Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Author: Michael Niewodowski
Article published Jun 30, 2004
'From Here to Eternity." Tora, Tora, Tora." "In Harm's Way." These are three films made about Pearl Harbor. There have been more than 20 films made about Pearl Harbor, and over 200 films made about World War II. These films inspire patriotism, courage, and nationalism. They tell us about the honor and bravery of the soldiers and the nation that supported them. Two and a half years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the world watched American forces fight on D-Day. Two and a half years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the world is watching Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."Moore's film is the first major motion picture about Sept. 11, 2001. This bears repeating. When future generations look back on the Sept. 11 massacre, their first impression, through the medium of film, will be a work in which the president and the government are blamed for the attacks, and the soldiers who are protecting this country are defamed. Instead of a film version of Lisa Beamer's book, "Let's Roll," or Richard Picciotto's "Last Man Down," we are presented with this fallacy. How could this happen?
It would be a colossal insult to insinuate that Franklin D. Roosevelt or the U.S. government were in any way responsible for the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Can you imagine the indignation of the men and women who lived during that period?
"Fahrenheit 9/11" is indicative of a nation that has become too apathetic, ignorant or deceived to face the enemy at the gate. America, where is your fury?
On Sept. 11, 2001, I stood across the Hudson River, watching the Twin Towers burn, knowing that if the plane had struck at 9:46 a.m. instead of 8:46 a.m., I would be dead. As a survivor and witness to the attack on the World Trade Center, I am more than insulted by this film. I am outraged. This film is based on conjecture, hearsay and propaganda. At a time when this country desperately needs to rally in support of our brave soldiers and our strong leaders, Moore is content to spread discord and divisiveness. The base of his argument is that the Bush administration had strong ties with the bin Laden family. However, sound facts are conspicuously absent from this "documentary."
The 9/11 commission did not indict President Bush. According to the report, the president's actions before, during and after the attacks are fully justified, including the military action in Iraq. The commission did not find a direct link between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A similar commission in the 1940s would not have found a direct link between Hitler's Germany and the attack on Pearl Harbor. In both instances, the threat was imminent; the president and the military acted decisively.
Could we have been more prepared for a terrorist attack on Sept. 10, 2001? Certainly. Could we have been more prepared for an attack on Dec. 6, 1941? Most definitely. In the weeks and months following Pearl Harbor, there were reports and criticisms that the government and military should have been more prepared. The difference is that the people of the nation did not waste a lot of time pointing fingers at each other. Rather, they unified and engaged the enemy head-on. I guess that is why we call them "The Greatest Generation." How will future generations refer to us?
So, how do we explain Moore's film to future generations? I wonder. More than that, I wonder how I would explain this film to Nancy D., Jerome N. or Heather H. I am sure you don't know their names, but their faces haunt me day and night. How would I explain to them that a film was made accusing the president and vilifying the soldiers, the same president and soldiers who are attempting to avenge their murders and protect other citizens. Moore has not only insulted the nation, he has insulted the victims of the terrorist attacks.
During his acceptance speech at the Oscars, Moore said, "Shame on you, Mr. Bush." Well, I say, "Shame on you, Michael Moore." Shame on everyone who supports this travesty of a film. Shame on a society that allows this sham of a film. You have weakened the nation.
Michael Niewodowski was a chef at the Windows on the World restaurant at the World Trade Center until Sept. 11, 2001. He lives in Bradenton. His e-mail address is niewodowski123@yahoo.com.
Source: Free Republic.com
URL: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1163147/posts
"The Democratic Party's presidential front-runner, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), has pledged that if elected he will abandon the president's war on terror, begin a dialogue with terrorist regimes and apologize for three-and-one-half years of mistakes by the Bush administration." - Insight Mag News
Howie read my mind throughout the entire speech. 'Cept he definitely knows more dirty factoids than anyone.
"...in case you didn't watch Liveshot's speech, let me provide you with the lines themselves, and then, in italics, what he really meant.
``People are working weekends; they're working two jobs, three jobs, and they're still not getting ahead.''- Howie Carr
It's hard to get ahead when gigolos keep cutting in line in front of you.
``And what can I say about Teresa?''
Three words will suffice: one billion dollars.
``She's down to earth, nurturing, courageous, wise and smart.''
Did I mention her five mansions worth $50 million, and her $35 million Gulfstream V?
