A few weeks ago, something terrible happened to our country. It didn't happen here, and maybe that's why there aren't as many outraged people as there should be. On September 11, 2012, a group of people stormed the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. They are killed our ambassador, Chris Stevens, and 3 others. They paraded his body through the streets and took pictures. Some people have alleged he was raped.
The day after the attacks, White House Spokesman, Jay Carney, told reporters it was a spontaneous attack, related to a 14 minute movie clip on youtube. It was not organized. It had nothing to do with our current middle east policy. (Please forget if you somehow managed to see the videos of Egyptians, who stormed our embassy there, shouting "Obama, Obama we are all Osama". Move along.)
5 days after the attack, US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, appeared on all 5 major Sunday news shows to reiterate this fact. Totally spontaneous, no planning, yes, Libyans bring RPGs and heavy machine guns to a protest all the time! (Please forget that you might have heard the Libyan President say this was an organized attack, most likely perpetrated by Al Qiada. Move along.)
The media spent days on Mitt Romney's statement, and mere minutes, if that, on the head scratching going on by the US Citizenry. The attack occurred on 9/11. If the White House truly believed it was spontaneous, there must be proof, because any normal person would question the timing. (Especially considering that youtube video had been in place for months...)
Even when little pieces of information, like our Al-Q buddies being angry about the latest drone strike, came out, the White House stuck to their story. And then one day, they didn't. Without explanation, it became a terrorist attack.
Thank you Kirsten Powers, of the Daily Beast, for being willing to say what no major media people are saying. This administration is either incompetent or lying. Either they rushed to judgment, for whatever reason, and were dead wrong, or they knew, and they didn't want us to know.
They got quite tetchy when CNN did something CNN is not known for doing. CNN made them look like idiots or liars. They published a portion of Chris Stevens diary, where he says he thinks he's on Al Qiada's hit list. Something he probably expressed to people higher up. Something they did nothing about. There was weeping and wailing over how wrong it was, but the damage was done. The Ambassador was worried, and according to reports, he wasn't even afforded the basic security necessary to protect him. The safe house was known (by a bunch of spontaneous protestors!).
And the media.... mostly still focused on Mitt Romney.
So, here are a few questions they should be asking our Leader.
1) When did the intelligence community know this was a planned terrorist attack? When did they tell you? Is anyone getting fired for allowing your administration representatives to go on national TV and make a statement that was nowhere near the truth?
2) How did reporters from CNN manage to access personal information within the Benghazi Consulate? Considering a crime was committed there, isn't there any security making sure the crime scene isn't destroyed?
3) Is there any truth to the information that within 24 hours of the attack at least someone in the government was aware, not only that it was a terrorist attack, but that the address of one of the attackers was known?
4) Why is the FBI still 400 miles away from the investigation they are supposed to be doing?
5) Why was Ambassador Stevens not afforded the basic protection necessary to protect his life?
I could keep going. None of these questions are even being asked.
For the second time since September 11th, 2001, a terrorist or group of terrorists have attacked us again, and it's not headline news. It's not even second page news. I can blame the White House for totally screwing up, but if the American people are unaware of how bad it was screwed up, there's only one place to lay the blame. The news media. They simply aren't doing their jobs. Time to replace them. It's time for a new set of real journalist, if there are any left.
One more thing. Do you remember when the 2,000th Soldier killed in Iraq was front page news? Can you tell me when the 2,000th Soldier was killed in Afghanistan, without looking it up? I rest my case.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
Dear Mr. President:
Why do I feel like I was just treated to a rerun of 2008? Why do I feel like I've heard this all before? Why do I feel like I just heard 38 minutes of empty promises? Dear Mr. President, why do I have such a problem with you?
I'm no policy wonk, but I do pay attention.
You did say "you didn't build that", and if you were referring to roads and bridges, I ask, where exactly did government get the money to pay for those things? I think it might have been from the same people you accused of not building that....
