Thursday, March 4

How Else Is He Going To Scare The Country Into Voting For Him?

Some of the families of the 9/11 victims, are upset that George Bush is using the images from the tragedy in his campaign commercials. Why are they surprised by this? The President has built his administration and his campaign on keeping the American people afraid. Terrorism is a legitimate issue in our modern times; but the Bush League has molded our legitimate fears of another attack into a monstrous club which he has used on his allies and his constituents alike in his efforts to advance his own political agenda.

On the other hand... I believe that the 9/11 families have become a group that, sometmes, demands to much deference. Yes, it was a horrible tragedy that took the lives of their innocent loved ones. Yes, it was a tragedy that so many children, spouses, parents and siblings lost loved ones. Still, the deference and reparations afforded these families has edged into the ridiculous. I know that such an attitude is blasphemous to most; I can't help it. If I went to work one day, and the building I worked in exploded because of a gas leak or what have you; the compensation my family received would be limited to my insurance and any negligence lawsuit that might (or might not) be involved. All of these families have received an average of $1.8 million for their loss and many still demand more money (some rightly so) and more say in everything relating to the tragedy (sometimes rightly so). I believe that their loss was tragic and impossible to quantify in financial terms... but no more so than any other family that loses a loved one to fate or unfortunate events. It was a national tragedy that hurt them in the most painful/personal way possible, but they must resign themselves to the fact that a tragedy of that magnitude becomes something the world mourns and something that belongs to history and the nation as well.

There. I've said it. Let the arrows fly.

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