Wanna join the discussion on the crimson letters page? You know people from all over the world, many uppity types but not all, come to Harvard and end up reading the Crimson. A group of people to whom all things "conspiracy" related are taboo and a sign of intellectual dishonesty. Chat in front of them about 9/11. Like you should be doing on the bus or subway, talking casually with a friend about 9/11 in a voice loud enough to hear but not so loud as to be obnoxious. First impressions count so dress nice, truthers!

In addition to the article below I have this blog thread running.

Fear and Patriotism
Dick Cheney’s administration is a Department of Euphemism
Published On Thursday, March 15, 2007 11:14 PM
By PETER C. D. MULCAHY

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=517739

never mind the article, skip to the comments below

Reader Comments
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RE: Fear and Patriotism

Nicely done.

Let's not forget how unqualified Cheney and Bush are to speak for any fighting man or woman, given their own evasion of military and combat service. Having pulled every string to remain safely away from the fighting in Vietnam, they now force multiple combat tours on young men and woman who have already done more than enough to support the fraudulent occupation of Iraq.*

And remember how disdainful the administration has been of our troops' safety, failing to equip them with proper armor for their woefully unprotected bodies and Humvees. It must have really boosted our soliders' morale when Rumsfield dismissed their concerns by claiming "you go to war with the army you've got." Easy to say when you're not the one getting shot and blown up.

The Walter Reed debacle is just more of the same. The administration put our gallant soldiers in harm's way so Bush could assume the mantle and powers of "wartime president," then used the troops' "sacrifices" to justify even more deaths and maimings, assaulted the loyalty of good citizens who dared to question the insanity of it all, and then abandoned our physically and mentally broken soldiers after they came home to heal. Once they served their purpose, the administration cast them aside.

This would be continuing if the administration still controlled Congress. Subpoenas are now flying and fall guys are falling. But Nero is still fiddling, and the music isn't pretty.

(*It was only a war for about two weeks.)

Posted by UJ | 3/16/2007 9:27:11 AM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
continue to ignore the obvious fact that 9/11 was engineered by this administration and its allies in order to launch all of these illegal wars in the first place? How evil is Cheney? Evil enough to do everything you say but not evil enough to sign off on a plan to kill Americans in order to justify these wars for incredible amounts of money? If you continue to give them a free pass on 9/11 you are not a patriot. Period.

Posted by a true patriot | 3/16/2007 9:43:12 AM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism

TP, how about we stick with facts and reasoned arguments and stay away from name calling? Neither Cheney nor anyone else gets to decide who is or isn't a "patriot." Framed in such terms, the debate devolves into whose flagpole is longer. I'd suggest there can and should be a wide divergence of views among people who love this country. Whatever your beliefs, stepping into the debate should be evidence enough of your "patriotism."

Posted by UJ | 3/16/2007 10:03:14 AM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
it is about time someone just came out and said the plain truth! this article says it all! Dick Cheney should be removed from office as he has been exposed for what he is, his deceptive manipulation should be stopped as it has not only disgraced the office it has killed over 3000 soldiers and affected untold lives. All from a man that took 5 deferrments to avoid fighting himself! he seems to have no problem sending others in to risks they're lives yet cowered when it came to him serving, disgracful! This is not what america deserves from our vice president. we deserve better than this and especially our service men and women... his lies and statments that if you debate the bush administration then you are unpatriotic are unbelievable! REMOVE CHENEY!

Posted by craig | 3/16/2007 10:14:52 AM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
You miss the point UJ. Joining the debate is not enough--plenty of people join the debate just to lie and attempt to defend their agenda. The proof is in the pudding, and those who have eaten enough of the pudding have found that what's in there is not a pretty sight. For this we are shunned, insulted, threatened, and called names. I and others are tired of the faux debates that pass for political discussions in this country. 5 years ago we were attacked, and not by Arab Muslims. 5 years we have been using that attack as an excuse to allow our so-called leaders to hem and haw as war crimes are committed in our name.

No, UJ, the time for "everyone's voice is equal" is over. People who lie, or who refuse to acknowledge by now obvious truths, do not deserve to call themselves patriots.

Reopen the 9/11 investigation now!

Posted by a true patriot | 3/16/2007 11:37:45 AM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
The above comments: further proof that Cambridge is crazy

Posted by anonymous | 3/16/2007 11:58:21 AM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism

TP: Whatever, man. Knock yourself out.

Posted by UJ | 3/16/2007 12:14:39 PM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
care to elaborate? what's crazy here? concern for national security and honesty in reporting? please, try to put your concerns into words instead of resorting to insults so early in the discussion!

Posted by crazy cantabrigian | 3/16/2007 12:18:30 PM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
Sorry UJ, I don't understand your point. Do you disagree with anything in particular?

Posted by a true patriot | 3/16/2007 12:20:15 PM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
Here's why you all are nuts:

Granted, Cheney is a liar. He's an asshole who has manipulated our government and our public into an unwise war. And yes, he is a coward.

BUT, this essentially adds up to the conclusion that he's a politician. Not to be too cynical, but are you actually that shocked that the VP lied?