You did say, "The private sector is doing fine". You did say that it was the public sector...state and local government workers were the issue. The thing is Mr. President, public sector employment is the same as it was 6 years ago. Private sector employment is negative 3 million jobs.
You told reporters that the reason you couldn't forge relationships with the other party is because you wanted to spend time with your family. Mr. President, I understand that. Right now, we live week to week, because I'm staying home to spend more time with my kids. But Mr President, you wanted this job, and part of this job is finding a way to work with the other side. Part of it is reaching out to the other side. After having played 104 games of golf, am I really to believe you couldn't make time one night a week to reach out to the other side and make them feel like they had a voice at your table?
Mr. President, I come from a world where not every student went to an ivy league university. Entrance was difficult, tuition was high, and you either got scholarships or didn't go if you couldn't afford it. I'm sure everyone would like an ivy league education, but that just isn't going to happen. State schools are good, and tuition is generally cheaper if you reside in the school's home state. How about, instead of encouraging students to go into debt by hundreds of thousands of dollars, we encourage them to shop for a college that won't put that burden on them. Obviously, not every family can even afford a state school. So we have Pell Grants and other forms of aid, both pubic and private. But as long as the government continues to throw money for schools out there, schools won't lower their rates. They'll lower them when students start shopping around to get the most bang for their buck.
Mr, President, you keep saying you saved GM, but I'm reading in a lot of places GM could be filing bankruptcy again soon. This while we, the taxpayer, own stock that's only worth 10 million of the 50 million we are owed. They just shut down production of the Chevy Volt due to non-interest. In that deal you made, stockholders and debtholders got screwed, and the auto workers union kept their pensions and salaries, and now they even got exemptions from Obamacare. Mr. President, if GM has to file bankruptcy again, did you really save it, or just delay the inevitable while making sure your campaign contributors were taken care of?
Mr. President, I'm glad Osama Bin Laden is dead. I wish we hadn't been so kind and given him some Muslim burial. A whole lot of people in the World Trade Center didn't get traditional burials. But I'm glad he's dead. However, it would be nice if you admitted that his capture was at least in some part due to your continuation of the policies of former President Bush. Policies you promised to end, but didn't. It's okay. I'm sure national security looked a lot different when it became your responsibility. I'm glad you didn't keep all those promises. But all the same, don't you owe credit to the people who came up with this whole plan?
Mr.President, why do you insist on telling our enemies when we will no longer continue fighting them, so they can just sit back and wait for us to leave? Why is your administration leaking national security secrets to the press and Hollywood filmmakers? Why did we outsource our base security in Afghanistan to Afghanis who are killing our soldiers? Why did we insist on taking the ammunition away from our soldiers while letting the Afghanis keep theirs? Why do we seem okay with so many of our men and women dying at the hands of our supposed allies?
I understand why you view this country so differently than I do. I was raised in a family that was just so darn proud to be Americans. I was raised by parents who didn't have college degrees, but worked hard to do better than they really had any right to. I understand that you have a connection with the father you barely knew, and how his world views shaped yours. But Mr. President, America is not the French, or the British Empire. We promote freedom, but we also encourage countries to form their own governments and build their own freedom. This is not Kenya, we were once ruled by colonials, and all America ever does is pay, both in money and blood, to help the rest of the world. This country and it's rich history and amazing formula made you President, and Sir, you should want to continue that tradition.
But you don't. No matter what you say, your policies reflect someone who wishes to downgrade our country further, and I'm sorry Sir, but it's time for us to move on. It's time for America to elect someone more like John F. Kennedy, who knew our rights came not from the generosity of government but the hand of God. Who asked what we could do for our country, not what the country could do for us. It's time for someone who recognizes that America IS exceptional. We are a city on a hill. We are the last best hope.
It's time for someone other than you.
I'm no policy wonk, but I do pay attention.
