The 9/11 Hearings Jump the Shark

The American Spectator ^ | May 20, 2004 | Paul Beston

[quidnunc]

New York – The 9/11 Commission hearings reached a terminal level of absurdity in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday. Commissioners spent their time attacking the officials responsible for preventing a much greater loss of life, thereby giving the venerable Western tradition of self-criticism another black eye. Meanwhile, spectators and survivors continued to play the card of victimhood, interrupting testimony and carrying on with all the dignity of antiwar protesters at a rally in Union Square.

In television, they call such wretched excess jumping the shark, meaning the point of silliness beyond which a program is no longer viable. The term comes from an episode of Happy Days when Fonzie, wearing his ubiquitous leather jacket, jumped over a shark on water skis. Unfortunately, while the 9/11 Commission is about as substantive as a sitcom, it is not nearly as funny.

A measure of how far we've come from the unity and resolve that resulted from the 9/11 attacks was the venom some audience members directed at former New York City mayor Rudy Guiliani. Here was a local official in charge of no intelligence organizations and with no military at his command. That he and his police and fire commissioners have become targets is proof that the purpose of these hearings is both to fix blame and to provide another venue for the victims' families grief and rage.

-snip-

[FairOpinion]

Major conclusion of the 9-11 Commission will be:

"It's NOT the terrorists's fault. They just can't help themselves. It's our fault for not being able to discover and prevent the attack, and for not being able to resurrect the dead victims of the attack.

It's really all Bush's fault. Vote for Kerry and he will create a wonderful Utopia, and the terrorists will not ever attack us again. They will join hands with us and sing Kumbaya."

[dandelion]

The Democrats jumped the shark a LOOOONG time ago - I'm hoping to see a write-up on them soon, with votes for when the jump occurred.

I vote for the "I Did Not Have Sex With That Woman" episode, starring Bill Clinton...

[Diddle E. Squat]

Excellent headline bump

[ride the whirlwind]

Unfortunately, while the 9/11 Commission is about as substantive as a sitcom, it is not nearly as funny.

I'm a little surprised that America's mayor,Guiliani, became a brunt of these people's grief and anger.

[ladyinred]

This is America, we are the government, yet the people who are supposed to be our servants are so clearly out of control and we can't do a darn thing about it. Notice how we have lost the ability to have a real say in how our tax dollars are spent?

This commission is not working to find out what went wrong, instead it is a hit team sent by the left to destroy the administration, and anyone else they see as having an agenda other than their own communist leaning one. They are a disgrace, and they with the help of the media and a few well placed "family members" of the dead are putting the troops and all of us in more danger with their lies, innuendos and outright treasonous comments. I feel helpless to stop them, which goes back to the beginning of this too long post. We have lost control.

[nyslimes]

This entire fiasco makes me sick. Where was the outrage from Mr. Bob Kerrey, or any one of these buffoons during the 90's. This commission is tearing a whole in our society and its partisan nature is getting on my nerves. Maybe these folks should listen more than they preach, then perhaps they might understand this could not have been prevented.

The NYFD and NYPD (and many others), must be commended for their performance that day. Rudy Guiliani kept that city together, and showed leadership unlike any I've seen in my lifetime. We should be honoring these people.

This commission is a disgrace...

[Clock King]

I'm a little surprised that America's mayor,Guiliani, became a brunt of these people's grief and anger.

People are stupid! period! I wish I could have been there to shout back at them. I'm sorry, but they no longer get ANY sympathy from me for the loss of loved ones. If they feel hurt, too bad. Time to grow up.

[Let's Roll]

"I'm a little surprised that America's mayor,Guiliani, became a brunt of these people's grief and anger."

That's how out of control they have become - a joke (Michael Moore comes to mind), irrelevant, dangerous.

We are witnessing the death throes of a political party - keep the pressure on - we will need to be sure it's dead and not just hibernating.

[Qwinn]

I disagree with your specific choice of the moment, although I do think you have the general timeline, and even event, pegged.

The exact moment where the silliness grew too much to bear was not, as you cite, simply when a Democrat told a lie. If so, hell, we'd have to go back centuries.

No, the moment of terminal silliness came to fruition upon the utterance of the words on national television that "It all depends on what your definition of 'is' is."

Qwinn

[Thoro]

To say that the hearings just now jumped the shark would be to imply that they were of some value beforehand.

[ride the whirlwind]

We are witnessing the death throes of a political party

It's death and that of this asinine commission can't happen fast enough for me. But then something will come along to take their place.

[RedsHunter]

Any similarity between the Jersey Girls and Madame Defarge is purely intentional.

[McGavin999]

This is America, we are the government, yet the people who are supposed to be our servants are so clearly out of control and we can't do a darn thing about it.

Maybe after President Bush brings democracy to the Iraqis he can try to do the same here. I agree, this has gotten out of hand. No matter how much outrage is expressed, these guys just go on and collect their paychecks.

[SkyPilot]

I have also really had it with these families in the gallery that applaud everytime some Democrat makes an insulting and over-the-top statement of rage.

Most families of the victims of 9-11 don't behave this way, but the jerks doing this insult all of them, and all of us.

They clap like giddy schoolgirls, hoot, taunt, and stomp their little feet at every spew of the Democrats towards better men and women than themselves.

[nopardons]

The people NEVER had a say in how their tax dollars were spent.So just how,pray tell, have "we lost the the ability to have a real say in how our tax dollars are spent?

Servants of the people? Sounds good,sounds somehow "right". Yep,but that also never was real either.

This kangaroo court was a joke from the start and went rapidly downhill from the opening gavel.

[Starve The Beast]

The 9/11 Commission swings into action...

[dfwgator]

Everything the Rats do is all about one thing...getting their power back. Nothing more, nothing less, country be damned.

[nopardons]

Ahhhhhhhhh...you've found the lastest picture of Gorelick,Kerrey,and Kean,I see.

[Trailerpark Badass]

I vote for the "I Did Not Have Sex With That Woman" episode, starring Bill Clinton...

I vote for Billy Jeff's keynote speech at the '88 Rob Lowe convention.