i’m cribbing the idea from digby over at hullabaloo, but it’s important that people remember the real george w. bush on this tragic anniversary, not the one that rove and his crew are foisting on the general public with the help of an acquiescent media.
certainly anyone who lost a loved one on 9/11/2001 will be experiencing a unique and intensely personal type of mourning today. the rest of us, however, should be mourning something a bit more intangible—the loss of our country as we once knew it. in the days after 9/11, we had the world at our doorstep: anxious, eager and willing to help us through what everyone agreed was a horrific and barbaric event. but the neocons and their puppet president threw every ounce of good will away. every ounce. today we are the most despised nation in the world, in spite of all the good we continue to do, which is, in turn, in spite of the GOP leadership.
the compounded tragedy of 9/11 is that today, in 2006, we are a more fearful nation, a divided nation, a country teetering on the edge of financial ruin. our once-great republic has been rocked back on its heels from a series of crippling blows—not from al quaeda or other ‘islamofascists’, but from our own purported leaders. men more interested in lying, cheating and stealing than healing and rebuilding. these are dire times, make no mistake about it. but you won’t hear any words of hope from this cabal of selfish, malicious chickenhawk thugs. instead, you will be inundated with messages of fear, words and images of divisive vitriol aimed at anyone who dares voice dissent.
you have choices, however. you can choose not to live in fear. you can choose not to elect men and women that want to establish an imperial executive branch, a subservient (and consequently useless) legislative body, and a fundamentalist judiciary. you can change the status quo with your vote (unless you live in ohio or florida or southern california, of course). so do it.
anyone with a modicum of intelligence and an inquisitive nature can find the truth about the bush administration’s incompetence, immorality and utter disdain for true american values. it’s all out there in the public record, in spite of a mainstream media that would actually show bush congratulating matt lauer on his washboard abs without excoriating him for showing his true colors on a day like this.
vote democratic in november and let’s get rid of this asshole. our country depends on it.
UPDATE: lest i be misunderstood by the two people that may read this: ‘getting rid of bush’ means electing a democratic house to pursue impeachment. it doesn’t mean anything violent, and yes, i know bush isn’t running for anything. except perhaps worst president in history.