Ye Olde Rad Blog

Last night I watched the Now with Bill Moyers PBS special titled: 9/11: For the Record. This is by far the *best* and most concise presentation (distillation) I've seen of the events that occurred on, and leading up to, 9/11.

The hour-long special incorporated many of the findings from interviews conducted by the 9/11 commission. The computer-generated 3-D graphics were outstanding. The whole thing was very professionally done.

••• continued •••

Regarding our government (the people to whom we pay humongous sums of money to protect us), the theme that stuck in my mind as I shook my head watching this special was: this whole 9/11 thing reeks of ineptitude, if not downright incompetence.

There's a whole bunch of politicians and administrators who simply didn't do the job we pay them to do. But then they made things worse by making pathetic excuses. I've seen 4-year-olds take more responsibility for their actions.

What is it about politicians and their need to make excuses? Have they no professional pride? They're only human. Humans make mistakes. I don't know why they have such a hard time admitting even the smallest or most obvious of errors.

Is this a "lawyer thing"? .. to never admit a mistake? No matter how obvious or egregious. That's what my insurance agent advised me to do if I ever got in an accident: "Deny culpability to the bitter end." Aren't all those politicians really just lawyers in disguise? [Except for Arnold & Reagan, of course.]

Arabs hijacked our commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers, killing 3,000 innocent American civilians, including women & children. That, by definition, means you screwed up .. worse than any administration before you. I contend that, anytime innocent civilians in this country are forced to decided between jumping to their certain death and burning alive, because of some terrorist activity, *that* is a pretty good indication that our government isn't doing its job. If ya can't handle the job, let us know and we'll find someone who can. But please, save the excuses.

I'm considering running for office next year, because I meet the qualifications: I can make excuses with the best of 'em. Watch me work, folks:

• I didn't know.
• I wasn't there.
• Nobody told me.
• We inherited this problem from the previous administration.
• How was I supposed to know?
• I can't recall.
• It's a right/left wing conspiracy designed to make me look bad.
• The media is against me.

What ever happened to personal accountability? Maybe that's just for enlisted folks? If not, why do politicians so universally reject it? What happens to them when they get elected?

Personally, if I were responsible for our nation's security, I would be embarrassed to sit before a congressional sub-committee and make a bunch of excuses about why I screwed up. I don't know how these people can look themselves in the mirror, or sleep at night.

If it were anyone but the government, such as a private company, in charge of responsibility for the nation's security on 9/11, they'd all be in jail for criminal negligence. It's sad. We deserve better.

I still think GWBush went after Saddam instead of Osama (the *real* bad guy) because Saddam tried to have his daddy (GHWB) assasinated. I mean, nothing else makes sense. And that's a noble pursuit, except the taxpayers should have to fund his invasion-of-revenge. Let this be a lesson to any other dictators who try to assasinate a US president: the next administration will invade and occupy your country.