The way in which we've chosen to remember 9/11 has certainly changed in recent years. Following the attacks, Ground Zero became a symbol not just of vulnerability and loss but of defiance and rebirth. Seven years later, the Freedom Tower is no more than a stump, the rest of the site is a pit, the future of Towers Two, Three and Four is in doubt, and the entire project has turned into a 16-acre emblem of national incompetence and frustration.
In the fall of 2006, Foreign Policy magazine commemorated the anniversary of 9/11 with a cover story titled "The Day Nothing Much Changed." Elsewhere, the "War on Terror" was declared a misnomer, though nobody could ever quite agree on a better name.
A string of Supreme Court decisions overruled the administration's arguments that terrorists were a new kind of enemy to be dealt with through a new set of rules. The failure of al Qaeda to strike America a second time led to some speculation that 9/11 was just a spectacular one-off. The failure to win conclusive victories in Afghanistan and Iraq led to a sense of exhaustion with wars that increasingly seemed beyond our means to prosecute successfully.
People also began speaking of the attacks as a "tragedy," as if they were no different in kind from a catastrophic earthquake. This was largely a product of linguistic slovenliness. But as George Orwell once observed, "the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts."
Well, well, well. On the eve of the election, along comes the once great New York Times to tell us what most of us have already known and have been saying for years:
Senators John McCain and Barack Obama have said they would close the detention camp, but the review of the government’s public files underscores the challenges of fulfilling that promise. The next president will have to contend with sobering intelligence claims against many of the remaining detainees.
“It would be very difficult for a new president to come in and say, ‘I don’t believe what the C.I.A. is saying about these guys,’ ” said Daniel Marcus, a Democrat who was general counsel of the 9/11 Commission and held senior positions in the Carter and Clinton administrations.
No, they're not choir boys and we can't just let them go. How a President McCain or President Obama wil deal with them, whether by way of the military tribunal process or civil court system, after many, many months of heavy-handed political campaign rhetoric on the issue, will be of enormous importance to national, if not global, security.
A poll observer in Philadelphia called police after witnessing what appeared to be voter intimidation by two members of the Black Panthers.
The two Black Panthers stood in the doorway of the polling location where the observer attempted to enter. One Panther was brandishing a nightstick, Fox News reported.
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GOP Election Board members have been tossed out of polling stations in at least half a dozen polling stations in Philadelphia because of their party status...Those on site are describing the situation as "pandemonium" and there may be video coming of the chaos.
Some of the precincts where Republicans have been removed are: the 44th Ward, 12th and 13th divisions; 6th Ward, 12th division; 32nd Ward, Division 28.
The City of Brotherly Love was roiled in controversy during the 2004 election because of rigged voting machines that showed nearly 2,000 votes for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry before the polls had opened. A man also used a gun to intimidate poll workers at Ward 30, division 11 in 2004.
Asked if he is a supporter of telling radio stations what content they should have, Schumer used the fair and balanced line, claiming that critics of the Fairness Doctrine are being inconsistent.
“The very same people who don’t want the Fairness Doctrine want the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] to limit pornography on the air. I am for that… But you can’t say government hands off in one area to a commercial enterprise but you are allowed to intervene in another. That’s not consistent.”
Argentina Legalizes Plunder Buenos Aires as an example of "sharing the wealth." (Nov. 3) Argentina Legalizes Plunder Buenos Aires as an example of "sharing the wealth." (Nov. 3) Argentina Barack Obama Nest??r Kirchner Cristina Kirchner private pension
The latest tactic in this elite media campaign has been to declare the presidential race over in an effort to discourage some voters from going to the polls. After all, if Barack Obama has already won, why should supporters of John McCain even bother to vote?
But this election won’t be decided by Keith Olbermann, or CNN, or the New York Times.
It will be decided by you.
So annoy the mainstream media. Remember 2000. Remember how close it was. Remember how every single vote counted.
Obama and top fundraiser Tony Rezko, a business partner and close friend of Auchi
Birthplace, religion, black liberation theology, passport, Pakistan, school expenses and records, house deal, friends, mentors and clients.
These are among the questions that despite months of campaigning for the presidency, thousands of hours in front of reporters and cameras, and hundreds of members of a massive campaign staff, the public still doesn't have fully answered about Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
Charlie Gibson, Katie Couric and Keith Olbermann sit in attendance as Obama says 'Thanks!' to his Big Media Lapdogs...
"But you guys have been gracious and understanding," he said, following conservative criticism of the press for its coverage of Obama, as his plane prepared to depart after a huge rally in Virginia for Chicago.
"You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers."
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