Thursday, October 26, 2006

We Were Never United

[The following article first appeared in the Roanoke Times on September 21, 2006]

Post-9/11 Unity Was Shattered Early
By Jerry Fuhrman

Sept. 10. A significant date in history in a way, the day many of us recognize now as one of innocence, when we were still able to see ourselves living in an insulated cosmos, a Bill Clinton world of make-believe in which those depraved Islamist souls who want us all slaughtered were still skulking in distant and isolated regions of the planet, gangsters -- seemingly -- who deserved only the occasional cruise missile and a word or two of disapprobation from our State Department. Sept. 10. The day before Clinton's fanciful world of illusion came crashing down.

It was on that same date, five years later, that columnist Frank Rich, writing in The New York Times, asked the following important question: "Whatever happened to the America of 9/12?" The first sentence in his thought-provoking article is most telling: "The destruction of post-9/11 unity, both in this nation and in the world, is as much a cause for mourning on the fifth anniversary as the attack itself."

In response to Rich's question, Fox News commentator Fred Barnes said, more out of indignation than thoughtfulness probably, that we, as a nation, have never in fact been united since 9/11, that the left in this country has been in opposition to our every move since that very day.

He has a point. But Barnes is wrong. It's fair to say, as Rich implies, that unity in this country did exist on 9/12/01 and that it was subsequently, rapidly, predictably destroyed. By Frank Rich's pals.

Just as significant as Rich's use of the word "unity" is his decision to tie it to the occasion of our mourning. For a time after 9/11, this nation truly was united -- in grief. Initially it was more shock than grief, followed quickly by an overwhelming sense of national sorrow. There was even a brief period of international bereavement, as expressed in Jean-Marie Colombani's famous Le Monde headline of Sept. 12, 2001, "We Are All Americans."

It is just as significant that Frank Rich is still in mourning five years after the tragic murder of innocents in New York City, Arlington and in a cornfield in Pennsylvania. For most Americans, feelings of grief were replaced with thoughts of revenge. Self-preservation. Our children and grandchildren. Defense of the homeland. Resolve.

We declared war. And we left the Frank Riches of the world in the graveyard.

The signs of disunity became apparent early on. While the fires still burned -- literally. Little more than a week after that fateful day, leftist columnist and New York City resident Katha Pollitt wrote in The Nation, "My daughter ... thinks we should fly an American flag out our window. Definitely not, I say: The flag stands for jingoism and vengeance and war."

A week later, another rabid leftist, Susan Sontag, wrote in The New Yorker, "The disconnect between last Tuesday's monstrous dose of reality and the self-righteous drivel and outright deceptions being peddled by public figures and TV commentators is startling, depressing. The unanimously applauded, self-congratulatory bromides of a Soviet Party Congress seemed contemptible. The unanimity of the sanctimonious, reality-concealing rhetoric spouted by American officials and media commentators in recent days seems, well, unworthy of a mature democracy."

Frank Rich might take note: Susan Sontag, presumably one of his Upper West Side cocktail party pals at the time, had only scorn for America's unity.

Want to know what happened to that unity of 9/12, Frank? Talk to your friends and neighbors.

The rest of us remember that those cries for disunity began before we fired a shot in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks. Before President Bush declared war on Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. Before Saddam Hussein was driven into a rat hole. Before we were able to recover the bodies of our 343 heroic firemen and 2,404 other innocent men, women and children.

At the same time that tens of thousands of America's best and brightest young men and women enlisted in the fight against those who seek the destruction of our way of life, Frank Rich's ilk turned their heads in contempt.

Yes, we are disunited. So be it. We will win this war in spite of their worst efforts.

Friday, October 20, 2006

A Note To All My Friends And Colleagues

You know how annoying it can be when someone never returns your call. You know what's even more annoying?

When someone sends me an email that reads, "Great idea. We should discuss. Call me."

I will tell you right now, I'll never call. I don't care who you are. I don't care how many years go by. I don't care if you're on life support and you need my liver. If your house is burning down and your litter of puppies is trapped inside.

My usual email response: "Your fingers are broken? You can't pick up a phone and dial?"

If you want to talk to me on the phone, don't send me a message to call you. CALL.

