"George Bush Has Kept Us Safe"

We keep hearing it.

"Ever since 9/11, George Bush kept us safe."

It's sort of non-stop, whether from Dick Cheney rising from his dark hole to justify the torture he oversaw, or Republicans in Congress, or GOP pundits, it's always the same.

"Ever since 9/11, George Bush kept us safe," they crow. "There have been no attacks on U.S. soil."

It's all part of the attempt to cleanse George Bush's legacy, and the legacy and conscience of those who enabled him for eight years.

"Ever since 9/11, George Bush kept us safe."

It's a fruitless effort, of course. History doesn't listen to talking heads. It digs into what actually happened. Yet on the Apologists go, pounding their flim-flam into the heads of anyone who needs desperately to hear it.

"Ever since 9/11, George Bush kept us safe, and there were no attacks on U.S. soil."

Calling it a lie, though, is an insult to lies. Far worse, it's an insult to those who died.

The words, "Ever since 9/11..." should be enough to stop the con game right there. The mere thought of "9/11" will forever raise a visceral, sickening gut reaction drilled deep into the psyche of Americans.

And it happened on George Bush's protective watch. And it happened even though he was warned about it. Warned with specifics - "Bid Laden Determined to Attack in U.S." is how his Presidential Daily Briefing was headlined. It even explained the use of flying airplanes into buildings. And George Bush ignored it. And the result was the first successful attack on U.S. soil by a foreign enemy in the history of America. And George Bush kept reading, "My Pet Goat."

Meanwhile, 3,000 people died, and America has ceased to feel safe ever since. On George Bush's watch.

To suggest that "George Bush kept us safe ever since 9/11" is not ignoring the elephant in the room, it's ignoring the elephant that rampaged through your house, killed your family and has its giant foot on your head, as you lay prostrate on the ground.

To suggest that "George Bush kept us safe ever since 9/11" is like a football team celebrating a defeat because it won the game since halftime.

It's that one word, "since," which gives lie to the safety that the George Bush Republican Apologists are trying to push. They don't want you to think about the word, "since," because it conjures up too much horror how unsafe George Bush kept America on 9/11. They want you to forget the 3,000 deaths that actually did occur. On their watch. Even though they were warned. It's a despicable act of cowardice.

But it doesn't stop there. Because there's the rest of their razzle-dazzle, attempting to scam America that it's safe because there have been no successful attacks on its soil in the last seven years.

Never mind, of course, that there hadn't been any successful attacks on its soil in the previous 225 years, before George Bush ignored his PDB. Small matter.

It's a shameful, craven deceit. There are many reasons there have been no attacks on U.S. soil ever since George Bush overlooked the disastrous attack where 3,000 died. One is that those who attacked achieved their goal. Another is because by going to war in Iraq with no justification, George Bush gave terrorists a better, easier target.

There have been 4,262 Americans who have died in Iraq. And over 148,000 wounded. An 673 more Americans have died in Afghanistan. All "since 9/11."

While it's convenient to say that these casualties have not occurred on American soil, they have occurred on American citizens. The result of a war that was unprovoked and lied into.

Further, this unjustified war, the illegal detentions at Gitmo, the acts of torture have all diminished America's standing in the world and made it an even bigger recruitment tool for terrorists and a cause for hatred in the Middle East. All of which came into being "since 9/11." All of which have made America far less safe that it was before.

But mostly, bombs are not the only measuring stick for safety. Because illegally wiretapping innocent American citizens and illegally reading private email does not keep Americans safe, as Americans. It removes their constitutional civil liberties, which by definition makes them very unsafe.

And none addresses the collapse of the American economy. And if keeping America safe is the measuring stick, then you must look at all of America - and by no standards has the greatest American disaster since the Depression, under George Bush's watch since 9/11, kept America safe. It might not be the angle from which the Apologists want Americans to consider their safety, but if your livelihood, home, healthcare and future have all disappeared, then you are profoundly unsafe. It is small comfort to tell someone you kept them safe from not being shot when instead they were bludgeoned to death.

And lest one think mentioning the economy is merely a liberal ploy to divert attention from true national safety - trying telling that to the Pentagon.

Because only weeks ago, the Pentagon sponsored an actual war game with the military and U.S. intelligence community observing how enemies could attack the American economy and "shift the balance of power" between nations.

"In the end, there was sobering news for the United States," Politico reported, "- the savviest economic warrior proved to be China," which strengthened itself most. And though the U.S. remained the largest economy, it "significantly degraded its standing."

Yet on it goes. "Ever since 9/11, George Bush kept us safe," these Republicans Apologists cry, hoping you won't notice the earth caving in around.

Hoping you won't remember 9/11.

George Bush did not keep America safe on 9/11.

And ever since 9/11, George Bush did not keep us safe either. He took a metal pipe and pounded the nation to near death. It is only through its strength and will to live that America is surviving.

Comments

[RadicalRationalist]

We shouldn't forget that there actually were terrorist attacks on U.S. soil before 9/11. The 1993 WTC bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 are the easiest to remember, but there are others. The Atlanta Olympics come to mind.

The claims of the Bush Administration Apologists remain patently ridiculous. It was the intelligence community that has kept us safe from further terrorist attacks after September 11th, 2001. They are the reason there were no attacks on any of the millennial celebrations at the start of 2000.

Let's give credit where credit is due, please.

