My Brother Was Killed on 9/11 with Republicans and Democrats

My older brother David Rice was a Democrat. He was killed on the 104th floor of the South Tower in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11th, 2001.

David was killed with Republicans, Independents, and Democrats. On that day, they were not members of political parties, they were Americans.

Some Americans and politicians apparently believe my brother was to blame for his own murder because he voted Democratic, which apparently surrendered our borders to those who want to kill us.

One of those Americans is Mike Meehan of Orlando, Florida.

Mr. Meehan's divisive and desperate attempt to scare Americans with his billboards urging "Please Don't Vote for a Democrat" beside an image of the burning World Trade Center is unfortunately not the example of an isolated, fringe politico, but instead is part and parcel of a trend in American politics where right-wing hacks love their extremist ideology more than their country. They care more about winning elections and achieving power, than building good government.

It would have been naive to think we could have permanently transcended our differences as Americans out of 9/11, but it is not too idealistic to hope that we could have found common ground on how to protect our country and preserve our common values.

There are those in politics who will continue down this road because they simply have nothing else to offer. They have no coherent policy to marginalize extremism in the Middle East. They show no willingness to ask Americans to commit themselves to the shared sacrifice that is needed to deal with the climate crisis and transform our energy policy. They have no message except to demonize their political opponents and, in turn pollute America's faith in our otherwise inspiring democratic process.

But there are others of us who are entering the political process to steer our country away from this pathetic and un-American demagoguery. I meet candidates and grassroots activists in Oklahoma and around the country who insist that our elections and public policy can embody more substance and visionary solutions while at the same time avoiding the lazy and cowardly political impulses of the last 8 years.

My brother was murdered alongside people who gave money to George W. Bush's 2000 Campaign and voted for him. He died among others who did the same for Al Gore. He was killed alongside Christians and non-Christians. All of the victims had families who loved them. All of the victims and our families want Americans to be safe and free. All of us.

We have a choice. We can find ways to set out as American citizens to rescue our politics and our faith in the American system so we can meet the complex challenges together, or we can continue to extinguish the dwindling faith everyday Americans have for our political parties, and thereby reduce the public policies of the future to shallow and meaningless attacks against each other.

I am proud to say that I choose to be part of a broad-based coalition of Oklahomans and Americans who take part in our political process so we can give our country the chance to meet the growing challenges we will face. And I do this with humility. I know I will make mistakes, but I also know that I will not demonize other Americans and demean our process.

We cannot afford to allow the Mike Meehans of our country to divert and distract us from achieving the great promise that lies before us. I am committed to this challenge not just in memory of my brother David, but in memory of those who he died with who I would not have agreed with about politics. What is at stake is too important for us to keep going down the road of the last 8 years.

Me and my brother, David.

Andrew Rice is a State Senator from Oklahoma, running for US Senate.

Comments

[TimeJumper]

Mr. Rice, my condolences to you and your family. You are correct; we share a unique bond, that we are all Americans, faults and all. Sometimes the electorate forgets that this nation was founded on the fundamental ideal that we the people are the inheritors and custodians of our government. The Founding Fathers wanted to create a government that was not ruled by aristocratic families and administered by plutocrats by rather a government that would be overseen by its citizenry. It is our responsibility as good citizens and our right as Americans; to hand the reins of our government to those who we believe would place the well being of this nation and the interests of its citizenry first and foremost before their own political agenda.
"We will not walk in fear, of one another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were, for the moment, unpopular. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the Republic to abdicate his responsibility." - From Edward R. Murrow, March 9, 1954

[mrpual]

If any of you has an impulse to give money to a politician, please give it to Andrew Rice. We here in Oklahoma know him to be a really good guy. His opponent, Jim Inhofe is a blight against humanity. We really need to get him out of office. This is a year that it could happen.

[DASM]

"There are those in politics who will continue down this road because they simply have nothing else to offer." ... "They have no message except to demonize their political opponents "

Mr. Rice's words describe accurately so many Republican politicians & right-wing media pundits. They smear, promote fear, and promote hatred. They are indeed divisive, and hopefully their time is over.

Thank you Mr. Rice for your descriptions & insights.

[avance]

As a resident of Wisconsin I am proud to say that I support the candidacy of Andrew Rice with financial contributions and with shout outs back to my home state of Oklahoma. The replacement of the rebarbative James Inhofe as US senator by the humane, intelligent, and broadly-educated Andrew Rice would be the single greatest victory for progressivism in this electoral cycle.

[irishchicago]

Dear Avance,
As your southern neighbor and fellow proud financial contributor to Sen Rice's campaign, I strongly agree with you and I'm pleased to tell you: " WELL SAID"

[contrariandy]

Thank you, Andrew. Our nation lost much on that day. You lost more. Thanks for pointing out how our losses have been so despicably misused and for standing up against the cowards of the far right and their continuing un-American uses of 9/11.

Somehow, our nation managed to let the Bushies escape the blame they deserve for: 1) ignoring the warnings that might have prevented 9/11; 2) letting the al Quaeda perpetrators escape from Tora Bora; and 3) not preventing them from getting into Pakistan where they knew they would not pursue them. Democrats would have been hung for any one of these GOP failures. We didn't realize at the time that Bush's tough talk was so empty and cowardly. Now we know what cowards all of the right wingers really are.

