September 11

A Fitting Tribute To September 11 Victims: Finally, Congress Must Pass First Responders Health Coverage Legislation!

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As a fitting tribute to the victims of September 11, and because it is the right thing to do in addition, it is the appropriate moment for the Congress to stop the politics, and claims that we cannot afford to come to the aid of first responders, while cutting taxes for two percent of the population that already has much of the total income of the nation! It is time to pass into law the First Responders Health Coverage legislation that the Republican party has been blocking in the House of Representatives and the Senate! 🙁

No matter what, it is time to hold accountable every last Republican and conservative Democrat who refuses to support appropriate government coverage of all of the first responders of September 11 who have suffered from the effects of the toxic air, who have become victims of cancer and other maladies, and compensate the families of those who have died from the effects of their first responder heroism!

No one should be elected or re-elected who is willing to use the issue of deficits and national debt to deny our heroes and heroines their just due, as they sacrificed their lives and health to help those in need on that tragic day!

No more delays, no more propaganda, no more bull–PASS THE LEGISLATION TO HONOR FIRST RESPONDERS, and find other ways to cut the budget, including NOT continuing to give the rich more wealth at the expense of the rest of the nation! 🙁

Ted Koppel On How September 11 Has Divided, Rather Than United Us! :(

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Former ABC News Night Line host Ted Koppel is now an analyst for BBC World News America, but his 25 years on Night Line set his sterling reputation for clear, incisive evaluation of events!

In an Op Ed article for the Washington Post to be published tomorrow to commemorate the 9th anniversary of September 11, he makes it clear that we have given Osama Bin Laden a tremendous victory beyond even his expectations, as this nation has become bitterly divided over how to react to the Islamic faith, and how to deal with the issue of national security! 🙁

Instead of uniting and cooperating, the two political parties have badly broken the sense of one nation after the tragic events nine years ago, and the whole issue of dealing with a religion of one billion people in many nations around the world has been manipulated in such a way that, instead of weakening Islamic radicalism, it is actually helping to spread hate and fear among young Muslims in America and around the world to our detriment! 🙁

The result is political chaos and opportunism in America, which leads to rejoicing for Bin Laden and his ilk! The reality is that Bin Laden continues to triumph over this nation and the Western world nearly a decade after his dastardly deed! 🙁

When, oh when, will our political and religious leaders see what is occurring, and unite to promote tolerance and diversity? Instead of fighting each other, when will we unify around a common purpose to overcome the terrorism that has poisoned us? 🙁

The Republican And Conservative Exploitation Of September 11 :(

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On the eve of the 9th anniversary of the most horrific day in American history since Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it is shocking to recognize how the Republican leadership and conservative talk show hosts have utilized September 11 to divide this country by promoting hate, hysteria, and panic on a level WORSE than Joseph McCarthy and his Republican and conservative backers stirred anti Communist “witch hunts” during the late 1940s and early 1950s!

There is nothing that these despicable public figures will not do to promote their agenda, including comparing Pastor Terry Jones’s threat to burn Korans with the Islamic interfaith center that is planned for two blocks from Ground Zero in New York City! The former is designed to promote hate and bloodshed, while the latter’s purpose is to promote interfaith understanding and dialogue!

It is not too much for Newt Gingrich, John Boehner, and Sarah Palin, among others, to exploit this comparison, but also Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck find no problem in exploiting September 11 for financial gain, by holding a gathering in Anchorage, Alaska with highly expensive tickets to be bought on Ticketmaster, and selling liquor as well, to commemorate that fateful day! Any such event should not have a ticket charge, and liquor being served is totally against the somber nature of the event!

But Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck have no shame and no limits to their hypocrisy, as also John Boehner, Newt Gingrich, and many others, including the many Republican leaders who chose to remain silent and avoid taking a stand for principle, on the evil of Pastor Terry Jones and the principle of religious freedom and diversity represented by the interfaith plans near Ground Zero!

