HAPPY SEPTEMBER 11TH, GOP [View All]

[NanceGreggs]

Happy September 11th, GOP!
By Nancy Greggs

As most of the nation readies itself to mark the Fifth Anniversary of September 11th in a somber and introspective mood, we realize that our elected Republicans are preparing to celebrate the event that enabled them to dismantle what was once our great democracy.

As the citizenry mourned its loss on that harrowing day, the machinations were already begun to turn a tragedy of massive proportions into a winning strategy that, five years later, has culminated in an America that is no longer recognizable – that is, in truth, a country that is no longer even America.

One can already envision the backslapping that will take place on Monday amongst those of you who have worked so tirelessly to divide a nation, to frighten a populace into unwitting submission, and to applaud those among your ranks who participated so enthusiastically in the back-stabbing of your fellow citizens.

There will be the inevitable photo-ops; the prayerful countenance as you leave a memorial service, the concerned visage as you meet with the families of those taken. But your unfettered joy is already palpable, as you revel in the irreparable damage you have done since that fateful day.

In the last five years, you have supported a war on a people that had no connection to the attack on our country, you have besmirched the reputations of the colleagues who tried to reason with you, belittled and insulted those who have challenged you, and have enabled a president to usurp powers beyond the limits prescribed by our Constitution. And when the lies and incompetence of this administration have been proven time and again, you have added insult to that ultimate injury through your persistent denial of the truth.

I, like every other American citizen, once held onto a dream that was (or so I believed) my birthright: to see my children live a life better than my own, and to leave them a country even stronger, freer and more just than it had been in my lifetime. That dream, thanks to your efforts, is now dead.

What I will leave my children instead is only my nostalgic memories of the America that once was; a nation that, for all of its flaws, took pride in its freedoms, its sense of justice, its compassion, and its never-ending striving towards loftier goals.

We, a horrified nation, have watched as you voted for policies that deprive hard-working Americans of their jobs, their property, their right to speak freely, their right to legal recourse, their right to privacy, their right to transparent government, their right to fair elections – and, most importantly, their right to honest representation by their elected officials.

But what is even more troubling is your support of torture, of secret prisons, of blatant inhumanity in the guise of protecting the populace, of immoral behavior in the name of God and country – and now your crowning achievement, the sanction of the use of weapons that will continue to kill and maim innocent people not only now, but for decades to come.

Were I addressing people of higher moral standards, I would remind you that every time a child is killed by the remnants of the weapons you have sanctioned, that every time an innocent man or woman is tortured, that every time a soldier dies combating an enemy you created, their blood is on your hands. But that would simply be an appeal to your conscience – and clearly, you have none.

But to the victor belong the spoils, and now is your moment to joyously celebrate what you have accomplished in so short a time: a nation united now divided, the goodwill of the world now turned into enmity, the monies that could have accomplished so much now squandered on achieving so little, the pride that was once an integral part of citizenship now turned into shame.

Even though the rest of us may not be in the same carefree mood, it’s not like you will be alone in your glee. You will be joined by the corporations that you have enriched, the individuals whose wealth you have so cautiously preserved and, most importantly, the enemies of our country who undoubtedly recognize that their aim to topple American democracy is now, thanks to you, a mission already accomplished.