Apologies to Gabe for squishing his post, but I suspect everyone here is or was planning some kind of 9/11 memorial post. I suppose everyone may have something unique to say on the topic, whether itÂ’s their own personal memories, remembrance of friends or family members lost that day, geopolitics or whatever.

I think Gabe put things into perspective, and quite eloquently: It is about remembrance of that terrible day, and the many terrible days that followed. However, hereÂ’s where IÂ’ll respectfully disagree with him (and I know his heartÂ’s in the right place): I donÂ’t see it as an indulgence or anything he should be embarrassed about. In fact, quite the opposite. By remembering these events we also remember those who lost their lives, and in a way they live on through us.

They shouldnÂ’t be forgotten, whether they were innocent victims going about their daily lives or those who rushed forward into danger in order to save others (and I include the Flight 93 passengers who stormed the cockpit in that last desperate attempt plus numerous people within both towers and the Pentagon who sacrificed their lives).

Often times you hear speeches given at memorials for firefighters, soldiers, police officers etc. where itÂ’s said that they did such and such without without regard for their lives. Well, no, thatÂ’s not quite how it works. They had regard for their lives. They had families and friends who they wanted to see again. Kids that they wanted to watch grow up. BBQs and weddings to attend. They didnÂ’t want to dieÂ…they wanted to return home to these things at the end of the day. And they were frightened of what they were facing, with good reason.

But they fought their way through that and advanced anyway, even as those thoughts plagued them and basic human instinct told them to run the other way. ThatÂ’s my definition of heroic. (I should also mention that there were numerous accounts of similar actions attributed to the people who were in the towers when they were attacked).

So thatÂ’s where IÂ’m coming from on this account: Remembrance, and not just a single day of the year. In a way, I think we almost owe it to them. It's not just ghoulish or prurient interest, rubbernecking or whatever. It just seems that as a nation we have a short attention span,

And it doesn't help that the MFM/MSM tends to sanitize things like this, to gloss it over as if it's some abstract thing that happened in ancient history: "And we musn't get those rednecks all flustered about these things...we must provide the filter and nuance since they don't understand the subtleties of the matter. There are two sides to this story and both are equally valid. We must provide the narrative"

Fuck that nonsense. I want to be reminded every single day of what happened to us. And reminded of those who paid for that with their lives.

And again, no offense intended to Gabe. I understand and am sympathetic to his views on the matter.

IÂ’d planned to just tack on some quick thoughts and extra links to his post but I ended up practically writing a novel. It didnÂ’t seem right to do that but hereÂ’s another 9/11 post. More thoughts later though, maybe in the ONT (plus additional links).

HereÂ’s the CNN live broadcasts from that day:

17 more of them below the fold. Assuming I don't crash the blog that is.

more...

Posted by: Genghis at 05:45 AM | Comments (243)
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Though I think of it often, I do not -- except once a year -- re-read or re-watch the original 9/11 coverage. It is so fraught, so guaranteed to induce tears, that I'm embarrassed by the indulgence. My once-yearly exception is on the anniversary.

MSNBC will show its original 9/11/01 coverage unedited, uninterrupted from 8:57 to noon. I will watch it on television just as it happened, just as I watched it nine years ago and every year since 2006.

I will look at The Falling Man and The Flag Rises. I will marvel at the way contemporary news articles covered events that have now become modern legend.

And I will read other people's memorials from that day.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 09:29 PM | Comments (241)
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WORLD EXCLUSIVE! SHOCKING PHOTOS OF ACE AT BLOGCON!!!

(below the fold)

The Vortex Cannon:

We donÂ’t know what it is, but we wants it:

Posted by: Genghis at 06:24 PM | Comments (774)
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I know, it's DrewM's gig, but he's face down in a bar ditch with three bodies and a crappy alibi.

It's almost as if they're offering an opinion on new media, ain't it?

via The Only Important Man Up In That Lighting Booth.

also, wow, I'm slow, I just caught the "West Side Story" reference. Who knew that was popular in Taipei?