`Opportunity for all - so that every child, every parent, every worker has an equal shot at living up to their God-given potential.''
You too can marry two heiresses. It's the American dream.
``My fellow citizens, elections are about choices.''
Which is why I try to be on both sides of every issue. You choose which side you're on, I'm there for you.
``I rode my bike into Soviet East Berlin.''
It was a Schwinn - I'd never even heard of an $8,000 Serotta back then.
``As president, I will ask hard questions.''
Sommelier, which of these two imported $125 Merlots [would] you recommend?
``So tonight we say: Help is on the way.''
I'm sending my butler."
I couldn't have said it better.
The Saudis claim to have plenty of reserves, but a top energy expert disputes that. Without any independent data, the world is dangerously in the dark, he says. By Jon D. Markman
Check it out. Should be nothing new to energy buffs, heck, I learned this fashizzle in a intro level geology course on earth resources. But for those of you who think nothing of filling up your pimped out Ford Excursion to drive to your job 3 miles down the road at the mall, then this is the article for you.
Make SURE to check out the corporate website of Matthew Simmons, a Houston energy analyst and banker at Simmons & Co. International.
Wanna pull a lefty and cry "corporate propagandist whore"? Think again. This guy is
"...no anti-establishment crank. In addition to his role as chief executive of a major energy-focused investment bank, which counts Halliburton and the World Bank among its clients, he’s a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was an advisor to President Bush’s election campaign and Vice President Dick Cheney’s infamous energy task force" (Markman).Give it a whirl. You'll find no spin there. ::drum roll:: This is serious analysis here, kids. Kinda makes you wonder where the heck outfits like Kerr-McGee are finding their black gold, right? I mean, because they have a suuuuper environmental record.
Enjoy. :P
Tom over at the Nap Room stumbled upon something horrific.... Vanessa Kerry's yearbook photo. Scroll down to the July 29th post...(you can't miss it).
Because he is.
Alright, well that's not exactly fair. The only thing I can say about this guy is he as a SERIOUS axe to grind (not to mention a wicked bad case of "daddy didn't bounce me enough on his knee" syndrome).
Just a few point by point comments based on some excerpts from his speech to the DNC the other night. The complete speech in its entirety can be found here at Newsday.
A few of you may be surprised to see someone with my last name showing up to speak at a Democratic convention. Let me assure you, I am not here to make a political speech, and the topic at hand should not must not have anything to do with partisanship.No RJ, actually I'm not surprised you were part of the lineup for the Democrapic Reinvention tour. You've actively opposed and stood against every single issue, value, and objective of your father's party, the GOP. Nah, nothing partisan about taking a firm stance on a controversial medical procedure that Bush so happens to have the counter-position, just to spite him. You truly cared for and respected your father wholeheartedly growing up, throughout his bout with Alzheimer's, till his dying day. You are the ideal spokesperson for the Alzheimer's Foundation of America. (insert sarcasm here)
How'd you like to have your own personal biological repair kit standing by at the hospital? Sound like magic? Welcome to the future of medicine. ... By the way, no fetal tissue is involved in this process. No fetuses are created, none destroyed. This all happens in the laboratory at the cellular level.Oh, thanks for clearing the fog on this issue...I thought embryonic stem cell research involved human embryos...thanks for scientifically establishing that it only occurs on the "cellular level."
Now, there are those who would stand in the way of this remarkable future, who would deny the federal funding so crucial to basic research. They argue that interfering with the development of even the earliest stage embryo, even one that will never he implanted in a womb and will never develop into an actual fetus, is tantamount to murder. A few of these folks, needless to say, are just grinding a political axe and they should he ashamed of themselves. But many are well-meaning and sincere. Their belief is just that, an article of faith, and they are entitled to it.::shakes head:: I'm not even going to touch that.But it does not follow that the theology of a few should be allowed to forestall the health and well-being of the many. And how can we affirm life if we abandon those whose own lives are so desperately at risk?
Ronny boy, you've officially won the whatsakyer Douche of the Month Award™. Congrats.
If you want the dirt on "the Real Deal" John Kerry, just check out anything you can Google by Boston journalist (Boston Herald) and radio talk-show host Howie Carr. This award-winning writer/host has been following Kerry's shananigans for decades.
Howie Carr's radio show can be heard weekday afternoons on WRKO-AM 680, WHYN-AM 560, WGAN-AM 560, WEIM-AM 1280 and WXTK-FM 95.1.
