Re: OT: Olbermann slams Bush, Cheney, ABC on 9-11


Huck Kennedy wrote:
Keith Olbermann delivered both barrels to President
Bush et al. last night on Countdown on MSNBC, for
using 9-11 as a wedge issue to divide Americans. And
also a jab at ABC for their ridiculous RNC shill piece
on 9-11 masquerading as a "docu-drama." As far as
I'm concerned, Mr. Olbermann is rapidly becoming
a national treasure: Not only does he have a remarkably
clear vision, but also the courage to express it while
most other journalists timidly just beat around the
bush (pun not intended.)

I've read this about three times now, and each
time I pick up something new. What a powerful piece.

Huck

Thank you for sharing, Huck. I had not seen or read this speech before,
but am now glad that I have. Keith Olberman (I still think of him as
the Sports Center guy) is obviously very gifted with words. This is
the reason I rarely attempt to weigh in on political issues in public
forums - there is always someone out there who can express my feelings
in a far more eloquent way!

This year I did not watch anything on television related to 9/11/01. I
did not even read the newspaper articles about the public remembrance
events. I did not want to hear the media try to influence my memories
and or tell me what 9/11 meant to me as an individual so they can sell
advertisement space on their broadcasts and in their magazines. I also
did not want to hear politicians on both side of the fence spin the
events to make themselves appear more sympathetic and less responsible
than their opponents.

9/11 was a tragic event which affected people of all ages, political
affiliations, races, religions, and income levels. The family members
and friends of the victims mourn for their lost loved ones as mothers,
fathers, children, spouses, siblings and friends, not as Republicans,
Democrats, Greens or Libertarians.

I have often wondered why the deaths of these three thousand or so
people killed in the World Trade Center, Pentagon and aboard those four
airplanes seem more important to us than the deaths of anyone else.
Really, they are no more or less tragic than any other untimely deaths
caused by crime, disease, or accident.

However, the sheer scale of the events of 9/11 obviously burned a hole
in the collective consciousness of people in the United States and
around the world. Before 9/11/01 we knew that we could be killed in a
car accident, or natural disaster, or even by gunfire ina sketchy
neighborhood. But most of us in our relatively safe country were naïve
enough to think a day at the office would not be fatal.

In our modern world of long commutes and electronic gadgets, I think
that people longed to connect with each other through a shared personal
experience that September. It is a shame that many have not been able
to hold on to that realization that we are all connected and are more
alike than we are different. I don't think the unity that day came
from uniting against common enemies (it is a quite a struggle to
identify who exactly the enemies are and to truly understand what
motivates them). I believe instead that the unity was the result of
people all over the world realizing that despite our differences in
ideologies and daily lives, we can all relate to the fear experienced
by those trying to escape, the personal sorrows of those who lost loved
ones, and all look up to the heroes who worked so hard to save others
that day, often at the cost of their own lives. And that is what makes
us (well, most of us anyway) human beings.

Christine Elowitt

.

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