Not me.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 05:10 PM | Comments (188)
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Since I don't know how to format this I'll just try and enter a link.

Here's an Ann Coulter column linked because of one perfect line.
"In the druidical religion of liberalism, not separating your recyclables is a sin, but abortion is just a medical procedure."

Posted by: Open Blogger at 03:53 PM | Comments (345)
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I'm at BlogCon, where twice people declared it was a banned topic due to earlier angry discussion.

Crowning Castle as a RINO par excellence has also led to some distortions. Anyone who even briefly scans some of the comment pages about the Castle-O'Donnell race will soon run into comments declaring that Castle is well to the left of many, if not most, Democrats and has a voting record like that of Barack Obama. You might be told by some talkers that Castle voted for Obamacare (when he actually voted against it), and some campaign advertising suggests that Castle wants to keep Obamacare (when he actually is a cosponsor of the legislation that would repeal Obamacare). The truth is that Castle is a moderate Republican, who has sometimes voted with the left but often with the right.

It probably worth noting that this isn't a final, apocalyptic battle between false Beltway insiders and true, Republican conservatives. (I tend to think that that notion of a supposed battle has a whiff of opportunism about it.) This is one primary race, which is not just about the clash of movements but about the personalities, principles, and policies of distinct individuals. Though some seem to believe that supporting Mike Castle makes you a charlatan who has surrendered any principles for the sake of power, it is also possible to find virtues in Mike Castle (of which electability is one). Likewise, backing Christine O'Donnell does not make you a wild-eyed fanatic. There are legitimate reasons for backing either candidate, as William A. Jacobson reminds us.

As this primary enters the final (perhaps even more poisonous) final days, it is worth remembering the virtues of rhetorical moderation and intellectual charity, on and off the campaign trail.

Worth reading in full; he has a lot of links embedded in his post.

Posted by: Ace at 09:00 AM | Comments (1177)
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Finally.

In 2007, Army Specialist (now Staff Sergeant) Salvatore Giunta and seven other paratroopers were ambushed while moving along a ridge at night in Afghanistan.

As gunfire and grenades erupted, the paratrooper's medic, Spec. Hugo Mendoza, was hit in the leg and bled to death. A round struck Staff Sgt. Erick Gallardo in the helmet, knocking him down.

Giunta was also knocked flat and rolled into a washed-out rut for cover. But then he saw Gallardo ahead of him on the trail and lunged forward, dodging enemy fire to reach the staff sergeant, who survived.

Further ahead on the trail was Army Spec. Franklin Eckrode, seriously wounded and stuck with a jammed machine gun. Giunta and two other paratroopers jumped up and rushed to his aid, headlong into the Taliban ambush, returning fire and tossing grenades as they ran.

As the two paratroopers reached Eckrode and stopped to help, Giunta kept going. Over the ridgeline, he saw two Taliban fighters dragging away Sgt. Joshua Brennan, who had taken the brunt of the fire as the lead paratrooper on the trail. Brennan had been shot in the jaw, the back and several other places. Although badly wounded, the Taliban wanted to take him hostage.

Giunta killed one of them and fought off the other.

Only six Medals of Honor have been awarded to those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, all posthumously. Conspicous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty.

more...

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:50 AM | Comments (99)
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I think I've made it pretty clear I'm not a real big fan of the whole Koran burning thing. What I'm even less of a fan of is government coercion of legitimate, if abhorrent speech.

FBI agents visited Thursday with a minister of a small Florida church that plans to burn the Quran on Sept. 11, as public safety became a paramount concern and President Barack Obama added his voice to the chorus of opposition.

...The FBI spent about a half hour talking with Jones, but church spokesman Wayne Sapp would not disclose what they discussed. Agents leaving the church wouldn't talk to an Associated Press reporter.

Jones said earlier this week that agents have visited him twice since he announced his plans in July, the last visit about two weeks ago.

Now, I suppose it's possible Jones is caught up in something else unrelated to the Koran burning plans that has the legitimate interest of the FBI. However given the nature of this story and the unprecedented involvement of government officials in this matter (more in a minute on that), I think AG Holder and/or President Obama need to come out right away and make it clear that federal law enforcement officers are not being used to intimidate Jones.

