tp75.xml
Title
tp75.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-02-28
TomPaine Story: Story
Last September cost innocent lives and innocent assumptions about our everyday security. Both are gone forever. But the Bush administrations subsequent "war on terrorism" has also cost us something that we can and must recover: the ability to criticize our government without being branded traitors. Losing that ability means conceding democracy to fanaticism and fear -- precisely the aim of Osama bin Laden and his murderous band. September 11 gave George Bush a second chance as president. Now the president is using it to advance a radical right wing agenda that puts the nation at risk.
By late last summer Bush's public approval ratings were heading Deep South. Writing on September 6, Wall Street Journal political editor Al Hunt summarized an emerging consensus. Bush had shown himself "dumbfounded or duplicitous" on the issues, and was no longer "controlling much of the political discourse."
September 11 changed that. Horrified at what had happened, Americans rallied round their president to lead a suitable response. They responded with a new respect for the extraordinary heroism of firefighters and other public servants. Citizens learned a lesson that rebuked the ""infectious greed"" generated by this era of market dominance. Even the role of government was revalued in the face of real dangers and collective need. Alongside the fear and anger, these reactions contained a hopeful thread for reconstructing America's frayed democracy. But what we have gotten since instead -- all offered in the name of "fighting terrorism" -- is ""war profiteering"" masquerading as a stimulus package; abrupt and unilateral U.S. withdrawal from international arms control and environmental agreements; and a steady diet of lies from this Administration about everything from prescription drugs to the soundness of Social Security. Now this war presidents approval ratings are again slipping, and he is looking for another war -- but this time not against a cave-dwelling enemy in one of the poorest countries on earth, but an organized modern dictatorship in the armed and volatile Middle East.
But it is not too late to take back our country and use this moment --one year later--to build a post-911 Reconstruction Agenda: restoring tax fairness, building a high-road economy of shared prosperity, protecting and repairing our environment, winning real campaign reform, fixing our broken cities and prisons, seeking peace through sustainable development, not just military threat, and providing universal access to quality health care, education and housing. While we're at it, why not launch a Moon Shot effort to achieve national energy independence, and deny terrorists and corrupt regimes in the Middle East the source of their power. All of these things are needed to advance this country's democratic promise. Fighting for them is the patriotism needed now.
By late last summer Bush's public approval ratings were heading Deep South. Writing on September 6, Wall Street Journal political editor Al Hunt summarized an emerging consensus. Bush had shown himself "dumbfounded or duplicitous" on the issues, and was no longer "controlling much of the political discourse."
September 11 changed that. Horrified at what had happened, Americans rallied round their president to lead a suitable response. They responded with a new respect for the extraordinary heroism of firefighters and other public servants. Citizens learned a lesson that rebuked the ""infectious greed"" generated by this era of market dominance. Even the role of government was revalued in the face of real dangers and collective need. Alongside the fear and anger, these reactions contained a hopeful thread for reconstructing America's frayed democracy. But what we have gotten since instead -- all offered in the name of "fighting terrorism" -- is ""war profiteering"" masquerading as a stimulus package; abrupt and unilateral U.S. withdrawal from international arms control and environmental agreements; and a steady diet of lies from this Administration about everything from prescription drugs to the soundness of Social Security. Now this war presidents approval ratings are again slipping, and he is looking for another war -- but this time not against a cave-dwelling enemy in one of the poorest countries on earth, but an organized modern dictatorship in the armed and volatile Middle East.
But it is not too late to take back our country and use this moment --one year later--to build a post-911 Reconstruction Agenda: restoring tax fairness, building a high-road economy of shared prosperity, protecting and repairing our environment, winning real campaign reform, fixing our broken cities and prisons, seeking peace through sustainable development, not just military threat, and providing universal access to quality health care, education and housing. While we're at it, why not launch a Moon Shot effort to achieve national energy independence, and deny terrorists and corrupt regimes in the Middle East the source of their power. All of these things are needed to advance this country's democratic promise. Fighting for them is the patriotism needed now.
Collection
Citation
“tp75.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 24, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/769.