Sunday Not Funnies At All

Ted:

It's been 10 years since the terrorists struck the Twin Towers in New York City, killing 2,973 people of all ages, sexes, colors, and many ethnicities and religions. And today there will be little else discussed. There will be myriad television programs reliving the horror both on news and entertainment channels. There will be articles in all the newspapers and across the internet. And there will be ceremonies, both large and small.

Even now, ten years later, the attack is still a national obsession -- one could say it has sort of morphed into a very macabre American holiday. Why is this? What makes this disaster so different from the many other disasters in our history?

Some might say it is because it took the lives of so many people. That doesn't really ring true. There have been American disasters that took more lives, and yet they weren't turned into some kind of sacred day of remembrance. The Galveston hurricane killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people. The San Francisco earthquake killed between 3,000 and 6,000 people. The infamous Trail of Tears killed at least 4,000 people. And the Johnstown Flood killed 2,209 people. And yet there is no special day on the calendar on which the nation remembers these events.

Others will say it is because it was a terrorist attack on the government and people of the United States. And I'll admit that the idea of being targeted by terrorists is frightening. But wasn't the attack on Oklahoma City just 16 years ago also a terrorist attack on the government and people of the United States? It is nearly as recent as the 9/11 attack, and yet I doubt that many Americans even remember what date on the calendar that it happened.

Could the reason the 9/11 tragedy has struck such a chord with Americans be because it feeds into the innate bigotry and hatred of far too many Americans? Oklahoma City was done by white, male, christian, Americans, and that strikes too close to home for many people. After all, most of the people in power in this country (at all levels) are white, male, christian, and born in this country. Examining the Oklahoma City terrorist attack too closely would require we look in the mirror and consider the problems this country has.

But 9/11 was different. It was done by foreign, brown-skinned, muslims. It is tailor-made for the inherent bigotry of this country. It is easy to hate foreigners. It is easy to hate people of color. It is easy to hate people who believe in a different religion. To hate the terrorists of 9/11 doesn't require we look in the mirror and examine our own faults, because it is easy to tell ourselves they are "different" from us.

The sad fact is that 9/11 made it easy for too many of us to wrap ourselves in the flag and boast of a false patriotism -- and then use that to spread hatred and bigotry against muslims, immigrants, and brown-skinned people (many of whom are our fellow citizens). It has given bigotry a reason to rear its ugly head again in America -- disguised as patriotism (and even echoed in the halls of government by dishonest politicians).

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we shouldn't remember the 9/11 disaster. It was a tragedy, and we should remember the innocent people who lost their lives. But we should remember it the same way we remember other American tragedies, and not use it as an excuse to foster hatred or encourage bigotry.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was also a great tragedy, and we still remember it on a specific calendar date. But we don't use it to spread hatred of Japan, Japanese-Americans, or Shintoism. Why can't we take the bigotry out of 9/11 and remember it the same way?

Neil:

I’m sorry for the people who died on 9/11.

I’m sorry we were told to shop after 9/11 and that many of us chose to consume beyond our means.

I’m sorry that some of the financial firms in Manhattan chose to cheat people and to rip people off.

I’m sorry we sometimes used 9/11 to scapegoat Muslims and torture people.

I’m sorry we used 9/11 to start wars based on lies, kill civilians, and then treat our veterans like crap.

We had choices to make about how we would honor the dead from 9/11 and honor our soldiers fighting abroad.

I’m sorry and ashamed that this is how our nation chose to act after we were attacked by the terrorists on 9/11/01.

The good news is that we always have the ability to learn from the past, and to make better choices for the future.

Last, from William Wordsworth's "Splendour in the Grass", via my mother:

That though the radiance which was once so bright
be now forever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
of splendour in the grass, or glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind.

Rick Perry gets punked by Taiwanese animators, threatens Ron Paul

Thanks, TexTrib, for this.

Thanks to the folks over at Next Media Animation, Taiwan's premier purveyors of CGI-animated humorous political reenactments, many great moments in the life of Perry and his home state of Texas can be relived on YouTube. For example, there's the moment a snake jumped out of Karl Rove's mouth and convinced Perry to become a Republican, the time he recklessly wielded a human-sized needle full of Gardasil, his famous boxing match with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, and that awkward strip-tease performed for him by Abraham Lincoln.

Speaking of fights, what do you suppose Perry said to Ron Paul last night when he took hold of his arm and wagged a finger at his nose?

During a commercial break, Perry walked up to Paul's podium, physically grabbed Paul's wrist, and pointed at Paul's face with his other hand ...

What's that about? "Imo kick yer ass" or some variation?