Too lazy to search for him? Here is a link to his online columns at the Boston Herald.
It was an impossible mission: Fly a helicopter 2,000 miles roundtrip in a nor'easter to save the crew of a sunken freighter. A mission of this magnitude had never been attempted before. Could a few brave men from the air national guard pull it off? BY COLONEL EDWARD L. FLEMINGAlright, this guy Colonel Fleming went ridiculously above and beyond the call of duty to rescue a drowning Ukrainian freight sailor from the depths of the sea. While tredding water and watching his fellow crew being gouged by sharks, the lone sailor was carefully lifted from the sea by the Air National Guard. This was truly a historic undertaking never before attempted. And why do we never hear of such gallant deeds in the daily media? It sure isn't because positive military coverage is the norm...
To read more of this story, make sure to pick up a copy of the June issue of Men's Journal.
If you want the real deal, order a copy of Fleming's Heart of the Storm : My Adventures as a Helicopter Rescue Pilot and Commander online at Amazon.com or pick up one at your local Borders or B&N.
Man, if that wasn't a sales pitch, I don't know what is...I think that guy should hook a brotha up with some royalties, no?
That's right folks. I wimped out and couldn't stick it out thru the whole gosh darn thing.
I, the thing they call a "kyer", wussed out before the end of Johnny Boy Edwards' speech. That sweet, young, litigious, ambulance-chasing face did me in before the he could start wooing me with the grand vision of reuniting his and Kerry's multimillionaire America with the rest of us. Perhaps it was the Southern twang or the 51-year-old boyish charm. Or maybe it was the recanting of the difficult days his family endured in a coal-mining town. Either way, somewhere between Family Guy and Leno, I zogged out at the wuh-min's apartment until 3am.
So y'all gonna have to deal with waiting for my 2nd rate coverage about the main event of the Democrapic Reinvention tour 'till later.
JFKerry: "AS PRESIDENT, I WILL MAKE SURE AMERICA IS NO LONGER DEPENDENT ON FOREIGN OIL SOURCES FROM THE MIDDLE EAST!"
thequietvoiceofreason: "Ok... Senator Kerry...then where will you find energy domestically? The Artic National Wildlife Reserve?"
JFKerry: "No. Absolutely not. ANWR will be protected at all costs. I have a long and dedicated commitment to defending our beautiful wildlife reserves and natural resources...I am a "True Environmental Hero*"..."The Senate's Most Outspoken Supporter of the Environment"...and did I mention I've received the endorsement of the Sierra Club, the Friends of the Earth Action, and the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund?"
thequietvoiceofreason: So you're in favor of getting the U.S. on board the eco-friendly Kyoto train, right?
JFKerry: Yes.
*Source: The Kerry-Edwards Vision for a Cleaner Environment,
A Stronger Economy, & Healthier Communities
The sad thing is, I can see him doing that in the Whitehouse... crawling out from underneath his desk during a national crisis...with his chief of staff calling his therapist on speed-dial.
"[D]emocracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy, such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man's life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure,and every one of these will soon mould itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities,all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit and science, to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the execrable cruelty of one or a very few."
--John Adams 
"No one lied. No one made up the intelligence. No one inserted things into the dossier against the advice of the intelligence services. Everyone genuinely tried to do their best in good faith for the country in circumstances of acute difficulty. That issue of good faith should now be at an end...
"But I have to accept, as the months have passed, it seems increasingly clear that at the time of invasion, Saddam did not have stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons ready to deploy..."
"I have searched my conscience, not in the spirit of obstinacy, but in genuine reconsideration in the light of what we now know, in answer to that question. And my answer would be that the evidence of Saddam's WMD was indeed less certain, less well-founded than was stated at the time. But I cannot go from there to the opposite extreme."
"On any basis he retained complete strategic intent on WMD and significant capability. The only reason he ever let the inspectors back into Iraq was that he had 180,000 US and British troops on his doorstep..."
"Had we backed down in respect of Saddam, we would never have taken the stand we needed to take on WMD, never have got progress on Libya ... and we would have left Saddam in charge of Iraq, with every malign intent and capability still in place and every dictator with the same intent everywhere immeasurably emboldened... But I cannot honestly say I believe getting rid of Saddam was a mistake at all."
(07/12/2004) Tony Blair, British Prime Minister