One Man's Opinion

[MGB]

Published on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
A Victim's Response to 9/11's Aftermath
by Peter Flom

I'm a victim of 9/11. I was in the building when the plane hit.

Compared to some people, I was lucky: I wasn't injured. I kept my job. I got home easily. But compared to the vast majority of Americans, I am a victim. I had glass in my hair. I lost a year's work, and some irreplaceable items. My family went crazy for a while, wondering if I was OK. My kid had nightmares. You explain to a 5 year old why (in his words) "They crashed into the building on purpose?" or reply to "I thought pilots were good people".

But I am a victim another way.

I share part of this other victimhood with all Americans. I am a victim, not of terror, but of the so-called `war on terror'. I am a victim of a government that is out-of-control. I am a victim of crushing national debt. I am a victim because I live in a country that went from having the sympathy of the world to one that is a pariah, an outcast among nations, a rogue state. I am a victim because I now have to `watch what I say'. I am a victim because my rights are violated, not by some nebulous and inimical group of terrorists, but by my own government.

They do not speak for me

But in another way, I do not share this other victimhood. My victimhood is being abused.

I have watched for years as my government - our government - has whittled away my rights, stolen my freedoms, and wrecked the constitution in the name of a false security. I have watched and watched and watched, as they have used my name - my victimhood - to make me a victim once again.

They do not speak for me

So, I will post this diary, and I will take action. I will volunteer. I will give money. I will make a difference. This is MY country, this is MY victimhood, and I will not have it abused. I am no martyr; I have no death wish; I hope that no terrorist ever strikes anywhere again. But the founders of this country knew what they were doing. They wanted freedom. They DEMANDED freedom. They put their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor on the line to win freedom. And now it is reduced to this.

But it is worse even than this; it would be one thing to pay too heavy a price to increase our safety. But we have paid the price for nothing. We have arrested thousands of people, and let them go. We have spied on our own citizens, and found out nothing. We have allied ourselves with torturers, and yet, we are not safe. Indeed, by making our enemies unite, we have made ourselves weaker, and our enemies stronger.

This victim demands an end to the 'war on terror' that is really a war on America.

Impeach the president.

Peter Flom is a statistician at a nonprofit research company and an independent consultant. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and two sons.

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While I agree with the author's list of complaints, I have to wonder, impeach on what grounds?

[Gaffer]

He's not a victim, he's a whiner playing the guilt card. He's a dhimmi that wants the islamists to succeed. He's a Bush hating liberal who was probably nowhere near the WTC. He's part of the war on Bush they have been fighting since 2000.

[avatar4321]

It would be difficult to end the war on terror if you dont bother fighting the terrorists.

Why is this so difficult for people to understand? If we stop fighting, they kill us.

[MGB]

Ad hominem attacks are indicative of small minds. It is amazing to me how some people think that throwing around a few worn out code phrases passes for discussion.

Please see my signature.

[Mr. P]

....

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While I agree with the author's list of complaints, I have to wonder, impeach on what grounds?

Peter Flom is a statistician at a nonprofit research company and an independent consultant. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and two sons.

Peter is also a flaming left wing Idiot banging the impeachment drum.

[darin]

Ad hominem attacks are indicative of small minds. It is amazing to me how some people think that throwing around a few worn out code phrases passes for discussion.

Please see my signature.

Nobody, in this thread, issued ad hominem attacks.

[dirt mcgirt]

Nobody, in this thread, issued ad hominem attacks.

Just my observation but I think MGB mistook Gaffer's post as being directed at him. I think Gaffer was referring to the article.

[Gaffer]

I was referring to the article. Unless he's the guy in the article.

[5stringJeff]

While I agree with the author's list of complaints, I have to wonder, impeach on what grounds?

I disagree with most of what the author wrote, but I agree with you that there are no grounds on which to impeach Bush. The President hasn't done anything illegal.

And no one is denying this "victim" his voice in our constitutional republic. He gets one vote, just like everyone else.

[MIKESHARQ]

I THINK YOU BOTH SOUND LIKE FRENCHMEN - SO I'LL STICK THIS IN AGAIN.

MGB Seems to like a little more meat in the Fois Gras

FRANCO-AMERICAN

Folks, this is not about Spaghetti-Os; it’s not about the USA’s relationship with the dictator of Spain from 1936 to 1975; and it’s not about some mortgage company, Gardner Franco American, in Maine, that I didn’t even know existed until I started writing this.

