If you don’t think the US government is flawless, Republicans don’t want you in the administration. Except, you know, if we’re talking about government programs.
I guess Republican theory of politics goes a little like this: if we’re talking about something the government could do in the future, the government is completely wrong at all times. But if we’re talking about something government has done, especially regarding national security, the government is infallible.
Under pressure from Republicans, Van Jones resigned today for signing a petition saying he wanted a formal inquiry about the apparent inconsistencies in the official story of 9/11 and its subsequent cover-up.
This is a pretty crazy viewpoint – having further questions about an investigation where Bush cronies were put in charge of investigating the Bush administration. After all, as the petition he signed in 2004 states, “on August 31, 2004, Zogby International, the official North American political polling agency for Reuters, released a poll that found nearly half (49.3%) of New York City residents and 41% of those in New York state believe US leaders had foreknowledge of impending 9/11 attacks and ‘consciously failed’ to act. Of the New York City residents, 66% called for a new probe of unanswered questions by Congress or the New York Attorney General.”
Yeah, that’s way out there to agree with half to two-thirds of New Yorkers. Certainly worth resigning over.
What’s funny is that this petition asked pretty benign questions about 9/11. Questions like:
1. Why were standard operating procedures for dealing with hijacked airliners not followed that day?
2. Why were the extensive missile batteries and air defenses reportedly deployed around the Pentagon not activated during the attack?
3. Why did the Secret Service allow Bush to complete his elementary school visit, apparently unconcerned about his safety or that of the schoolchildren?
4. Why hasn’t a single person been fired, penalized, or reprimanded for the gross incompetence we witnessed that day?
5. Why haven’t authorities in the U.S. and abroad published the results of multiple investigations into trading that strongly suggested foreknowledge of specific details of the 9/11 attacks, resulting in tens of millions of dollars of traceable gains?
Decidedly missing were questions like:
1. Why were the twin towers the first steel-frame buildings in history to be reported as collapsing from fire (in less than an hour, no less!), requiring the development of new physics “theories” to explain this unprecedented behavior of matter?
2. Why did WTC building 7, housing the entire records of the Securities & Exchange Commission, collapse without even experiencing significant fire?
3. Why, if the US was caught so totally unaware and revealed in detail to be incompetent and neglectful in the face of 9/11, has the same country been suddenly rendered able to pre-empt every subsequent attempt at terrorism despite constant tests and studies revealing that a semi-competent fifth-grader could get a bomb on a plane?
I mean, the petition didn’t even ask hard questions, just very basic non-inflammatory ones.
In any case, questioning the official story of 9/11 has become like believing in zombies for the mainstream media, regardless of how many people hold these questions or how logically valid the questions may be. Also, when did calling for an investigation become tantamount to criminally insane behavior? Isn’t the whole point of an investigation subjecting ideas to rigorous study to reveal a provable truth?
Of course, Van Jones is no victim here. In attempting to defend himself (or Obama, or both) early on, he retracted his own action, which is my least favorite political move of all-time. Don’t say you didn’t understand a damn petition that you signed, man. Just have the guts to defend what you did.
It’s right up there with saying that one misspoke when on a taped, rehearsed media appearance. Just because something is politically less than palatable does not mean it didn’t happen nor that you didn’t mean for it to happen.
If you need me, I’ll be questioning why this “democracy” concept is so highly touted in the first place.
