I've been following the flap about the prez's mention of 9/11 for a while now. It's amusing. After the president's last speech, the main thing Democrats found to complain about was that he mentioned 9/11 in the course of talking about the events which brought us into this war in Iraq.
Why are Democrats doing this? Are they doing it to promote some higher goal, some noble, lofty purpose? As I don't know of a single position or solution these Democrats recommend or want implemented, certainly not.* So the carping can only then be for partisan politicial purpose.
[* The reason that Democrats today do not recommend solutions or ideas is that if they are at all reasonable, Bush has shown a history of being willing to implement them. But Democrats care more about making Bush look bad than in getting the very ideas they cherish implemented.]
And what is the content or main subject of their complaint? What is the main banner they are waving? The victims of 9/11. So please note: Nancy Pelosi et al are clearly doing exactly what they claim their opposition is doing: exploiting the victims of 9/11 for a political advantage. Thus, they stand condemned by their own judgements.
Next, ask why they seem to see red each time the president mentions 9/11: Is it because it has nothing to do with, and had no connection to our involvement in Iraq? It was one of the core arguments by which Congress justified the use of force against Iraq. Further, John Kerry himself made the link multiple times when condemning the president for not attacking Iraq sooner! (scroll down) And who is killing our troops there? Al Qaeda!
So it's impossible to think that 9/11 wasn't a crucial part of the chain of events which brought us into Iraq. Even Democratic leaders have admitted that. So, then, what's the core reason?
Democrats don't want Bush to mention 9/11 because they believe it hurts them. They are basicly admitting that they are opposed to the kind of lessons we learned from that event! And what they are saying is that it is more important to them that we forget 9/11, because they have chosen to oppose the lessons it taught, than that we remember what we're up against, and learn from it and stop it from happening again.
Because, for whatever reason, they have chosen to be against remembering it, against learning from our mistakes which allowed it to happen, and against taking the kind of actions which would prevent another such tragedy.
Why would they take such a bizarre and harmful stand?
Simply because the president has chosen to take the opposite one.
These people offer no vision. They have no ideas. They have no solution, no plan. They are totally uncreative. All they have is hatred, cynical fault-finding, and hypocrisy, saying one thing one day, and the opposite the next -- whichever way will give them, they think, political advantage.
What will such people do when let into power? Who knows. If they truly have no vision, their actions will be random, driven by each gust of ever-changing popular opinion, and make a complete mess of things. But there is a worse possiblity: they may actually have a vision, but one they cannot admit publicly, as they know it would be rejected. So they keep it hidden.
One possibility is merely awful, the other, terrifying.