Just some Notes...

I read a couple things online and watched some programming on tv that brought about some questions and some points that I can not ignore.

- 9-11 was committed by Bin Laden, and he's still out there somewhere. Bush didn't mention him once in his speech.

- 9-11 was not a triumph, it was a massive security failure and intelligence fuck up and a crisis for the nation. Using that as your greatest moment -- a crisis that you could not prevent, is profoundly disturbing. Mostly because of how it's working on people.

- The Iraq war has not made us safer. That would be like saying because the Russians sent troops into Chechnya or the Israelis sent troops into the West Bank that they are safer. One day our national self delusion about "safety" and "security" post 9-11 is going to burst, it is inevitable. George W. Bush is damn lucky it hasn't yet. This arrogance that we are invulnerable because we have reservists and guardsmen in Iraq is nonsense, and its going to take another 9-11 style event or worse to get people to wake up.

- Adolph Hitler once made the mistake of invading Russia before he had secured the western front by defeating Great Britain. That was the greatest military blunder in history many would argue. Sounds a bit like our War on Terror - went after Bin Laden, then without getting him we stormed into Iraq, leaving both to become a greater problem over time...