Rodent Regatta

I’ve wrestled with what to say about this. While completely counter-productive to try and reason with people like Mr. Winer, I have concluded that offering no response would be unpatriotic. The cynicism (at best) and hatefulness (at worst) which motivates such comments by Howard Dean and Dave Winer should not go unchallenged. Yes, I know there’s a first amendment.

It’s that first amendment that allows me the freedom to say that their comments are moronic, motivated solely by a desire to ”win” and the frustration of not getting the recognition they whine for. To the question of how effective the efforts since 9/11/01 have been, I offer the fact that there has not been a single follow-up attack on our homeland. Agencies which previously would seal information behind layers of legal protection now share it with other agencies on a daily basis.

To the statement by Winer that ”The President lied about the connection between al Qaeda and Iraq,” I say, ”horse manure.” Winer does not know what he’s talking about, and he doesn’t know what to read, whom to listen to or how to learn the truth – on any subject. His motives are impure, his words are hateful and his thoughts are illogical.

He wants proof (and attention). The proof rests in the fact that he/we can continue to live, work, travel and prosper from coast to coast in the USA without the degrees of fear found in Baghdad, Jakarta, Jerusalem, Darfur, Kabul and countless other places around the globe. This is true in spite of the fact that the world is more dangerous today than it was just ten years ago. Yet, as Americans, our freedoms remain.

If Winer wants to be constructive, and I believe he does not, he will use his influence and his training to get his candidate (formerly Dean, now Kerry) to provide specific details of what will be done in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in the USA and anywhere else where we know that terrorists operate or find safe harbor. Some reminders are in order:

Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.

This war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion. It will not look like the air war above Kosovo two years ago, where no ground troops were used and not a single American was lost in combat. Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen.

Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.

President George W. Bush
Address to a Joint Session of Congress
and
the American People
September 20, 2001

Our President told us what he was going to do and he’s doing it. If members of Al Qaeda are shooting videos as they cut the heads off of Americans in Iraq, how is Winer able to conclude that there is no connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq? There is but one obvious answer to this question.

• * * UPDATE * * * Here’s the candidate’s own position on what some ”supporters” are saying.