Pentagon Attack

22nd Anniversary Of September 11, But Republicans Undermine National Defense!

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It has been 22 years since the shocking Al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the nation is still reeling from divisions on national defense and national security.

We have many Republicans who work against assistance to Ukraine in its war provoked by the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin.

We also have Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville still blocking confirmation of military promotions in the armed services, now for seven months, over the military’s decision to allow women in the military to gain reproductive services, including abortion.

With so many Republicans supporting Russia, a mind boggling development, that party is undermining national security in a massive way, and that needs to be emphasized by Democrats as we look ahead to the Congressional and Presidential Elections of 2024, just 14 months away!

California Open Senate Seat Requires Having A Senator Who Will Have Longevity!

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Now that it is official that Dianne Feinstein is retiring from the Senate at the end of 2024 at the age of 91, it is urgent that the open Senate seat have a Senator who will have the opportunity to build seniority over time for the Golden State.

So Congresswoman Katie Porter (49), seen as a junior Elizabeth Warren in the sense of copying her strategy and tactics toward corporate monopolies; and Congressman Adam Schiff (62) who has compiled a wonderful record in more than twenty years in the House and was on the committee for the first Donald Trump impeachment trial, should be seen as sensible alternatives.

What is not sensible is that long term Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who has been in the House of Representatives since 1998, and has the distinction of being the only member of either house of Congress to vote against the authorization for use of military force against terrorists resolution (AUMF) after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, be elected to the Senate seat.

The question is why this author feels this way, and the answer is Lee will be past 77 if she took over the seat in January 2025, making her the oldest first Senator in history to have a full term. She has said she would only serve one term, but the concept of electing Lee is just one of ego, as this author sees it.

If however, Feinstein was to retire sooner, it would be perfectly fine for California Governor Gavin Newsom to appoint Barbara Lee to fill the seat, but with the understanding that she would not seek a full term in office.

Lee is a wonderful legislator, but what is needed is the potential of a new US Senator who could gain seniority if reeelected in the future. But my admiration for her as stated in an earlier article on History News Network on March 4, 2022 still stands! And if Lee chose to remain in the House of Representatives, and facing easy reelection every two years, that is perfectly fine!

Eighty Years Since “The Day Of Infamy”–Pearl Harbor Attack In 1941!

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Today, December 7, marks 80 years since “The Day of Infamy”, the attack by Imperial Japan on the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which ushered America into World War II, and the beginning of world leadership for the United States!

There are only a small percentage of veterans who were in Hawaii at that time still alive, and overall, a small percentage of Americans in the military eighty years ago who are still alive, as one would have to be, at the minimum, 98 years of age or older today!

Pearl Harbor remains one of the three worst moments of threat to American national security, joined much later by the Al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and then by the Donald Trump incited mob attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021!

In the long run, the January 6 attack will be seen as the greatest threat ever, as it was domestic terrorism, NOT foreign terrorism, and Japan and Al Qaeda did not, in the long run, remain a “clear and present danger” as domestic terrorism remains such for the future of American democracy!

And only January 6 represented a President conspiring against his own nation, unlike Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 and George W. Bush in 2001!

Effect Of John F. Kennedy Assassination Still Reverberates On America 58 Years Later!

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This author and blogger was a sophomore in 1963, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

It was the most stunning event of my life until the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The Kennedy assassination transformed American politics dramatically, both in good ways and bad ways.

It brought about the possibility of the greatest period of reform since Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, with Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society.

But it also brought on a devastating long term war in Vietnam, and the beginning of disillusionment with government at all levels.

Had Robert F. Kennedy survived and won the Presidential Election of 1968, instead of being assassinated after winning the California primary in June 1968, the potential for more great reform and change, and to avoid the Presidency of Richard Nixon, would have existed.

WIth RFK’s death, after the earlier tragedy of JFK, America was put into a permanent decline in hope and optimism for the next forty years, as even the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 did not revive the hopes of the Kennedy legacy.

Instead, we had Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush cause great regression in so many ways, as Richard Nixon had done earlier.

Barack Obama was a bright light, but faced great opposition, and the horrors of Donald Trump as his succession!

Joe Biden, who has a bust of RFK behind him on the left in all photos when he is sitting at his desk, is trying to revive the Kennedy legacy of hope and promise, and has made a good start.

But it is clear the two Kennedy assassinations in the early and late 1960s have left a permanent scar on the nation!

Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W Bush Honor 9/11, While Donald Trump Is Making Money Off It!

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Today, the 20th Anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, is a day to mourn and memorialize the 2,977 victims of the Al Qaeda attack on America.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden are attending all three sites to honor and show respect for what happened.

Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama are attending the ceremonies in New York City.

Former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush are attending ceremonies in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, honoring the passengers of Flight 93 who brought the terrorist controlled plane down, preventing the intended attack on the US Capitol.

Former President Bill Clinton and former First Lady Hillary Clinton will be attending the ceremonies in New York City.

