Hello Pot, Meet Kettle

The last week or so has provided multiple examples of “the pot calling the kettle black”, probably the most prominent instance being former President Clinton coming unhinged on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. (You can view the actual interview here.) Mr. Clinton was invited onto the program for a fifteen minute interview; half devoted to Clinton’s new “Global Initiative” and half devoted to an open forum. As part of the open forum, Mr. Clinton was asked, on behalf of numerous viewers that emailed Fox their questions, why he didn’t do more while in office to get rid of Osama Bin Laden. I think most of us would agree that that’s a fair question. Slick Willie didn’t. He got extremely defensive and downright angry over the questions, leaning forward in his seat to poke at Chris Wallace’s notes, wagging his finger at Wallace and the viewers, and accusing Chris Wallace of “doing Fox’s bidding” and “doing a nice little conservative hit job” on him. In other words, he lost it. And, in the spirit of making up “facts” regarding what happened between him and Monica Lewinsky when he was supposed to be leading the nation, Clinton followed up with this diatribe: “But at least I tried” (to get Bin Laden). “That's the difference in me and some, including all of the right-wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying.” Apparently, Mr. Clinton actually believes that the right-wingers prevented him from going after Bin Laden while in office.

2003 saw the publication of a book written by Lt. Col. Robert “Buzz” Patterson, formerly of the United States Air Force. Lt. Col. Patterson served his country in multiple capacities, but this book, entitled Dereliction of Duty, focused on the time of his career that saw him serving alongside President Clinton. His role was to carry the suitcase known as the “nuclear football”, which contained the nation’s nuclear launch codes. It’s a great book that I highly recommend. It’s very informative, and an easy read (no pictures, though). Lt. Col. Patterson, in his role, had the opportunity to witness many things firsthand that others never will. One of the things he witnessed, and was directly involved in, was an opportunity to kill or capture Bin Laden that was handed to President Clinton on a silver platter. Despite multiple attempted phone calls from National Security Advisor Sandy Berger to President Clinton, letting him know that the NSC located Bin Laden and had a two-hour window to strike, President Clinton failed to act. I say “attempted” phone calls, as the calls were answered by Lt. Col. Patterson, who was with the President at the time. Each time Lt. Col. Patterson attempted to get the President to take the call, President Clinton refused, rather rudely, as a matter of fact. You see, the President was busy watching a golf tournament and socializing with others said tournament, and would not take the call until it was too late. We missed the attack window, and Bin Laden escaped. I wonder how many innocent Americans would have died on 9/11 had golf not gotten in the way of the opportunity of a lifetime. Really, what’s worse? Not being able to find Bin Laden now, or having him in your sights and letting him “play through”?

I believe it was Rush Limbaugh that pointed out this week that at least President Clinton kept us safe from another group that threatened the very existence of our country.....the Branch Davidians. You think Bin Laden deserved even HALF the attention that the Clinton administration gave to this group at Waco?

Let Us Never Forget

Today is a day of remembrance. To most, the events of five years ago marked the beginning of America's War against Islamic Fundamentalism. The unfortunate thing is that it took an event like 9/11 to get America's attention, and to make most of us understand who our enemy really is, and what they are really willing to do in order to force their way of life on the world. The Islamo-Fascists hate America, our way of life, and the freedoms that we are blessed with. They want to kill us.



That being said, today should not be a day of politicizing the situation our world is in. It should not be about whether the Republicans or Democrats are right.....whether the liberals or conservatives have the right solutions.....whether or not American soldiers belong in Afghanistan or Iraq or potentially Iran. It's good to be passionate about those things, and believe me, I am, but we'll have plenty of time to debate those issues. Today should be about remembering those that lost family or friends in the attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, and the downed flight in Somerset, PA. Today should be about remembering that there is still an enemy out there that very much wants to destroy us all.
























As we look back on the events on September 11, 2001, we must remember the fallen heroes, and those that survived to give all they could to help find those that may have been trapped in the rubble. The firemen and rescue workers that were on duty that morning had no idea what they would be facing throughout that day, and many days to follow. When the attacks occurred, they could have easily said the same thing that many of us said that day...."I'm not staying at work. I'm going home to be with my family." I remember clearly that I was not scheduled to work that day, but had I been there when things happened, I know I would have gone home. Like millions of others, my wife and I sat in front of our television watching events unfold, wanting to believe that this was some type of movie and not real life happening in front of our eyes. But not the resuce workers, firemen, and police. While we were in the comfort of our homes, they were in the searing heat....the dirt.....the dust.....fighting for their lives and the lives of anyone that might be buried in the piles of metal.

As much respect and honor I have for the brave men and women in New York City that worked tirelessly to try to restore order to a chaotic situation, I think I have even more respect, or at least a different kind of respect, for the brave men and women that were on United Flight 93 that fateful day. These were ordinary people with extraordinary courage. They were businessmen, lawyers, salespeople, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. They were not trained on how to handle situations like the one they faced, and could have easily followed the instructions of the homicide bombers, and allowed the plane to reach its intended target, most likely the White House or Capitol Building. But they didn't. They rose up in a time of horror that none of us could understand and fought back. We'll never know just how many American lives they saved that day. They were heroes, plain and simple.



Let us never forget the heroes.
Let us never forget the thousands of innocent Americans that lost their lives that day.
Let us never forget the families and friends they left behind.
Let us never forget the soldiers that fight right this very moment to preserve our freedoms.
Let us never forget the enemy that wants to destroy us.
Let us never forget.