Why is our governor threatening an 80-year old Congressman? Is it just because he's getting worked like a sour mop in a debate? Or is there more to it?

Update: Mediaite has more photos and more snark.

Dick gets hammered again

Greg Wythe nails Eric Dick to a utility pole the wall, again.

But there are other times when you just know the candidate is flat-out lying about their very deliberate breaking of the law. And that’s what Eric Dick is doing when he says that there are nefarious “overzealous volunteers” placing yard signs 20-feet up on utility poles. If that’s how he runs his campaign, just imagine what kind of city councilman he’d make. 

I wish someone would get a few thousand signs made and have some overzealous volunteers attach them everywhere they see a Dick sign. Those signs would say: "No More Dicks On Houston City Council".

Marc Campos also piles on Illegal Sign Dude:

The slimy fella that makes a living putting out the campaign signs had a hand in recruiting candidates to run against the City Council District H and I incumbents.  He was at City Hall yesterday with one of the challengers.  Some folks will do anything to get campaign work.  Would Democratic candidates please stop paying this fella to put out your signs?  If he hasn’t already ripped you off or double dipped on you, you’ll soon get taken for a ride.  Commentary learned his lesson an election or two ago.

In a vaguely similar appeal, this is another reason you should vote for Amy Price in At Large #4. It's obviously a different race and different candidates, but the sentiments are exactly the same.

Drought, wildfires, and the Texas legislature's budget cuts

So this must be what "being broke" looks like. So goes Texas with Rick Perry at the helm, so goes the United States.

The 82nd Legislature slashed budgets for the state's volunteer firefighters, and now those volunteers are battling the wildfires devastating Texas without the things they need to do the job.

Across the Central Texas region wildfires are placing a severe strain on firefighting resources, and much of that strain is borne by a large number of firefighters who already work for free.

"77 percent of the fire-service in Texas is made up of volunteers, and Texas is a huge state," said Chris Barron with the State Fire Marshall Association.

Barron said all of state’s volunteer firefighters purchase their equipment with money from the same budget. State lawmakers cut that budget from $25 million to $7 million during the recent legislative session.

This has left many volunteers with old or outdated equipment. Chris Barron has made it his mission to raise money for new gear, like the gear that kept volunteer Jerrid Coffin out of the hospital.

“It helps a lot. I was out there yesterday for a couple hours and I fell in a hole about four inches deep and I wasn't even burned,” he said. “If I were in my Wranglers like I normally wear, I would be burned from the waist down."

“I can only hope that the fund is restored at the next legislative session,” Barron said. “We can only hope that once they get back in session, they can see we have had extreme circumstances with droughts and they will help the fire service out. There is no guarantee that it will happen. There is no guarantee that anyone will get any reimbursement, but we are hoping that they will help us out.”

Basic gear for a volunteer firefighter costs about $200.

If you would like to learn how you could help out, visit TexasWildfireRelief.org.

Volunteer firefighters are coming out of retirement to battle the blazes burning Texas. Spending their own money so they aren't burned up while they do so.

Because the good Republican leaders of Texas refuse to consider doing anything but cutting government resources and services.

Of course it's not just Texas volunteer firefighters who are suffering from this incompetent ultraconservative management, it's also the victims of the wildfires -- the people who have lost their homes and their timber and their livestock and their livelihoods and some even their lives. We already knew the price being paid by Texas teachers and their students, as well as Texas' seniors, the poor and the hungry. It is eventually going to be all of us who pay for their pound-foolishness.

State lawmakers - led by Perry's stand against raising taxes or dipping too deeply into the state's rainy day fund - cut appropriations for the Texas Forest Service even as they had to dig for more money to meet existing expenses.

Even the supplemental spending bill they passed this year will not be enough to cover the expense of fighting fires through Aug. 31, the end of the 2010-11 fiscal period. The state agency anticipates it will need another $61 million to cover those costs.

Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said the Legislature had provided agencies the flexibility to meet emergencies with their regular budgets, and Perry is seeking federal assistance.

Ah, that damned federal government again.The same one he cursed in May, when the fires first began.

I just wish Obama had the nads to tell Rick Perry: "No more handouts!"

Let's hope that Bob Perry and James Leininger and all of those other people who have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rick Perry's campaigns through the years -- and who are being shaken down right now for contributions to his presidential run --  will click on this link and send an equally generous donation to the state's volunteer firefighters, so they don't asphyxiate or burn to death while they try to save the rest of us.

Because the rest of us are tapped out, and the fires are just going to keep on burning.

Update: More like this at Texas Kaos.