Paying the Consequences of 9/11 Overreach, by Chuck Hagel

[jefferson_dem]

Paying the Consequences of 9/11 Overreach
Chuck Hagel | September 11, 2011



Every American who is at least 20 years old remembers where he or she was on that sunny September morning 10 years ago.

Sept. 11, 2001, was one of the most transformative events in the history of America. And its consequences rippled across the globe.

This historic attack on the United States set in motion unprecedented governmental and societal actions not seen since the laws and regulations enacted during the Great Depression and World War II. They changed America forever.

I was attending a breakfast on the Senate side of the Capitol that morning. I recall every detail of that day.

To borrow words from Winston Churchill, 9/11 was a "jarring gong" that knocked America off balance and off course. What and who were we up against? Who committed this cowardly brutal act and why?

And is America safer today than it was on Sept. 11, 2001? In many ways, yes -- but in many ways, no.

<SNIP>

http://www.acus.org/new_atlanticist/paying-consequences-911-overreach?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+new_atlanticist+%28New+Atlanticist%29

[ellenrr]

1. I may be weird, but my life was not changed by 911, except in as much as my life

is changed by all events.

Historically, yes, it is an important event: 1st foreign attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor. It let us know this country is not immune to attack.
It impacted 3000 + families in a few minutes, an unprecedented event in US, altho not in the world.
It gave already-racist americans a focus for their hate. It gave the right-wing forces the excuse to turn us more quickly into a fascist society.
It made life for most Muslims extremely difficult and dangerous and sometimes deadly.

I understand this, I understand it is an important event, but for me not so much more significant than other less dramatic events.
So - is it the drama or the importance we are commemorating?

My life is changed every time they cut back on food stamps and medicaid, not only personally, but because these changes convey I am living in an increasingly callous cold and cruel world.

My life was changed by Attica and the MOVE massacre. Not that before these events, I loved my government! But because it is one thing to know that one's own state/government is capable of any evil, and it is another to see the evil actually carried out.

My life is changed by living in a more racist, more hateful, more oppressive society than before 911.
But surely no one would suggest that prior to 911 we were not going in the direction of a more fascistic society. (in some aspects. In some aspects we are liberalizing - gay issues for ex).
911 accelerated the movement, it did not bring about a qualitative change.

So on this day, I am going to ignore the media circus as much as possible. Which is kinda like ignoring the SuperBowl. There is no way it is not going to penetrate my consciousness.
But today I'm going to think about the imprisoned:
--the political prisoners - esp. those in solitary confinement, the environnmentalists, the animal rights activists, Tim Christopher.
the brave Georgia strikers who are preparing to strike again.
my friend Ram Rattan, a Sikh and a healer, sentenced to 25 years in a Texas hell-hole.
the mostly black and latina people languishing under 30 year sentences.
the old who will die in prison
the mentally ill in prison.

Today I will save my sorrow for the people in prison and the indigent used as guinea pigs by the medical profession.

For the babies and adults burned alive in Philadelphia by the government. Their crime? Loving the earth.

And I'll end today on a happier note. by thinking about the Chilean students who staged a kiss-in as part of protest for education reform.
about the Egyptians who yesterday stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo.
about my friends who did not let a drenching downpour stop them from completing a weekly vigil.
about People's Organization for Progress daily campaign for jobs and justice in Newark.

And I'll sleep better knowing on 9/11/11 - as on every day - that the world is a better place because every day, at home and abroad, comrades put our shoulders against the death machine.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. Hagel who voted for Bush Cheney twice and now writes a

passive voice narrative in which those two and their Party play no role. 'America over reached' is like saying 'my car drove itself to the casino'. Typical bipartisan bs.

[mmonk]

4. He later regretted putting his trust in Bush/Cheney.

He said unequivocally that they lied. That's more than a lot of politicians from both sides will say.

[Inuca]

6. In the past, he has called them

"the worst administration ever" or something to that effect. He acknowledged that he was wrong in his vote for the Iraq war and his early support for Bush (though in 2000 he supported McCain, not in 2008 though).

[mmonk]

3. I bought Chuck's book, "America: Our Next Chapter: Tough Questions, Straight Answers "

when it came out. It was an interesting read from one of the few sane Republicans left. He was overly optimistic though that America could return to what it was.

[pipoman]

5. I can't stand RINOs or DINOs

they are all untrustworthy and should be shunned by both parties. If they have overwhelmingly divergent views from their party, they should be indies or switch parties.

[Inuca]

7. RINO is what the far right calls Hagel

You can "stand" better the TeaPartiers? Hagel is (and was for quite some time) obviously disgusted with the way his party is going. But I guess he still thinks it should be "his" party, and the party of Eisenhower and such, and hopes that the extremist know-nothingness that has engulfed it is temporary. I hope he is right.

[pipoman]

9. If Hagel isn't a RINO, Joe isn't a DINO..

[Inuca]

10. ???? Joe? n/t

[pipoman]

11. ...

Oh, and this..

[Inuca]

12. Ah,,, OK :-) n/t

[JHB]

8. Well that was....conventional, in an unimpressive sense

"We" did not overreach. The Bush administration launched into a half-assed neoconservative joyride in Iraq. That wasn't an abstract "overreach", it was a pre-existing policy plan for which they exploited the fear and outrage over 9/11 to drum up the support to do it.

Are airplanes really any safer than before? How effective is the airport screening ordeal? How many plots has it stopped? Or is it mostly "security theater" to provide the illusion that "something is being done" (and to give contracts to well-connected security equipment manufacturers)?

Hagel frets about the massive increase in debt, but never mentions the Bush tax cuts, or the lack of a war surtax to pay for the operations. Here, though he worries about fiscal responsibility, public investment, and (ironically) balanced budgets.

Some of his smaller points are more on the mark, but it's in the typical bland fashion that doesn't overtly point to any solutions and doesn't ask for any sacrifice from those for whom it would be the least intrusive.