Andrew Sullivan: The damage Clinton did

The Sunday Times (U.K.) ^ | 09/30/2001 | Andrew Sullivan

[independentmind]

Anonymous Clinton officials also blame the former treasury secretary Robert Rubin for resisting measures to cut off Bin Laden's financing, and to use cyber warfare to crack down on terror money networks.

There's a lot more here than meets the eyes, I suspect. One of the reasons that we ignored the threat of militant Islam is that many foreign policy experts thought that it was critical that the former "stans" of the Soviet Union become autonomous. The stated reason behind this was to contain Russia, but it probably also had a lot to do with the desire to control the oil from the Caspian.

[independentmind]

If the United States does not hold Bill Clinton, along with any other public officials, responsible for their actions and negligence in exposing the U.S. public to this kind of attack, then ANY military response by the Bush administration will be both inconsequential and inadequate.

You are absolutely correct. I hope more people realize this once the shock wears off.

[Free State Four]

I, too, don't care if he "makes love to race horses,"

I don't care if he makes love to garden hoses. He's finally said what I have been waiting to hear! And the silence from the lamestream press has been incredible, but not surprising. Please, let this nation understand who is to blame. fsf

[okie01]

"...you can thank perot, and the media for the fruits of the last 8 years."

Plus, of course, the people who actually voted for the bastard.

[wita]

You my friend have hit the nail right on the head. The individuals particularly on this forum, who cannot see the forest for the trees, and think their is no blame to be layed at the feet of the American people, are blind. The appearance is, that the government from the top down, during the last couple of administrations focused on the threat posed by its own people, and spent its energy in efforts to reduce the threat to government by us, the citizens.

There was ample evidence, and sufficient hue and cry from many voices, that we were a target of not just one nation, or faction, but many, and for that we suffered more loss of freedom from our own government, than from any incursion by foreign power, and now that the horse is out of the barn, those who are most guilty, the divisive two houses of horrors called congress, are now suddenly all united in the cause and jumping on the bandwagon of patriotism. It makes me want to regurgitate, but in the interest of unity and patriotism, I will defer.

I know leadership when I see it, and we can certainly be grateful that George, not Albert, is at the helm. For that I guess we have the red zone to be grateful for. Thanks for listening. I could go on, but again, you have it exactly right.

[marcde]

Which is?

[WRhine]

In other words, the guy living next door to you is more of an "enemy" to you than Osama bin Laden is.

Let's not get carried away. Don't confuse ignorance with evil. You and Larry should take some Chill Pills.

[Fred25]

Here is a website for all US TV stations..

LINK

US and world newspapers....

LINK

Reuters....

LINK

Current AP photos....

LINK

Leftist commie news.....

LINK

World TV.....(some of these are difficult to use, but you can usually play around with them and find some news on the different links)

LINK

Pakistan TV....

LINK

Pakistan English News....

LINK

Iran TV English news..

LINK

[Brian Allen]

What part of:

"..... not recognizing the Enemy or, if he did, instantly going into denial about what and who the enemy is ....."

are you having difficulty with?

[Travis McGee]

bttt

[Alberta's Child]

In many ways, ignorance is worse than evil. I can see evil for what it is, recoil from it, or fight it. There isn't a damned thing in the world that I can do about ignorance.

An interesting parallel is the political landscape in the thirteen colonies once the Continental Army had defeated the British. These new "Americans" displayed an amazing lack of patience with many of their fellow countrymen, especially considering the principles upon which the country had been formed. Their attitude can be summed up as this:

"One out of every three men in this newly-formed nation was a British sympathizer, either directly or indirectly. We don't care about any of those principles in the Declaration of Independence, at least not yet. We don't care whether you Tories are evil, ignorant, or even noble in word and deed. We just don't think that life in this new country is going to be very pleasant as long as you guys are around. So get the f#ck out, and we will either burn your farms to the ground or give them to people who are more worthy of them."

And you know something? "Get the f#ck out" is exactly what most of those Tories did, either on their own or under duress. And nobody today has a harsh word to say about those Americans who drove them out.

Something to think about.

[Amelia]

as a nation, we have buried our collective heads in the sand in hopes that the bad guys will go away when our military rattles the saber. They can't, there are too many of them right here amongst US and they're not all foreigners

Too true. And unfortunately, our politicians on the whole have been more interested in amassing power than in the good of our Nation.

[DreamWeaver]

Through the dust clouds of September 11, and during the difficult task ahead, one person hovers over the wreckage - and that is Bill Clinton. His legacy gets darker with each passing day.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. This is only the beginning of the price we will be paying waaaaaaay into the future of putting this man in office. WE are now just starting to sow what he reaped. Sorry to say but I'm afraid there is a lot more to come.

[Miss Marple]

Andrew Sullivan has, as usual, written an excellent piece. Thanks for flagging me.

An interesting thing about this article: all quotes are taken from the liberal papers and magazines...the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The New Yorker.

None of the Clinton fans can claim they didn't see these articles.

[ladyinred]

" Civil liberties advocates complained about a threat to individual freedom. James Zogby, President of the Arab-American Institute, said the proposals were like the darkest days of the McCarthy era."

These same complaints are being heard now, after the attack.

[CubicleGuy]

The most plausible answer is that nobody has been fired because this attack was so novel and impossible to predict that nothing in America's security apparatus could have prevented it. The only problem with this argument is that it is patently untrue.

Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C. was shut down because they feared a truck bomb could be built that would take out the White House. They predicted plenty.

[CubicleGuy]

If we as a nation do not have the moral courage to try our own public officials for treason, have the guilty ones executed, then dig them up a week later and "execute" them again just to set an ezample, then we may as well turn on CNN, break out the popcorn, and wait for the next catastrophic assault.

[looking for popcorn popper]

What station is CNN on, again?

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Historians will eventually come to the conclusion that our country became more vulnerable since Clinton couldn't concentrate on self-defense because he catered to his sexual obsessions.......

[Doctor Stochastic]

"Personally, I don't care if Andrew Sullivan makes love to racehorses, he's still a heck of a good writer. "

Would offspring be able to win the Non-Breeder's Cup?