Interesting Coincidence: Rush Limbaugh And Pastor Terry Jones Were Missouri High School Classmates And Graduates Of Class Of 1969!

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What an amazing occurrence to discover that talk show host Rush Limbaugh and Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Florida, who has created a stir with his threat to burn Korans on September 11, are classmates and graduates of the same high school in Missouri in the year 1969!

Both are a menace to America, and in many ways, Limbaugh has, by his rhetoric, encouraged wing nuts like Pastor Jones, who has managed by his behavior to hold American foreign policy and its war effort as hostages in his insane need to draw attention to himself! 🙁

Anyone who is sane can see that Jones is a hateful, sick charlatan, the worst image possible of a Christian pastor! This man was involved in scandal and financial irregularity in a church in Germany that he headed in the 1980s!

Is it really a surprise that he is an obvious crook and certainly went into a career of being a pastor to avoid taxes, a favorite tactic of so called “religious” people who peddle hate and division by becoming pastors without any, or limited, religious training, gain ignorant followers, and meanwhile manage to gain a tax advantage because of their creation of churches, which are often just storefront businesses to raise money! 🙁

This man not only has no concern for the damage he is doing to America, but also peddles hate of gays, another favored method of some so called “pastors” who claim to be following Jesus Christ, but totally distort his message of peace and tolerance and harmony!

The right wing talk show hosts and Fox News Channel helped to create this monster by their hateful rhetoric against Muslims, and they have made our national security much more a problem for the President, because they preach a war against Islam, instead of against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, who are the enemy, not one billion Muslims around the world!

A Sad September 11 In America, And Particularly In Gainesville, Florida! :(

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Saturday is the 9th Anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and it should be a day of reflection and remembrance!

What it should not be is a day marred by burning of Korans or any other religious books or documents of any faith! 🙁

What it should not be is a day that we all have to worry about violence against our troops overseas in the war zone or anywhere else on earth! 🙁

What it should not be is a day that American civilians traveling and living all over the world have to be concerned about becoming victims of violence! 🙁

What it should not be is a day that Americans have to worry that the small cell of radical Muslims that is present in this country will be emboldened to strike back at innocent people, because of their anger at the provocative burning of the Koran by a Christian zealot who represents the same type of radicalism and extremism that he professes to despise! 🙁

What it should not be is a day that a great university town, the home of the University of Florida, one of the most outstanding universities in America both for sports and for academics, has its reputation besmirched because of the actions of a person who should be prevented from doing the dastardly deed that he plans to do, with no consideration of the effect on the community, the state of Florida, the nation at large, and American foreign and military interests! 🙁

September 11 is indeed a sad day for America, but not just for the past tragedy, but for the future tragedy that is unfolding as we sit idly by and seem unwilling to do anything to prevent! 🙁

The Danger That Pastor Terry Jones Of Gainesville, Florida Represents: Planned Burning Of Koran On September 11 Denounced By General David Petraeus!

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It is amazing how a so called “Man of God” can be so intolerant, but as is well known, this is not all that unusual! 🙁

Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Florida, a community that houses the renowned University of Florida, is about to besmirch that university town, the name of organized religion, and arouse world wide Muslim resentment, as he plans a burning of a copy of the Koran, the Islamic holy book, at his church on the ninth anniversary of September 11!

General David Petraeus, our renowned general in charge of the war in Afghanistan, has spoken up against this action, concerned that American soldiers will be more endangered by this action, and that it will sour our efforts to improve our relations with the Islamic world, which represents a billion people in the world!

This is as evil an act as Adolf Hitler ordering burning of books during the Nazi period in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, and should be seen as “a clear and present danger”, as the Supreme Court termed it in Schenck V. US in 1919!

The action should be prevented by local authorities by any means necessary, and if actually perpetrated, should lead to immediate arrest and prosecution of Pastor Terry Jones as undermining national security!

There is no room for this kind of action in the delicate world situation we face now! Pastor Jones will be responsible for possible death and harm, and all good Christians and Jews must immediately protest his planned action! 🙁

Barack Obama, Religious Freedom, And The Ground Zero Mosque!