Former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter will be at home in Plains, Georgia, not involved in public events, and preserving their health as Carter nears 97 years of age on October 1, and Mrs. Carter has just passed age 94, perfectly understandable.

Vice President Kamala Harris and First Gentleman Douglas Emhoff are also attending ceremonies in Shanksville Pennsylvania, and later will join President Biden at the Pentagon.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump will avoid all three sites, and instead be in Hollywood, Florida to give commentary on boxing matches at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel, making income off those who choose to pay $50 to gain access to his statements about the boxing matches, and joined by his son, Donald Trump Jr.

Trump did issue a statement praising the sacrifices of those who died twenty years ago, but felt a need to put in a criticism of President Biden over the withdrawal from Afghanistan, forgetting that Trump initiated the final withdrawal in a deal with the Taliban, scheduled for May 2021, delayed by Biden for a few months.

So the lies, deceit, hypocrisy, and lack of concern for unity of Donald Trump, and the desire to divide the nation after having engaged in treason and sedition on January 6, 2021, continues!

60th Anniversary Of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address: One Of Three Greatest Farewell Addresses

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President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his Farewell Address to the nation sixty years ago today, and it reverberates through the ages, as we come upon the inauguration of a new President, on the heels of the nightmare of the absolutely worst Presidency in American history!

Eisenhower’s Farewell Address is rated as one of the greatest in American history, alongside George Washington in 1796 and Jimmy Carter in 1981.

Ike warned against the dangers of a military-industrial complex which would take us into overseas interventions and foreign wars that would undermine our nation.

Sadly, we have seen America engage in wars that have undermined our nation, specifically the escalation of the war in Vietnam, along with the decision to have a military presence in the Middle East as a result of the Persian Gulf War, and then, long drawn out wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

These interventions in the Middle East came after the Al Qaeda terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and America has been permanently changed as a result.

And now, we face a threat of domestic terrorism out of control, as Donald Trump leaves office, with the backing of these domestic terrorists as they attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, which complicates the challenges facing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, as they are inaugurated on January 20, 2021, three days from now!

America Is In The Most Precarious Situation Since The Civil War, 160 Years Ago!

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Sadly, America is in the most precarious situation since the Civil War, 160 years ago!

Even during the Civil War, the US Capitol and Washington, DC, while under threat from Southern Confederate military forces, never saw the secessionists enter the nation’s capital!

World War II was a dangerous time, but never was the US Capitol or Washington, DC in direct danger!

When Al Qaeda attacked on September 11, 2001, America was fortunate that an attempt to attack Washington, DC was unsuccessful, although the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia was successfully damaged!

But now, the danger of more attacks on the US Capitol, and Washington, DC, and threats to the lives of President Elect Joe Biden and Vice President Elect are very real, and makes the next ten days very precarious, but even beyond the inauguration!

We have now in the US Congress seditionists and traitors who continued to support Donald Trump in a phony challenge to clear cut election results, which were repudiated in over 60 legal cases, and twice by the Supreme Court, including all three Donald Trump appointees part of the unanimous majority in each case.

We have Senators such as Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, along with Congressmen including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Devin Nunes of California, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, and so many others, who rightfully should be expelled from Congress, and be considered as complicit in the violent attack on the US Capitol, which led to the deaths of five people, including a Capitol police officer.

And Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump, Jr. and Rudy Giuliani, who stirred up the crowd on January 6 to assault the Capitol should all face criminal charges!

No question, Joe Biden faces challenges even greater than Abraham Lincoln, as not only do we have millions of crazed people who are adopting extremist right wing and QAnon views, but they are capable of continuing violence and bloodshed, which could lead literally to a a second Civil War!

Presidents Taken By Surprise By Foreign Events From Franklin D. Roosevelt To Barack Obama

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It has often been said that American Presidents have much greater power in foreign affairs, than in domestic affairs, since they have to work with Congress to accomplish domestic goals.

But in actuality, Presidents are subject to the actions of other nations and their leaders, and are often taken aback by stunning, surprising events that transform the course of history.

Examples from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama abound:

FDR and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941
Harry Truman and the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950
Dwight D. Eisenhower and the U-2 Spy Plane Incident 1960
John F. Kennedy and the Berlin Wall 1961
John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
Lyndon B. Johnson and the Six Day Middle East War 1967
Richard Nixon and the Yom Kippur Middle East War 1973
Gerald Ford and the Mayaguez Affair with Cambodia 1975
Jimmy Carter and the Iranian Hostage Seizure 1979
Ronald Reagan and the Beirut, Lebanon Marine Barracks Bombing 1983
George H. W. Bush and the Iraq Invasion of Kuwait 1990
Bill Clinton and the World Trade Center Bombing 1993
George W. Bush and the World Trade Center and Pentagon Attacks 2001
Barack Obama and the Libyan Consulate Attack 2012

Sadly, politics come into play, and the opposition party always blames the President for the shocking event, as if he has control over factors outside his control.

But that is part of the reality of American politics and history!