheney, Wolfowitz, et al., had been itching to launch from the day Bush took office -- stuck a 9/11 label on it and, bingo, you've suddenly got a saleable war that will make you the great hero of the fight against terrorism.

Why are we really fighting this war in Iraq? It's not because of weapons of mass destruction because there weren't any. It's not because because of ties between Iraq and Al Quaeda because there weren't any. And if you believe it's because Bush and Cheney just want to bring the wonders of democracy to the Iraqi people, then all I can say is have a good night and say hello to the tooth fairy for me.

There may be all kinds of fancy strategic jargon that can get thrown out there about the reasons why Bush launched this war but let's get serious. Let's admit the fact that there is only one reason why Bush launched this war, the same reason why Jed Clampett got to move into a mansion in Beverly Hills: Texas Tea, Black Gold -- Oil, my friends.

So please do remember 9/11 when you vote tomorrow. Remember that Osama Bin Laden is still out there, making videos with constantly-improving production values and looking as though he's spent a month in George Hamilton's tanning salon. Remember that he's still alive while over 1,100 American soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice in Bush's war for oil. Remember that the real war on terror is being ignored. Remember that George Bush exploited our anger, our fear, and our love of country, so that Halliburton could make a few more bucks.