Sheesh.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

On Treason And Those Who Promote It

[The following article originally appeared in the Roanoke Times on September 14, 2006] 

What's a Proper Punishment?
By Jerry Fuhrman

It can be said without too much exaggeration that Adam Gadahn is a member in good standing of the angry left in this country.

Born 27 years ago to hippie parents in Orange County, Calif., he and his sister were raised in an anti-war (and anti-electricity, anti-indoor plumbing) household where he learned a trade that proved to be of considerable value in later life. He and his father made a living by "humanely" slaughtering goats (by slitting their throats in ceremonial fashion), and by selling the prepared carcasses to the local Muslim community as food.

His expertise apparently has taken him -- as best the FBI can tell -- to Pakistan, where he interacts with al-Qaida's top terrorists today, and where his throat-slitting skills presumably are greatly appreciated. You may have seen Gadahn's photo on TV the other day. He was the young man shown on the Al Jazeera video, in full beard and Muslim raiment, along with the world's second most villainous terrorist -- Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

Gadahn created quite a stir when he sent the following message to our fighting men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan: " ... we invite all Americans and other unbelievers to Islam, wherever they are, and whatever their role and status in Bush and Blair's world order. And we send a special invitation to all of you fighting Bush's crusader pipe dream in Afghanistan, Iraq and wherever else 'W' has sent you to die. You know the war can't be won and that the condition of America's war machine is going from bad to worse. You know you're considered by Bush and his bunch of warmongers as nothing more than expendable cannon fodder -- a means to an end."

"You know the war can't be won." "Bad to worse." "Cannon fodder." From the lips of an enemy intent on slaughtering our children and grandchildren.

A number of pundits drew a parallel after the video aired between Gadahn and one William Joyce. For those not around during World War II, Joyce, known as "Lord Haw Haw," was another traitor to his country. Born in the U.S., he subsequently moved to England where, in adulthood, he took up fascism -- the hippie fad of the day -- only to flee the country in 1939 to avoid arrest.

Eventually settling in Hamburg, he became a naturalized German citizen. From there, Joyce began broadcasting radio messages back to England and to troops fighting the Nazis on the continent, telling the allies that all hope was lost, that the SS and Wehrmacht were crushing the American and British troops on the battlefield, that Nazism was the inexorable way of the future, etc.

Sounds disturbingly like Gadahn, yes?

So now the question becomes: What do we do with this traitor? What should we do with a man who tells us that all hope is lost and who seeks our defeat? What's to be done with a man who says, "The global war on terror has become a global war of error. Attacking or threatening countries which did not attack us. Bombing neighborhoods to save neighborhoods. Committing atrocities in the name of stopping atrocities"?

What do we do with someone who denigrates the service of our brave soldiers by saying, "You would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners."

What should happen to a man who says the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong"?

When he says, "And there is no reason ... that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children ... "?

I should tell you, those last four quotes actually came from influential Washington Democrats, not from Adam Gadahn. Tough to differentiate between them, isn't it? So what should be done with these perfidious defeatists in our midst? In the case of William Joyce, Lord Haw Haw was captured at the end of WWII, was tried and was summarily executed.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

A New Business Comes To SW Virginia

To all you firemen and emergency medical professionals out there: Looking for the high quality equipment and accessories that your department doesn't furnish?

To those of you who are in purchasing for your local fire department: Looking for a broad assortment and great prices on firefighting equipment?

To those of you who will be looking for that ideal Christmas gift for that firefighter son, daughter, wife, or father: Wondering where you can find it?

Brand names like Rescue Tech, LaCrosse, Thorogood, Streamlight, MSA, and Gerber.

Books, statuettes, posters, paintings, knives, T-shirts, flashlights, stethoscopes ...

Look no further. First Due: Fire/EMS Gear has opened up in Salem (just off I-81, mile marker 141). As the owner (and full-time Roanoke firefighter) Jarrod Fuhrman will tell you, First Due is:

Southwest Virginia's newest dealer of products tailored to the specific needs of public safety personnel. If you are in the market for a new helmet, boots, gloves, goggles, fire service books, EMS supplies, collectibles, apparel, etc., then come by, call us, or shop right here. We are here to help you stay SAFE, EDUCATED AND PREPARED. 

Disclaimer: I am a devoted fan of the owner (and related by DNA)

Saturday, October 14, 2006

America's Largest?