[jdenham]

The sad part of this sign is that Republicans go along with it. I believe most Republicans in this country are honest people, but they allow their Party and followers to say and do anything. The belief that the end justifies the means. I do not see outrage from the Republican Party when other Americans are demeaned. To infer Democrats are traitors as Cheney, Republican politicians, and TV pundits have done every election, you would think some Republicans would stand up and call them on it. But our country is so divided that calling democrats traitors and terrorist is acceptable. America has now divided down Party lines and our real enemy lies within.

[JennyJay]

Andrew Rice - great article, and I am terribly sorry about your brother. We are Americans, above
all else, how do we become so devisive? The jerk who put up this sign - - has the intelligence
of a two year old, and the empathy of dirt.
He should keep his ignorance to himself and not make it so public.

[obombbombiran]

Where to start? To express the opinion that Republicans would more effectively prevent terrorist attacks on US soil is hardly saying that 9/11 victims who voted for Democrats are to blame for their own deaths.

To blame Bush for 9/11 is extremely unfair. Operation knock the WTC down was well under way when he was still fighting a legal battle over Florida. The hijacker pilots had the knowledge and training they needed (from US flight schools) before the 2000 general election got well underway. Maybe then-Gov. Bush should have taken some time off from campaigning to make an inventory of every flight school in the country to make sure there were no radical Muslims there learning to fly a plane but not take off or land.

Long-standing bureaucratic barriers to intelligence sharing had more to do with failure to prevent 9/11 than Bush's incompetence. And I didn't even blame Clinton.

[Romeover]

"Where to start?"

WHERE TO START???

How about starting, Obomb, with explaining how YOU interpret the billboard's message? Do YOU think, Obomb, that the billboard in question blames "longstanding bureaucratic barriers to intelligence sharing"?

Do try to stay focused.

[k6007]

Read-
9 11 Timeline.

[moreupnorth]

This man is right on the money. I couldn't have said it better myself. I just love the way he outs American Extremists, like Mike Meehan, for what they are. Just another form of terrorism in a country full of religious, yet non-muslim, extremists. I sure hope he is able to pull together the sane Americans!

[dobberdoss]

You know the really sad thing is that this ``politically hijacked event`` will rot America to the core for decades to come, much like WW2 has turned the jewish state into a ` victim` forever! Join the `victim` club America, oh & shut the door on the way out please. I was there & i for one have moved on with my life.

[EvilJunglePrince]

As a request to my fellow readers here, please open your check books for this man - he's got a tough run for Senate ahead of him.

If Andrew Rice wins, not only will America further prosper with the aid of his talents and goodness but we will also put out to pasture one of the most stupid and vile senators that America has ever had the misfortune of entrusting with power - Jim Inhofe.

Go Andrew go!

[mcostello]

Amen

[UnknownSoldier]

I'll cut a 25 dollar check for him next month

[Sparty1]

You're on the money with that one. I'll send him some money. Our neighbors to the north definitely need a Dem senator. Just like we need one in TX. I don't see that happening anytime soon though.

Andrew Rice '08

And this article was awesome. I totally was flabbergasted when I saw that billboard. Why haven't the MSM just let this guy have it? Sad.

[Diana]

Support Andrew Rice, indeed! What an honor it would be for citizens, all citizens, to have such a voice of reason and compassion representing them in the Senate. Sort of like REAL democracy in action.

[hoopesaz]

"Some Americans and politicians apparently believe my brother was to blame for his own murder because he voted Democratic, which apparently surrendered our borders to those who want to kill us."

Who has ever said that? If they did, they were a fool. It certainly isn't a belief held by republicans in general.

[UnknownSoldier]

How soon we forget. Dick Cheney: "If you vote for Kerry, we will get attacked again" hmmmmmm that sure sounds like a view held by many Republicans.

Republican Philosophy is "Beat the Democrats by any means necessary" when it should be smaller government and economic stimulus for small businesses.

[csavage]

You surely are kidding.....

Chuck Roberts called Democrats "al Quedacrats" on air on his bit on CNN Headline News and that was the last day I ever watched either of those channels....

If that isn't a belief held by Republicans in general, how come the RNC or even my neighbors have ever bothered to say so?

One of my friends even told me she didn't trust liberals, then, of course, I promptly informed her I was one....

The fact of the matter is that fermenting a distrust of liberals is a matter of course for the Republican party. God knows, I see enough of the common folk spouting about the "liberal press" in the editorial section of the Houston Chronicle and it seems to be the reason we have everything from Illegal aliens to palmetto bugs. You should see the looks I get from these same people when I tell them the press is a lapdog of the government and then proceed to spout off references and laws broken....

[captcoyote]

I am proud to say that I will be voting for Mr. Rice this November with great hope in his success.

[rottenart]

Amen, Andrew.

I'm working as hard as I can, while I'm still here, to get you to represent us in the US Senate. I know you'll do us Okies proud. BTW, can't wait to meet you this Sunday!

[knighthowl]

The thing that I found strange about that billboard is that 9/11 happened when Rethuglicans were in power. It has always been a mystery to me how they can pin their failure on the Democrats. Bush ignored the warnings about al queda because he was too busy setting a record for vacation days for a sitting President. If 9/11 says anything about which party to trust with our safety, it is never trust Republicans.