In my 62 years, I have traveled to 39 countries and have lived and worked overseas for 12 of the last 26 years. Since my return from Iraq in 2004 and relocating to Florida, I have spoken to a lot groups and clubs. Without fail, I am always asked: (1) “what was it really like in Iraq and the Middle East?” (2) “What’s your favorite place that you’ve visited?” and (3) “what’s the place you liked least?”

There is not space here to give you the answer to number one. The answer to number two is Greece, the birthplace of Western Civilization. And the answer to number three is “if I have to pick one place as my least favorite, it would be France. It’s not that I really didn’t like France, I just can’t stand the French.”

This article is about the people and culture of France and the people and culture of America.

America owed a debt to France for their support of our Revolutionary War of Independence. “Political Correctness” ends here. And we repaid the debt to them by fighting three wars in their behalf and liberating their country twice. The debt is fully paid with interest. So I feel free to tell it like it is about the French at will.

The French, as a nation, are arrogant, lazy, liberal, immoral, cowardly, self-absorbed, prissy, hairy, and, oh did I mention, smelly little commie people. I wouldn’t drink a bottle of their Bordeaux or Perrier if I were dying of thirst. That’s called principle.

Fellow Americans, we’re on the slippery slope of becoming French. If you can’t take a little heat, and I mean conservatives, liberals, and libertarians alike, then you should probably quit reading right now.

The French became the way they are because they had a revolution and were then educated to believe in and pledge allegiance to any system that would give them some of the privileges enjoyed by the aristocracy prior 1799. All the while Western European immigrants, coming to America, were self educating themselves about what was in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and taking those few privileges and building a great nation around them.

“Fast forward” 200 years from 1799. If you understand “fast forward” then you must know about VCR and DVD players. Is use of those “toys” a privilege of the American aristocracy? Our government must think so. It takes money from taxpayers and gives it to non-taxpaying citizens and non-citizens alike to buy these toys. This is not a myth. I’ve seen it with my own two myopic eyes.

We are in a subtle revolution in America for the soul of the country and too many are sitting it out. IGM, I got mine, is the mantra of the sitters. Well, I care about my kid and grandkids. I want them and their progeny to have the opportunity to make America even better. But this takes some effort.

The froggy little leftists get out their peace signs and march in front of some of this country’s most sacred places while most do jack. The fourth estate puts the marches on TV, and many just sit there and complacently watch it. Have you risen from your recliners and done one damn thing to support our conservative troops, military or civilian?

You have my email. If you actually will support the cause, write me. I’ll help you find a way.

If all you want to do is exercise your privilege to bitch and moan, don’t hold me or mine responsible when your recliner is handed over to an orange picker, to sit in for a while, before he heads back to Monterey to get his new Social Security Stipend.

[stephanie]

Just as the article stated...

It's just one mans opinion...

He sure has all the liberal Democrat talking points down, though...

What amazes me...Is he's here five yrs later, free from any other terrorist attack, sitting in his cozy home with his family, free to come and go as he pleases.........and....Now this is the biggee........... free to write all the crap he wishes ..

[avatar4321]

Ad hominem attacks are indicative of small minds. It is amazing to me how some people think that throwing around a few worn out code phrases passes for discussion.

Please see my signature.

The only ad hominem attacks ive seen in the thread started with your post.

[CockySOB]

Is it just me, or does the article in the original post sound overly passive aggressive? How droll....

[MGB]

he's a whiner playing the guilt card. He's a dhimmi that wants the islamists to succeed. He's a Bush hating liberal who was probably nowhere near the WTC. He's part of the war on Bush they have been fighting since 2000.

No you're right, guys. Thanks for pointing out that calling someone a whiner and a dhimmi who wants islamicists to succeed and is in addition a "Bush hating liberal" followed by the unsubstantiated supposition that the author was "probably nowhere near the WTC" are all perfectly rational statements that would be recognized by any sentinent person as normal discussion points in any debate. Thanks for pointing that out. Clearly, anyone who does not espouse the party line here and drink the Kool Aid passed out daily by Rush and Bill and Ann and so forth is to be belittled and pilloried for not having "correct" thoughts.

I repeat what I said about small minded individuals. Y'all can kiss my ass.

[jillian]

He's not a victim, he's a whiner playing the guilt card. He's a dhimmi that wants the islamists to succeed. He's a Bush hating liberal who was probably nowhere near the WTC. He's part of the war on Bush they have been fighting since 2000.

Actually, I find that most of us who live within shouting distance of the WTC think Bush pissed away all of the good will we had after 9/11 and has so mishandled the so-called WOT that he has made the world a far more dangerous place than it was even on that day. As far as the impeachment thing, I think we have more important things to do to fix the messes he's made.