Osama bin Laden won

[captain queeg]

I’m sure this has come up before, but I’ve not seen it discussed. I think the sad state of affairs in the US can be directly traced back to 9/11 and the government’s response. The repugs finally got the event they could use to maximum effect, capitalizing on the unity and patriotism and fear that stirred. Theyve been riding that horse ever since. I had read somewhere that back then they were so happy over at the American Heritage “think tank”. Not sure if I got the name right but you know the organization I’m talking about.

Osama wanted to destroy the US and he’s well on his way to being successful. The country has squandered the worlds good Will, launched an endless “war on terror”, plunged us deep into debt, eroded civil liberties. I feel like it’s not the same country any more. I still have high hopes that the country will rally and get back on track but the more parallels I see with Nazi germany the more I wonder and worry.

[leftieNanner]

1. I have had the same thoughts

And even before the current squatter in the White House.

I haven't given up - yet - but it's disheartening to say the least.

[FiveGoodMen]

2. You mean Dick Cheney won

[Moostache]

3. He is getting posthumous help from Putin... (n/t)

[TheRealNorth]

4. Bin Laden was a means to an end

The corporate right always wanted to go fascist ever since FDR. Bin Laden gave them the cover they needed.

[Wounded Bear]

5. Been thinking that for a while now...

although like you say, we really beat ourselves.

[Igel]

6. The US is destroyed (or on its way to destruction)

by your definition.

Not according to UBL's definition.

We're still a threat in Afghanistan. We did some serious damage to ISIS. There is no caliphate, as there has been a few times off and on in the last couple of decades. By no means are we that close to being subjugated by Islam and brought under the control of the "best nation", nor has our wealth flowed to the caliphate.

He doesn't care about the world's good will any more than you care about how the Romans in England felt about Boadicea. It's an irrelevancy. The war on terror is a problem because the good guys are still being killed. Debt? Meh. He *hated* many of the civil liberties, but considered them part and parcel of being corrupt and godless--and if you compare now to 2003, consider that in many states abortion rights are greater, LGBT... rights exist when they were barely there, women are present in more parts of the economy and government to a greater extent. A larger number of minorities are politically active--and where Islam's managed to find adherents in the corridors of power, to our shame they're women (and that may be the one thing he'd agree is helping the US's destruction as the country it was in 2003). From his viewpoint, corruption and godlessness have *increased*.

Note that I see as many parallels with immediately pre-Revolutionary Russia, but I'm not just fixated on Trump.