Jon Gold
12/29/2008

Have you heard? George W. Bush’s administration is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Rawstory just released a report that says:

Bush wants to be seen as a “liberator of millions.” Rove insists that “history will be kind” to his former boss. And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is sure that “this generation” will thank George W. Bush.

The one little piece of spin that we are hearing A LOT of is that this administration has kept us safe for seven years after the 9/11 attacks. Laura Bush recently said it. Dick Cheney said, “we’ve now gone seven and a half years without another attack.”


I wonder which actions in particular by this administration have kept us safe. Was it the war in Afghanistan? Maybe it was the war in Iraq. I wonder if using the States Secrets Privilege to end lawsuits helped. Maybe the meeting the Downing Street Memos were based on kept us safe. How did Jack Abramoff help out? How did outing a covert CIA officer keep us safe? Maybe the thought of using an American Spyplane painted in U.N. colors to lure Iraq into war kept us safe. The torturing, well, maybe that helped. Clearly it’s our loss of civil liberties that has kept us safe. Or, maybe it was the Military Tribunals. There are so many actions, it’s just too hard to pick out the one that has kept us safe.

A long time ago when I would have debates with Bush supporters regarding 9/11, I would hear over and over again that Clinton was responsible for 9/11. I constantly had to remind them that the President of the United States takes responsibility for their office on the day of inauguration. Not nine months and 12 days later (give or take).

Bush has kept us safe since 9/11? Ok, but he and his friends certainly didn’t do that ON 9/11.

Personally, I think the reason we haven’t been attacked since 9/11 (unless you count the Anthrax Attacks that were launched from a United States facility as a “terrorist attack”) is because pulling off two attacks against your own people during one Presidency is just too risky to do without people getting wise on a massive scale.

I guess that makes me a crazy Conspiracy Theorist. At least I know bullshit when I hear it.

Thanks to www.historycommons.org

September 10, 2000: Hijacker Hanjour’s Visa Application Rejected
9/11 hijacker Hani Hanjour applies for a US visa at the US consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Hanjour, who has already spent a good deal of time in the US (see October 3, 1991-February 1992, Spring 1996, October 1996-December 1997, and 1998), uses a passport issued on July 24, 2000. His application is incomplete, as he says he is a student, but fails to give his school’s name and address. His application is denied as he says he wants to stay for three years, raising concerns he might become an immigrant. After his application is screened, he is referred to a consular officer for an interview. Hanjour says he wants to attend flight school in the US, changing his status from “student” to “tourist” after arrival. However, the officer denies the visa application “because he has been in the States long enough to decide what he wanted.” Hanjour will return to the consulate two weeks later and successfully obtain a visa with a different application (see September 25, 2000). [9/11 Commission, 8/21/2004, pp. 13, 174-5 pdf file] The consular officer who denies this visa will later give mistaken testimony about it to the House Committee on Government Reform. He will claim that the application was made under the Visa Express program, and that he refused to issue the visa immediately because Hanjour applied for a tourist visa, but wanted to go to the US to study. He will say that the denial is “for administrative reasons” so that Hanjour has to come in for an interview. However, the 9/11 Commission will find that the date the application is made is the same date that it is rejected, so this consular officer must be mistaken about the application being made under the Visa Express program, which will not start until 2001 (see May 2001), as well as the reason for the denial. [9/11 Commission, 8/21/2004, pp. 37-38 pdf file]
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Full Transcript
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I was reminded of this, which must be my favorite clip of all time, something John Stewart deserves a medal for, and something Ray McGovern deserves a statue for. Take note of Rumsfeld’s “positive” twist at the end. Something John calls him out on. - Jon

Source: foxnews.com

Highest moment the last eight years?

CHENEY: Highest moment in the last eight years?

Well, I think that the most important, the most compelling, was 9/11 itself, and what that entailed, what we had to deal with, the way in which that changed the nation and set the agenda for what we’ve had to deal with as an administration.

WALLACE: Can I add, sir, (ph) that’s also your lowest moment?

CHENEY: Sure. Yes.

Chris Wallace actually had to remind him that it was a low point.

Cheney, you are a bastard, and you belong in prison.

For some reason, the available video online doesn’t have any sound. - Jon

Source: web.archive.org

Comments by Richard Ben-Veniste, member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, March 31, 3001

“In the intervening time since the September 11 attacks, we have learned a great deal about what happened on that day and the events leading up to it. In particular, we are grateful for the work of the Joint Inquiry conducted by the Senate and House Intelligence Committees. Congress has specifically instructed us to build upon the good work of the Joint Inquiry as we proceed with our investigation and develop recommendations for Congress and the President.

Yet the Joint Inquiry’s full report had only just last week been made available to the members of this Commission who have the full security clearances. As of last week, most of the Commissioners and most of the staff had not yet received security clearances. I believe the scheduling of this hearing has had a salutary effect on speeding up the clearance process. And I am gratified that the White House has now promised the funds necessary to carry out our work. It is important that President Bush has publicly supported this Commission and its goals. The full cooperation of the relevant departments and agencies of the executive branch is essential to the Commission’s ability to carry out its responsibilities. And the result of such cooperation will be a measure of our success. “
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Betsy is continuing to show movies at the Anthony Wayne Movie Theater. Tonight’s show was “Able Danger” which is loosely based on author, and 9/11 Truth activist, Sander Hicks.

Just because I posted it doesn’t mean I endorse everything in it. I’ve known of April for years. The few times that I’ve seen her speak, she did exceptionally well. - Jon

Source: rawstory.com

Stephen C. Webster
Published: Wednesday December 17, 2008

A career Army officer who survived the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, claims that no evacuation was ordered inside the Pentagon, despite flight controllers calling in warnings of approaching hijacked aircraft nearly 20 minutes before the building was struck.
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Something I think we should support. No, I did not remember that Archie mentioned “skyjackers.” Just that he got “equal time.” It’s just a coincidence. - Jon

Source: sfppc.blogspot.com

12/16/2008

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (pictured), D-Palo Alto, said Monday she will work to restore the Fairness Doctrine and have it apply to cable and satellite programming as well as radio and TV.

“I’ll work on bringing it back. I still believe in it,” Eshoo told the Daily Post in Palo Alto.

The Fairness Doctrine required TV and radio stations to balance opposing points of view. It meant that those who disagreed with the political slant of a commentator were entitled to free air time to give contrasting points of view, usually in the same time slot as the original broadcast.

The doctrine was repealed by the Reagan administration’s Federal Communications Commission in 1987, and a year later, Rush Limbaugh’s show went national, ushering in a new form of AM radio.

Conservative talk show hosts fear the doctrine will result in their programs being canceled because stations don’t want to offer large amounts of air time to opponents whose response programs probably wouldn’t get good ratings.

Eshoo said she would recommend the doctrine be applied not only to radio and TV broadcasts, but also to cable and satellite services.

“It should and will affect everyone,” she said.

She called the present system “unfair,” and said “there should be equal time for the spoken word.”

This will be the final film in this series. I want to thank everyone who made the history needed in order to make these VERY incomplete films.

Enjoy.

As I mentioned in the comments of Part I, “I told someone today that if I were to make a 10 minute movie about everything that I’ve done, and a 10 minute movie about everything that person has done, there would still be 50-60% of everything we’ve done left out of both movies. Now imagine trying to make a 10 minute video of everything the entire movement has done.” The reason I made these was to give the people some indication of just how much we’ve done, and how little attention we’ve gotten.

Enjoy.