You are very lucky that his security goons didn't get ahold of you.
I've read that they were extrememly nasty to anyone who didn't worship him.
They both just seem to exude an aura of pure, cold evil.
I may be over-reacting but that's just I what "feel" when I see them.
This episode happened a few years before the couple in Chicago felt the full wrath of this evil pair. If I had known about it, I would not have been calling them scum and evil and crooks etc., loud enough for a whole lot of people to hear. :-)
1. The Bush Administration was not portrayed as negligent as much as they were portrayed at novices and newbies. That is probably a fair assessment. (The casting of Cheney was horrible and was incredible distracting. That was the first truly crazy misstep in that department.) The entire organizational structure of the US was caught flat footed. We were completely and utterly helpless. But how could we not have been? The terrorists once again used innocents as human shields and exploited the weaknesses of freedom. Even John O'Neill, who is really the hero in this narrative, did not anticipate this and was more concerned that day about checking parking stickers. Above all else, we must know our own weaknesses intimately.
2. We've got to connect the dots. It's become a cliché, but the legal-mumbo-jumbo-ass-covering in Washington is an easy weakness to exploit. I'm not sure how can be done. There are an awful lot of people in Washington with hidden agendas. That makes change very time consuming and loaded with pitfalls...and it's amazing we've raised that grade to a D. Ironically, when we have reorganized the government and the military and the legal system to fully meet this new challenge...it will signal our victory, the war will be over and we will have to go through the same process to meet the next emerging threat. I guess that leaves me as grateful...and in it for the long haul.
3. They'll do something bigger as soon as possible. The terrorists really raised the bar with this one. In many ways, they need the next attack to be worldwide or nuclear to project power. They must at very least match, but most likely are attempting to exceed, these attacks. That makes my blood run cold and frankly, it's amazing the people at the top can sleep at night.
4. We are damn lucky. Actually, we were blessed. Despite how horrific that attack was, the fact that only 3000 died is simply miraculous and we owe the Almighty an enormous thank you, along with a lot of brave, committed people. This is a great day to remember that.
5. The biggest mistake we made was selling out people like Mossaud. This kind of war has to be fought making allies with our enemy's enemy. We can not take these people for granted and in addition and above all we have to remember that culturally honor is everything. Being dissed is worse than being dead. In this case, we didn't protect the assets we had. Morally, that is very difficult to live with.
6. Regarding the shaky camera. One of the things I found fascinating is how the shakiness and twisting got more and more frenetic as it went a long. As distracting and uncomfortable as it was, it was a great way to build suspense and give the viewer the "feeling" of being trapped in a world spinning wildly out of control. Creating suspense when you already know the outcome is exceptionally difficult. In this case, they did it with the camera rather than trying to build shallow interpersonal subplots, or vapid imagery. It was kind of nauseating, but very effective artistically.
7. It is docudrama, not history. As great as the story telling was, it still simplified the issues. It compressed time, which makes things appear easier and less complex. Therefore, while it summarizes our mistakes effectively, and illustrates the nature of our enemies, it can not be relied upon as a perfect reflection of history. There were too many things going on where the camera wasn't "looking." This is a world wide conflict, with many, many agendas and power struggles. I hate to use the insufferable and narcissistic Albright to illustrate my point, but it could be pretty bad if Pakistan thought India was shooting at it. Obviously in hindsight, that could have been solved easily and should have been. But these events didn't happen in a vacuum and at the time, we didn't have a handle on the priorities. It is an understandable, albeit wrong in retrospect, position.
Finally, on a personal note, I would have loved to hear what Mossaud would say about the current President. Does he understand? The funny part is, that President Reagan was hobbled by the same bureaucracy...but he projected power which influenced behavior. I think the current President does the same. In this war, perception is everything.
Ok, that's it. I'm going to dump my first night summary here just for reference. Please forgive me.
Night all!