Someone needs to look this up. I'm on the 17th floor of the Radisson in downtown Indianapolis this morning. I'm looking out the window on a civil war memorial in the city's center that towers perhaps another ten stories above my elevation.

Is this the tallest Civil War monument in America? If not, it has to be close.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Lives Wrecked And For What?

[The following article originally appeared in the Roanoke Times on Thursday, September 7, 2006.]

In The Wake Of The Storm
By Jerry Fuhrman
"During a long conversation with a senior administration official, I asked why [Joe] Wilson was assigned the mission to Niger. He said Wilson had been sent by the CIA's counterproliferation section at the suggestion of one of its employees, his wife." Columnist Robert Novak, Oct. 1, 2003

"Who had so badly served the president? Who Valerie [Plame] was and what she did, or who I was and what I did, were merely the administration's means of obfuscating the real issue and confusing the public. The White House was trying to fling dust into the eyes of the press and public while descending into what a Republican staffer on the Hill later called a 'slime-and-defend' mode." Former ambassador Joe Wilson, "The Politics of Truth," April 2004

"What did President Bush know about the Valerie Plame leak, and when did he know it? Is it possible that he and Vice President Cheney, along with most of Bush's inner circle, could have known about this plot to exact retribution on Ambassador Wilson at the expense of national security? Is it possible that President Bush or Vice President Cheney could have been involved themselves?" Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter, July 22, 2005

"Cheney aide Libby is indicted," Washington Post headline, Oct. 29, 2005


"If [President Bush] leaked the name, you could be hung for that! That's treason! You could be killed! They shoot you on the battlefield for that!" Hollywood luminary and future Democratic nominee for President Ben Affleck, April 7, 2006

"As most of us have long suspected, the man who told Novak about Valerie Plame was Richard Armitage, Colin Powell's deputy at the State Department and, with his boss, an assiduous underminer of the president's war policy. Armitage identified himself to Colin Powell as Novak's source before the Fitzgerald inquiry had even been set on foot. The whole thing could -- and should -- have ended right there." Columnist Christopher Hitchens, Aug. 29, 2006

"Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush's closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously." Washington Post editorial, Sept. 1, 2006

Unfortunate? Perhaps. But for whom?

Valerie Plame has a book deal with Simon & Schuster estimated to be worth seven figures. Joe Wilson saw his memoirs (cited above) skyrocket to the top on a number of bestseller lists. And the two of them are sought-after guests at elitist Washington cocktail/Bush-bash parties.
Wilson's reputation is mud, but a bad reputation beats none at all, which is what he had prior to launching himself into the national political debate with his string of lies.

Colin Powell, ostensible friend and erstwhile ally to President Bush, should have come forward to stop this madness if he had maintained an ounce of integrity and any sense of loyalty. Instead, he sat back and watched this sordid saga play out. Why? His reasons are known only to himself.

Richard Armitage, Powell's No. 2 in the State Department and close friend, is silent. He, too, could have come to the aid of Bush, Cheney and Karl Rove, who have been implicated in this pack of lies. And he could have prevented Lewis Libby's indictment had he simply spoken up. He didn't. Look for his book to hit the stands any day.

No. Certainly none of these participants was damaged by this non-scandal. Who, then, lost?

Scooter Libby, of course, has lost everything, both in terms of his reputation and in the pocketbook. Not to mention the fact that his career has been forever destroyed.

The president and his closest allies have been damaged, to be sure, by "Plamegate," as was intended by those in the media and in the Democratic Party who plotted for it to be so.

But the big losers in this condemnable affair? Besides all those journalists and editorialists who really don't care? Us, for having been taken in by this pack of lies and liars.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

A Village In Mourning

Work brings me to Lancaster, PA this evening. As I write this, I'm situated about ten miles as the crow flies from Nickel Mines, the small Amish town that fell victim yesterday to that monster who tied up and shot ten little girls, the youngest being six, killing five of them.

The entire local news was devoted to the crime and its aftermath. The Amish are a very inward people and shun, apparently, attention from the outside world. I feel for them in a number of ways.

My guess is the town is plagued with tourists today. But I'll not be one of them. They need to heal without people gawking at them.

For me, it's on to Philadelphia in the morning.

Those poor kids ...