Posted on 09/10/2002 10:37:59 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
One year later, we see how Sept. 11 has changed us. We have gone from hope to fear. Millions of us will pray on Sept. 11, even as others will be planning for a new war--a pre-emptive war on Iraq that is driven not by a new attack on the United States but by our new sense of vulnerability.
Before 9/11, hope abounded. We invested more, consumed more, risked more because of that hope and the resulting prosperity. Since 9/11, fear spreads. Our budget priorities are driven by fear--record increases in military and intelligence spending, while children are left behind, schools face cutbacks, public clinics are shut.
With hope, we see through a wide lens at many possibilities. With fear, we see through a keyhole, our vision restricted. As Franklin Roosevelt warned at the time of the Great Depression, ''we have nothing to fear but fear itself.'' We cannot surrender to fear.
That is why in terrible moments, we turn to prayer. And it is why moments of crisis, of testing, require great leaders. We look to our leaders to lift us from our fears, to show us a way, to summon us to make the country better, to rebuild our hopes.
But one year after Sept. 11, we witness thus far what can only be seen as a historic failure of leadership. The administration gained global support for the attack on al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan. But then it walked away from allies and friends. It spurned international gatherings on racism and development. It seems content to leave Afghanistan to the feuding warlords. It has scorned any effort to demonstrate U.S. leadership in making the world better for the poor and the weak. And now as it girds for pre-emptive war against Iraq, this country is more isolated than ever before.
At home, the administration squandered the trust that the people still put in it. Its first post-9/11 measure was a $15 billion bailout for the airlines that did nothing for the 100,000 workers that the industry laid off. The administration resisted a serious investigation of intelligence agency failure. And now it is fighting to strip civil service and union protections from the new Homeland Security Agency, which would turn that agency into a cesspool of cronyism and corruption not seen since the civil service replaced the old Boss Tweed city machines.
To meet the economic recession, the administration pushed a stimulus plan that featured tax breaks for the largest corporations, including a bizarre retroactive tax break that would have given Enron $254 million even though it hadn't paid taxes in four of the last five years. It fought for those tax breaks while resisting help for unemployed workers, or for the front-line workers like police and public health officials facing cuts in the budget crisis faced by cities and states. The administration allowed the oil companies to write its energy plan, which would do nothing to reduce our dependence on Persian Gulf oil. And when facing criticism or questioning, the administration's response has too often been to shut the door. It has made unprecedented claims of executive secrecy.
Great quarterbacks do best when the game is on the line. Their confidence lifts the hopes of their teammates and inspires them to great feats. Historically, America has always been blessed with great quarterbacks in a time of trouble: Washington at the founding, Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt. Now America is tested once more. Once more we rally to our leader, hoping to summon forth a leader who can rally the nation and the world, lift us from our fears to see what is possible. And this week, as we mourn those lost on Sept. 11, we also must pray for our leaders to meet the challenge they thus far have failed.
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. is founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
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Each paragraph is so rich in bulls!!t, my fingers would get tired from typing.
This guy sure is a jerk.
We walked away from our friends?
JJ is a monday-morning QB, it's easy sit back and criticize....
Somebody needs to tell extortionmeister Jesse Jackass that ever since Sinkbubba handed out his last pardon on the way out the door, we have had a leader who makes us feel better and gives us reason to hope.
My priorities have not changed since 9/11. I still support killing every last @#*&%!@ who had a hand in the attack. On to Iraq!
Given their similar powerhouse intellects and their shared hatred of conservatives the similarity between the articles could be simple coincidence.
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