You did say "you didn't build that", and if you were referring to roads and bridges, I ask, where exactly did government get the money to pay for those things? I think it might have been from the same people you accused of not building that....
You did say, "The private sector is doing fine". You did say that it was the public sector...state and local government workers were the issue. The thing is Mr. President, public sector employment is the same as it was 6 years ago. Private sector employment is negative 3 million jobs.
You told reporters that the reason you couldn't forge relationships with the other party is because you wanted to spend time with your family. Mr. President, I understand that. Right now, we live week to week, because I'm staying home to spend more time with my kids. But Mr President, you wanted this job, and part of this job is finding a way to work with the other side. Part of it is reaching out to the other side. After having played 104 games of golf, am I really to believe you couldn't make time one night a week to reach out to the other side and make them feel like they had a voice at your table?
Mr. President, I come from a world where not every student went to an ivy league university. Entrance was difficult, tuition was high, and you either got scholarships or didn't go if you couldn't afford it. I'm sure everyone would like an ivy league education, but that just isn't going to happen. State schools are good, and tuition is generally cheaper if you reside in the school's home state. How about, instead of encouraging students to go into debt by hundreds of thousands of dollars, we encourage them to shop for a college that won't put that burden on them. Obviously, not every family can even afford a state school. So we have Pell Grants and other forms of aid, both pubic and private. But as long as the government continues to throw money for schools out there, schools won't lower their rates. They'll lower them when students start shopping around to get the most bang for their buck.
Mr, President, you keep saying you saved GM, but I'm reading in a lot of places GM could be filing bankruptcy again soon. This while we, the taxpayer, own stock that's only worth 10 million of the 50 million we are owed. They just shut down production of the Chevy Volt due to non-interest. In that deal you made, stockholders and debtholders got screwed, and the auto workers union kept their pensions and salaries, and now they even got exemptions from Obamacare. Mr. President, if GM has to file bankruptcy again, did you really save it, or just delay the inevitable while making sure your campaign contributors were taken care of?
Mr. President, I'm glad Osama Bin Laden is dead. I wish we hadn't been so kind and given him some Muslim burial. A whole lot of people in the World Trade Center didn't get traditional burials. But I'm glad he's dead. However, it would be nice if you admitted that his capture was at least in some part due to your continuation of the policies of former President Bush. Policies you promised to end, but didn't. It's okay. I'm sure national security looked a lot different when it became your responsibility. I'm glad you didn't keep all those promises. But all the same, don't you owe credit to the people who came up with this whole plan?
Mr.President, why do you insist on telling our enemies when we will no longer continue fighting them, so they can just sit back and wait for us to leave? Why is your administration leaking national security secrets to the press and Hollywood filmmakers? Why did we outsource our base security in Afghanistan to Afghanis who are killing our soldiers? Why did we insist on taking the ammunition away from our soldiers while letting the Afghanis keep theirs? Why do we seem okay with so many of our men and women dying at the hands of our supposed allies?
I understand why you view this country so differently than I do. I was raised in a family that was just so darn proud to be Americans. I was raised by parents who didn't have college degrees, but worked hard to do better than they really had any right to. I understand that you have a connection with the father you barely knew, and how his world views shaped yours. But Mr. President, America is not the French, or the British Empire. We promote freedom, but we also encourage countries to form their own governments and build their own freedom. This is not Kenya, we were once ruled by colonials, and all America ever does is pay, both in money and blood, to help the rest of the world. This country and it's rich history and amazing formula made you President, and Sir, you should want to continue that tradition.
But you don't. No matter what you say, your policies reflect someone who wishes to downgrade our country further, and I'm sorry Sir, but it's time for us to move on. It's time for America to elect someone more like John F. Kennedy, who knew our rights came not from the generosity of government but the hand of God. Who asked what we could do for our country, not what the country could do for us. It's time for someone who recognizes that America IS exceptional. We are a city on a hill. We are the last best hope.
It's time for someone other than you.
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