Wednesday, August 18, 2004
They Wouldn’t Do That Would They?
New York Democrats have made the outrageous claim that George W. Bush is exploiting 9/11 for political gain.
Being skeptical that the President would stoop to such a low level, I had to check this out for myself. So I began reviewing the President’s speeches from the campaign trail, searching the text of his recent speeches for instances where he mentions “September the 11th.” Here’s what I found:
A grand total of thirty-nine times over a four day period. I think you get the picture.
To think that our President would exploit the deaths of almost 3,000 innocent people for his own political gain is repulsive. It desecrates the memory of the victims and insults their families. And this doesn’t even take into account the commercials we’ve been seeing. (Which child do you pick up first on September 11th? WTF?) It also doesn’t include the number of times the Vice President, the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense have made reference to 9/11 for political gain. That count could reach into the hundreds over the same four day period.
Our administration wants us to remember that picture of the President standing on the rubble at Ground Zero with his arm around a firefighter. Why? Because he has nothing else to run on. They certainly don’t want us to remember that he has hardly mentioned Osama bin Laden’s name lately although on that September day back in 2001 he promised us all that those responsible would be brought to justice. They certainly don’t want us to remember the “Mission Accomplished” stunt aboard the aircraft carrier or that almost 800 more soldiers have been killed in Iraq since that point. They obviously don’t want us to remember that this will be the first administration since Hoover’s to preside over an economy that has a net loss of jobs. They don’t want us to remember anthrax, WMD claims, spy planes in China, North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, intelligence failures, an August 6th PDB, Valerie Plame, Abu Ghraib, and a myriad of other issues. But I remember. I remember them all.
No, they want you to remember the President in his one shining moment. They want to revel in the blood of thousands and hope we’ll all forget everything else.
I can’t forget. I won’t forget.
- Less than two weeks before the Republican National Convention convenes in Manhattan, a group of congressional Democrats from New York on Tuesday charged that the Bush administration exploits the 9/11 attacks for political gain.
"The Republicans chose to hold their convention here, I think most of us believe, to continue the political exploitation of 9/11, which this administration started almost immediately after 9/11," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, whose congressional district in Manhattan includes the site where the World Trade Center once stood.
"They want to wrap themselves in 9/11 and wrap themselves in the flag. But the fact of the matter is they don't have the right to do that."
Being skeptical that the President would stoop to such a low level, I had to check this out for myself. So I began reviewing the President’s speeches from the campaign trail, searching the text of his recent speeches for instances where he mentions “September the 11th.” Here’s what I found:
- August 14, 2004 - During speeches in Elko, Nevada, and Sioux City, Iowa, President Bush mentioned “September the 11th” eleven times.
August 16, 2004 - During speeches at a VFW Convention and at a rally in Travers City, Michigan, President Bush mentioned “September the 11th” a total of fifteen times.
August 17, 2004 - During rallies at Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, and Hedgesville, West Virginia, President Bush mentioned “September the 11th” a total of thirteen times.
A grand total of thirty-nine times over a four day period. I think you get the picture.
To think that our President would exploit the deaths of almost 3,000 innocent people for his own political gain is repulsive. It desecrates the memory of the victims and insults their families. And this doesn’t even take into account the commercials we’ve been seeing. (Which child do you pick up first on September 11th? WTF?) It also doesn’t include the number of times the Vice President, the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense have made reference to 9/11 for political gain. That count could reach into the hundreds over the same four day period.
Our administration wants us to remember that picture of the President standing on the rubble at Ground Zero with his arm around a firefighter. Why? Because he has nothing else to run on. They certainly don’t want us to remember that he has hardly mentioned Osama bin Laden’s name lately although on that September day back in 2001 he promised us all that those responsible would be brought to justice. They certainly don’t want us to remember the “Mission Accomplished” stunt aboard the aircraft carrier or that almost 800 more soldiers have been killed in Iraq since that point. They obviously don’t want us to remember that this will be the first administration since Hoover’s to preside over an economy that has a net loss of jobs. They don’t want us to remember anthrax, WMD claims, spy planes in China, North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, intelligence failures, an August 6th PDB, Valerie Plame, Abu Ghraib, and a myriad of other issues. But I remember. I remember them all.
No, they want you to remember the President in his one shining moment. They want to revel in the blood of thousands and hope we’ll all forget everything else.
I can’t forget. I won’t forget.