Radical Rationalist

[demockracy]

Let's not forget http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/03/iraq-101-aftermath-long-term-thinking, which reminds us that " The rate of fatal terrorist attacks around the world by jihadist groups, and the number of people killed in those attacks, increased dramatically after the invasion of Iraq. Globally there was a 607 percent rise in the average yearly incidence of attacks (28.3 attacks per year before and 199.8 after) and a 237 percent rise in the fatality rate (from 501 to 1,689 deaths per year). A large part of this rise occurred in Iraq, the scene of almost half the global total of jihadist terrorist attacks. But even excluding Iraq and Afghanistan—the other current jihadist hot spot—there has been a 35 percent rise in the number of attacks, with a 12 percent rise in fatalities.

Contrary to Bush’s assertion, jihadists have not let the Iraq War distract them from targeting the United States and its allies."

[bdaved]

I thought the job started on 1/20.

[LeftRight]

To be fair, there have been MANY attacks on US soil. The entire Revolution, almost all of the War off 1812 (where we lost Washington­....) the Civil War, the beginning of WW2, the first WTC bombing, etc.....

[bdaved]

Don't forget Pancho Villa.

[LeftRight]

Good point, I had forgotten that one....

[Sumocat]

Yep, except for 9/11 and the more than 150,000 Americans killed, crippled or wounded by terrorists since then (assuming you believe Bush's claim that we're fighting "terror" in Iraq and Afghanistan), Bush kept us safe (not counting the anthrax attack).

[CellarDoor]

Such is the mentality of single-dimension thinkers. They presume, for example, that the "terrists" are just like the 'Alien" in the movie, you know, pure hostile with no capacity for thought or strategizi­ng...just pure bloodthirsty killers who slaughter uncontrollably on site.

Though obviously not the exclusive results of 9/11, America, in essence, has been destroyed. The "terrists" are probably thinking they were FAR more successful than they ever dreamed possible. They committed a inhuman, monstrous act on innocents and in return, we basically lost our collective minds and went berserk. Destroying ourselves better than they could have ever accomplished on their own. Bush's true legacy and the proverbial but ignored elephant in the room.

As for Bush protecting us, beyond the logical fallacy, they're celebrating the person who did nothing when the repeated warnings of an attack were given. A person who, according to them, was VERY capable of protecting us, didn't choose to do so until AFTER 3000 plus Americans were murdered; meaning he didn't bother to do his job until Americans were dead on HIS watch.

Forgive my melodrama but this is non-partisan to me and infuriating. If you support Bush now you are not a Republican or a Conservative, you are a COWARD.

Support real conservatives and republicans; they're hard to find nowadays but they're still very relevant and critically needed. But they need to shrug off these parasites or risk losing everything including providing a valid balance to the left!

[scottellington]

George Bush kept us safe by quenching The Torch of Freedom in the well of our global disgrace.

"Mission Accomplished?"

Never!

[Decorina]

Since the GOP has been using economic terrorism to topple democratically elected governments around the world for 30 years, why would anyone buy their ridiculous argument that Shrub "kept us safe" as he destroyed our economic system by deregulating it so the corporatocracy could steal?

[blaqntelligence]

Thank you Mr. Elisberg.

I can add nothing of substance to this, but I can pick my favorites. And say, again, Thank you.

"Calling it a lie, though, is an insult to lies. Far worse, it's an insult to those who died."

"They don't want you to think about the word, "since," because it conjures up too much horror how unsafe George Bush kept America on 9/11."

" They want you to forget the 3,000 deaths that actually did occur. On their watch. Even though they were warned. It's a despicable act of cowardice.­"

"Never mind, of course, that there hadn't been any successful attacks on its soil in the previous 225 years, before George Bush ignored his PDB. Small matter."

I"t's a shameful, craven deceit."

My favorite?
"And ever since 9/11, George Bush did not keep us safe either. He took a metal pipe and pounded the nation to near death. It is only through its strength and will to live that America is surviving.­"

That last sentence bears repeating.­....
"It is only through its strength and will to live that America is surviving.­"

And again, Mr. Elisberg, thank you.

[Sir681]

Remember the anthrax attacks when the news media were hollering 'Terrorism'? Wasn't that AFTER 9/11? Oh, but when the perpetrator was found to be an old white guy, then that didn't count.

Then there was the DC sniper shootings. Tell me now, weren't the people in and around the area terrified and terrorised? Of course, since the act was done by two black guys, that didn't count either, even though the word 'terrorist' was thrown about at the time.

Nah, in our minds terrorism is only carried out by those people with funny-sounding names from the Middle East, particularly if they are Muslim.

[lolyla]

I don't know of any planes crashing into American landmarks under Bill Clinton's watch, or Reagan's, or Ford's, or Carter's. In fact, Bush is the only president who was ruling while terrorists killed thousands of people on our own turf. He didn't keep us safe. He failed miserably at keeping us safe, then fostered an atmosphere of paranoia, then trampled all over our Constitutional rights in his effort to atone for his own incompetence.

[OkieMon]

shrubie certainly didn't keep us on safe on 9/11......­and he had ample warning to do so.....

[RabidRightRebel]

George Bush kept us safe only if you believe that he prevented further attacks. If however you believe that there were only the one set of fanatics and it would take years and years before another attack would be mounted he most certainly did not keep us safe.

While it is an undisputable fact that the invasion of Iraq and the torture of Muslim prisoners led to a huge increase in recuits to El Queda, there is virtually no proof that the Bush policies prevented any attacks.

Bush kept us safe may in fact be the biggest lie ever made!

That being said if real proof can be provided I am more than willing to acknowledge success about attacks prevented. Problem is I have yet to see information on even one creditble threat that was prevented.

[bdaved]

I guess he kept us safe from hurricanes, too, after Ike. And asteroids.