Jonah Goldberg made a great point last night on FNC's Special Report...a lot of people went nuts right after 9/11 when Ari Fleischer said, "all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do." (follow the link for Hitchens' take down of the faux hysteria). Now however it's the policy of this administration to have figures such as the head of the NATO mission in Afghanistan, the Secretary of State, the President of the United States of America weigh in on the wisdom of Americans exercising their First Amendment rights. The Secretary of Defense even called Jones to personally discuss the situation with him.

I've gone quite a bit over the last two days about the double standards employed by the left about Islam and the delicate sensibilities of Muslims who are peaceful unless you know, they aren't, but the idea the government is mobilizing to talk someone out of protesting and suddenly FBI agents show up is truly outrageous.

How about the Obama administration do it's damn job and protect Americans who do dumb things but are exercising their legal rights. That's why we have a government in the first place. Stop lecturing some kook in Florida about what they should and should not do and make it clear to everyone around the world, sensitive and extremest Muslims included, that we do and say what we want here in the US and if you have a problem with that, tough shit.

I hope Congressman Daryl Issa adds this to his list of things to investigate come January of next year.

Until it's clear that the FBI was there on unrelated matters, I'm not giving this administration the benefit of the doubt.

Update [Gabe]: Ann Coulter's column today is on FI-YA. As they say, read the whole thing.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:47 AM | Comments (259)
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Eesh, this is getting a little embarrassing, no?

Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) awarded three scholarships from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to his stepdaughter and wifeÂ’s niece between 2003 and 2005, according to records from the non-profit group.

Bishop is the second Democrat found to have funneled Congressional Black Caucus Foundation scholarship funds to relatives, threatening to turn the program into a larger political problem for the party. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) recently paid back $31,000 to the foundation for scholarships that she improperly awarded to various relatives and children of a top staffer.

Bishop stupidly protests: it wasn't explicitly against the rules until 2008 to direct the charity scholarships to family members. Ninja. Please. He used the CBC scholarship fund as source of education funds for his stepdaughter, which means he basically took the CBC money and put it in his own pocket. He woulda been out that money anyway to pay for his kid's tuition.

Anyone wanna bet that this is the last one?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:56 AM | Comments (113)
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Pastor Jones continues to hold his Korans hostage:

Speaking to NBC's "Today" show, the Rev. Terry Jones said if he meets with the imam in New York, he won't burn the Quran. It wasn't clear if he meant the burning would be halted indefinitely or just for Saturday.

Imam Muhammad Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, told CBS' "The Early Show" he had a commitment for Jones and himself to meet in New York with the imam there.

Sources say he's also demanded that Discovery Channel "stop glorifying human filthy birthing." Since this is clearly a winning strategy, I'm going to hold a Koran-burning unless FOX brings back Firefly.

Oh, and to the folks who think Jones is some kind of super-genius, just punking the whole world...um, no:

Jones said Thursday he would call off the planned burning of Qurans based on a deal negotiated with Musri that the location of a mosque planned near ground zero in New York would be changed.

But Musri said he was clear on Thursday when he told Jones that he could only set up a meeting with planners of the New York City mosque. Jones responded by suggesting that he would go forward with his plan on Saturday after all.

"We are just really shocked," Jones said of Musri. "He clearly, clearly lied to us."

Musri, an imam in Florida, was never in a position to change the location of the ground zero mosque. It'd be like my priest agreeing to move a cathedral in New York. Does not compute, unless you're a lunatic.

Hopefully there's just one more day of this drama, but I doubt it. Look how successful it's been so far.

In Afghanistan, at least 11 people were injured Friday in protests.

Police in the northern province of Badakhshan said several hundred demonstrators ran toward a NATO compound where four attackers and five police were injured in clashes. Protesters also burned an American flag at a mosque after Friday prayers. In western Farah province, police said two people were injured in another protest.

Ugh.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:36 AM | Comments (155)
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