And, more importantly, to resort to fantastical claims that he planned 9/11 and should be "removed now" is simply ridiculous. Maybe he did plan 9/11, but the fact of the matter is that you don't have any proof. Your radical calls of impeachment undermine an otherwise largely valid argument. It's liberals like you who discredit those of us who try to argue against certain policies with measured reason, not hysterical emotion.

Posted by anonymous | 3/16/2007 1:38:27 PM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
I never said Cheney planned 9/11, but he was definitely in the know. As for proof that the truth behind 9/11 has been covered up, it's perfectly obvious when you look at what happened to WTC building 7--it was imploded. Watch the building fall and tell me why else it has been more than 5 years and no one has any explanation other than demolition with explosives for why it collapsed. The fact is that Cheney and many many others know this, millions of Americans know this. This is not about partisan politics and getting rid of Cheney--it is MUCH bigger, and you'll soon have egg on your face and crow on your plate--enjoy!

Posted by a true patriot | 3/16/2007 1:58:14 PM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
anonymous: #1, you really took the bait. #2, measured reason is indeed something to which you should aspire.

Posted by UJ | 3/16/2007 2:43:16 PM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
Ay ay ay. First of all I'm not a "liberal", and I reject labels anyway. One man's measured reason is another man's nonsense to be sure. When I see a 47 story building fall into itself in 6.5 seconds, my reason tells me it was destroyed intentionally with explosives, as we saw most recently with the stardust in las vegas. Controlled demolitions don't happen every day, but they happen on a regular basis and we know what they look like--coincidentally exactly what WTC7 looks like. My measured reason tells me that such things don't happen as a result of random fire and debris damage. Can buildings collapse without human intervention? Sure. In the manner that building 7 did? No. Look up yourself to see what kind of investigation was done into the reasons for that building's collapse, and you will find that 5 years after the fact, millions of tax dollars are still being spent by the government trying to come up with an even remotely plausible series of events that could explain what we can see clearly with our eyes. Many people feel that the collpase of that building is suspicious, and with very good cause. I invite poeple to watch the collapse of building 7 (googling it will do you good so I won't bother posting a link--it's EVERYWHERE.

Watch that video and then get back to the discussion. The entire official story can be impugned by proving beyond question that a part of it is a gross and blatant lie. If building 7 was brought down with explosives in a controlled demolition as the official (politically acceptable per the corporate media) conspiracy theory contends.

I know for a fact how many smart people there are at harvard (i'm an alum)and that the vast majority of them are going to be able to look at the video of building 7 and know that what I'm saying is true.

Proceed to infantilize the discussion if it suits your need/desires/purpose.

The rest I invite to join the debate of their lives! History made in our lifetimes... who knew!

Posted by measured reason | 3/16/2007 3:44:32 PM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
To the conspiracy theorists out there, building 7 housed emergency fuel tanks. In other words, yes, it did have a large amount of explosives inside of it, but this was supposed to be used to power back-up generators and happened to be ignited during fires subsequent to the collapse of the two towers.

It's debates like these that cause people to ridicule critics, as every well-reasoned, well-written critique get hijacked by loons who make radical claims with no evidence.

Posted by anon | 3/16/2007 8:18:34 PM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
“David Ray Griffin’s Debunking 9/11 Debunking is a superb compendium of the strong body of evidence showing the official U.S. Government story of what happened on September 11, 2001 to be almost certainly a monstrous series of lies. Tragically, the entire course of U.S. foreign and domestic policies since that date has grown out of these almost certain falsehoods. This single book could (and should) provide the basis for the United Nations? International Court of Justice, or some specially constituted global body (independent of the U.S.) to investigate with highest priority, and publicly report its findings about, the charge that unknown elements within the U.S. Government, and possibly some individuals elsewhere closely allied to the U.S., caused or contributed to causing the events of September 11 to happen.”---Bill Christison, former senior official of the CIA.

“Considering how the 9/11 tragedy has been used by the Bush administration to propel us into immoral wars again and again, I believe that David Ray Griffin's provocative questions about 9/11 deserve to be investigated and addressed.”—-Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States

"Professor Griffin is the nemesis of the 9/11 cover-up. This new book destroys the credibility of the NIST and Popular Mechanics reports and annihilates his critics."---Paul Craig Roberts, Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury during the Reagan administration

Available at Amazon

Posted by reviews of latest good 9/11 book to come out | 3/16/2007 9:06:12 PM | Report this comment

RE: Fear and Patriotism
According to the Bush administration and the U.S. State Department's "conspiracy theory debunking" page, FEMA concluded that Building 7 collapsed as a result of fire and damage from the falling towers (that were 300 feet away from Building 7, with another building between them.)

FEMA's report, though, only speculates as to what may have caused the collapse, reaching no firm conclusions. FEMA's mandate, moreover, seems to have been to consider every explanation for the collapse except controlled demolition.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, a division of the Department of Commerce, has delayed its own report on building 7, stating in its initial report that

The specifics of the fires in WTC 7 and how they caused the building to collapse remain unknown at this time. Although the total diesel fuel on the premises contained massive potential energy, the best hypothesis has only a low probability of occurrence. Further research, investigation, and analyses are needed to resolve this issue.
To date there has been no final report issued on the collapse of building 7, despite clear evidence that it was demolished by use of explosives.

Posted by Annoymouse | 3/16/2007 9:08:10 PM | Report this comment