Ronald 2 Comments

President Obama has just weighed in on the controversy in Lower Manhattan over the building of a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero, the site of the former World Trade Center that was destroyed by Muslim terrorists on September 11, 2001.

The project was approved by the appropriate agencies in New York City, and has been supported by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Obama issued a statement tonight calling for the understanding that religious freedom allows the building of houses of worship, whether they are churches, synagogues, or mosques. America’s values require the right for all people to worship freely at buildings constructed for promotion of their faith, the President asserted.

The author totally agrees with the sentiments of the President, as to the right to worship freely, no matter what religion is involved. The whole concept that some right wing nuts have made, that would refuse to allow the building of ANY mosques on American territory, is totally outrageous and discriminatory!

No one should associate themselves with such despicable evidence of hate and prejudice! It is amazing how so called believers in the Constitution are so easy at destroying that document, and the Bill of Rights, if it is convenient for them to do so!

However, having made clear my agreement with the President, and my denunciation of those who would ban the building of all mosques, I will still, without any pause, make clear my view about the Ground Zero mosque!

My thoughts remain the same: It is NOT a good idea to build a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero, as it fails to consider the sensitivities and emotions of the families of those who died on September 11!

Why is it that there is such insistence that the site must be that close to Ground Zero? There are many other sites further away, not as easily associated with Ground Zero, where such a mosque could be built!

There are already many mosques elsewhere in New York City, but this particular site, so close to the horrible event, should be given up in respect to those who died! Good will would be promoted if the proposed building was moved further away to another site!

Tolerance and good will would be promoted better if this particular project took into account the broader public opinion, which clearly, in New York City and nationally, opposes this project!

Religious freedom does not mean that a particular site MUST be a place for a mosque, considering the history of the area! It is time for reconciliation, and it can be done in a decent manner, with the backing the President has just given to religious freedom!

The Ultimate Outrage: House Republicans Vote Against Health Care For September 11 First Responders! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

One of the most outstanding examples of anger on the House floor within memory occurred last week when NY Congressman Anthony Weiner erupted after House Republicans, with the exception of a few, refused to support a bill to provide health care to first responders on September 11, 2001, who have had numerous health issues as a result of exposure to the horrific environmental conditions created by that terrorist created nightmare! 🙁

There has not been any issue that the GOP has responded to that shows any decency, any humanity, any compassion–and yet supposedly this party is favored to win seats in the midterm election! 🙁

This is also the party whose members still include people who believe the “birther” myth, that Barack Obama is not a citizen and was born in Kenya! 🙁

It is sadly clear that this party would reject Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower as RINOS (Republicans In Name Only), were they to be alive today! 🙁

Should There Be A Giant Mosque Near Ground Zero? NO! :(

Ronald 2 Comments

A major controversy developing in New York City is whether a giant mosque should be constructed a short distance from Ground Zero, where the Trade Center Twin Towers once stood!

There is discussion of replacing an historic building, going back to the 19th century, to make way for this Islamic house of worship. But is this site the proper one? The answer is NO! 🙁

This is not, and should not, be seen as anti Islamic, although it will be seen as such by many Muslims in America and elsewhere. There is no issue that mosques can be built, as much as churches and synagogues anywhere in America. But NOT at an historic site that includes the ashes of many who died on September 11!

This is too sensitive a matter, and the feelings of New Yorkers and Americans must be the prime consideration in this matter. The Landmark Preservation Commission must rule in favor of making the present building protected from demolition!

It is not the point of promoting Islamic phobia, which must be worked against. But this is a sacred location, and must be left as hallowed ground, as a memory of those nearly 3,000 people of all nationalities and religions who died there because of the dastardly deed done by 19 Islamic terrorists!

Build mosques in other locations, as happens all the time, but NOT at or near Ground Zero! This is sacrosanct territory, and must remain as a memorial to remind future generations of the greatest tragedy ever to hit US territory on the mainland of our nation!