``...I spoke with people, arguably the left majority, who fell somewhere in between, in that sea of uncertainty that is the post-9/11 condition. They weren't ecstatic about the war in Afghanistan, but they couldn't bring themselves to oppose it either. The question that has vexed them is where to draw the line between self-defense and imperial aggrandizement...'' Adam Shatz, The Nation, The Left and 9/11
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I am afraid that I don't share Adam Shatz moral ambivalence. Bottom line, 9/11 anniversary kiss my ass. Pardon me while I vent and write an even more alternate view...
I hate America first because.... it is run by and for rightwing religious fanatics and thorough going capitalist pig bastards---thieving, lying, violent, hate filled motherfuckers one and all. There is virtually nothing these jack-offs in power could do I would approve of. I didn't vote for them and neither did the majority of voters; they were forced down our throats in a blatant election fraud and the worst court decision since Dred Scott; I've spent most of my adult life fighting everything they stand for; and they get no credit from me for whatever accidental good they might have caused. And if by some fortune of nature, they were all swept off the planet, never to return, I would be the very first on my block to run out into the street cheering wildly. In fact, I would consider it my patriotic duty to do so.
To say that Afghanistan is better off after months of US bombing and occupation, is like saying Hitler did some good things too, like building the Autoban and the VW. Well, probably okay as far as that goes. So fucking what.
The US government did not support the victims of the 9/11 attacks. It did not put out money, programs, and concrete support for the people effected. Instead our war lord dick head, Senior Winky, we are supposed to call President, and those simpering twat mouths in Congress immediately picked Afghanistan for raw, unadorned chicken shit vengeance, precisely because Afghanistan was helpless to resist. Get slapped, shoot the dog and if the dog had cancer, so much the better---some real deep foreign policy stuff there....
Meanwhile, back home our great worships of the Imperium equivocated, pissed around, passed some bogus legislation to limit corporate liability, organized a charity concert (thanks assholes), channeled mass support to the Red Cross (we all know how well that worked) and was generally mean, stingey, and brutish. If you racked up thousands in unpaid medical bills because you were caught in those attacks, my guess is, well that was just you're tough luck. If you lost a family member, you were probably lucky if they were cremated instantly for free. Otherwise you would be out of pocket for that luxury too. Pray they don't find a finger and then bill you for the DNA identification. That's the thanks you'll get for taking a hit for the Empire.
Meanwhile the rest of us are taking the hit in bullshit security measures, abandonment of the Bills of Rights, endless saturation of chauvinistic fascism that is supposed to pass as patriotism, wall to wall rightwing propaganda as news, and virtually total world condemnation. It is so nice to be counted among the most hated people on earth.
Oh, and needless to say we are now treated to unlimited war rattling against Iraq for the sole purpose of completely obfuscating the November elections and their literally corrupt, bankrupt, and fraudulent domestic agendas.
Chuck Grimes