*** ORBUSMAX GUEST OP/ED ***
IRRATIONAL HATRED AND PHONY OUTRAGE - By Edward L. Daley
March 12, 2004
Once again the forces of extreme liberalism, moral ambiguity and
pacifism have banded together to create the illusion of indignation over
something that our president has done, and for obvious political
reasons. I'm talking about the recent "outrage" over George W. Bush
using images from 9/11 in two campaign advertisements released last week.
http://www.georgewbush.com/News/MultiMedia/VideoPlayer.aspx?ID=744&T=2
http://www.georgewbush.com/News/MultiMedia/VideoPlayer.aspx?ID=745&T=2
When I first started hearing family members of certain victims of those
horrific attacks saying that they were upset by the "unconscionable" use
of those images by the president, I was shocked. I've seen the ads in
question, and the few seconds of footage showing firefighters carrying
the body of a fallen comrade draped in an American flag out of the
wreckage of ground zero, and the shot of the flag waving in front of
that wreckage, seemed perfectly appropriate to me. After all, 9/11 is
one of the single most politically influential events of modern times,
shaping not only the way our leaders have dealt, and will deal with, the
various nations of the world, but the way we all live our very lives
here at home.
The atrocities of that day were broadcast on practically every
television network there is to most of the people on earth, and made the
front page of the majority of newspapers on every continent. Within the
first few hours of that attack, most Americans saw the images of the
twin towers falling over and over again, as the major news networks
played them on an endless loop in small windows beside their
commentators' faces. Each day that followed brought more footage shot
from nearly every angle possible of the disaster area, and countless
individuals were interviewed who witnessed the event first hand.
Ceremonies of all kinds were later performed in honor of the victims,
and songs, poems and tributes of every description were created
regarding it from the most diverse of perspectives.
Do I really need to articulate how profoundly affected the lives of all
Americans were by that day in our history? Is it now necessary that I
point out to anyone how many months went by before people stopped
talking about 9/11 on a daily basis? Is there anyone anywhere who cannot
appreciate what has transpired throughout the world because of the worst
terrorist attack of all time? I can't think of a single aspect of our
lives which has not, in some way, been effected by 9/11, yet now I'm
supposed to believe that the man who has dedicated himself to making
sure it doesn't happen again is wrong for mentioning it. Am I somehow
supposed to think that it's now inappropriate for the president of the
United States to discuss, during his reelection campaign, what he
intends to do in order to assure that such a catastrophe doesn't happen
again?
Apparently, or so a few left-wing activists contend. You see, the folks
who have been speaking out against President Bush's use of these images
are not simply the family members of 9/11 victims. No, they are also
supporters of a rabidly anti-war and anti-Bush organization called the
'September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
This should come as no surprise to anyone who, initially, was just as
bewildered and dismayed by the words of people like Colleen Kelly, the
leader of SEFPT, who came on national television on the day the
president's ads were released and said "'It makes me sick... Would you
go to someone's grave and use that as an instrument of politics?." Like
myself, many people just couldn't understand why anyone related to a
victim of the 9/11 attacks would react in so irrational a manner some
two and a half years after the fact, especially when George W. Bush is
the only president we've had who has ever taken substantial steps to
defeat the terrorist threat which caused the death of their loved ones
in the first place!
Kristen Breitweiser, who's husband died in one of the World Trade
towers, stated "It's offensive that he would have the audacity to use
9/11 in a political campaign", adding that "Three thousand people were
murdered on Bush's watch." Is this woman suggesting that our president
was responsible for the attacks? It sure seems that way to me. If that's
not the case then why bring it up? Does this woman blame former
President Franklin D. Roosevelt for Peal Harbor? Did she think it
unfitting of him to speak about that tragic event while running for
reelection? As I listened to the remarks of these women and several
others that same day, I felt certain that there had to be some ulterior
motive behind their sudden and seemingly well coordinated attacks
against Mr. Bush so soon after his ads were made public. Of course, now
I understand that there was such a motive, and that the well established
political opponents of the president were standing in the wings right
behind these purported grieving family members.
What's worse is that no one in the popular media even mentioned that the
people they were interviewing were members of a radical left-wing group
that has savaged the Bush administration for well over a year. They also
failed to mention that this group is funded with money donated by a
foundation run by John Kerry's wife! Was that not what they considered
to be pertinent information before they decided to fill the airwaves
with these incomprehensible snipes at our president?
And why do the members of SEFPT hate George W. Bush so much that they
would undertake such an obvious charade anyway? What is the rationale
behind their extremely hostile personas? If anyone is using this issue
for solely political reasons, it's these people and everyone like them
in the Democratic party who seem to have nothing better to talk about
than what they perceive is wrong with President Bush... that and the
fact that John Kerry fought in Vietnam. God forbid any of us should
forget that historic event!
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Edward L. Daley is the owner/operator of the news website The Daley Times-Post.