Let's Get Political!

Because we all know that this day three years ago was the day "everything changed," I feel the need to get a little political.

First, I think the two main candidates for president are idiots. Both are only out to prove that they are "truly leaders of men." (What ever that means.) I really hate how the Democrats are making a big deal about the fact that their guy was in Vietnam. I think it was only eight years ago that they were saying that whether a man serves in the military isn't important. Hypocritical? And then there's the Republicans trying to convince us that helping out in a Senate race in Alabama is serving a country just as much as watching your friends get killed in a jungle. Pa-leeze. For what it's worth, I don't care if a president has served in the military. Serving in the military a personal choice that every man and woman in every nation makes (unless the draft bill passes) and I don't think it helps him or her to be a better leader. Why should any of us care about the military records of two men who are liars and can only make promises that will be broken as soon as it's advantageous to the ones with the money?

Second, when I re-register for voting, I think I'm going to go partyless. Sure, most of my views swing way to the left, probably in Socialist (cue scary music)territory, but does that mean I should register that way? I don't think so. I don't want to be carry a political label (Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green) around my neck. I don't want to be part of any group that only has a hazy notion of what it stands for. I don't want to be part of a party that's only argument to join it is "We're not [insert any political party name here], but we share some of the views of that group that made you like it in the first place." Yuck. If only political parties had ideologies that were more laid out so when it comes time to choose your party, you can find out which actually shares your ideals and works toward that better world you want to happen. Wait, that makes too much sense. There's no way people want politics to make sense, at least in this country.

Third, I'm not a conspiracy nut, I leave that to my Dad, but there is something that really bothered me three years ago (minus a week or so) and still makes me feel nervous and concerned. What happened to NORAD that day? For those who don't know, NORAD is the binational military organization that, supposedly, monitors all activities that take place outside and inside US and Canadian air space. Supposedly, NORAD uses radar and satellites to do this. Did the radar and satellites fail to notice four planes that are all supposed to be flying west turn toward the east? Was it human failure? Did the guys reading the data not notice a red flag for these aircraft?

Okay, let's drop it down a level, away from the military, what about the FAA? Surely, they know all the flight plans of the domestic flights in the US? Surely, someone, somewhere, noticed that four planes had veered so far off course that they were practically flying back to where they took off? What happened to this person? Did he or she not think it important enough to report? Sure, the plane that flies off course to avoid a storm has to be reported, but four planes that turned completely around, those are okay.

Now with such massive failures from two government agencies that are supposed to protect our airspace, what did the 9-11 Commission suggest they do to fix the problems? Seriously, I don't know. If the commission made any suggestions, NPR and the other local media here in Cowcity have failed to mention them. Aren't the men and women of the commission concerned that the billions of dollars put into these two agencies to buy the most sophisticated tracking equipment in the world isn't enough. Shouldn't there be an Air Czar or something to get both sets of data, in real-time of course, and search for irregularities?

If the FAA and NORAD had been doing their jobs that day thousands of people wouldn't have died. Yes, the planes may have been shot down if those flying weren't willing to land, but 300ish lives compared to thousands? Come on. And chances are, given the chance to land, with three or four F-16s off their wings, the people flying the 757s (I think) would have landed. That's what we're being told, right? That terrorist are really cowards?

I don't want to take anything away from the thousands of people who died that day, three years ago, but in their memory, we all deserve to know where the failure really was. We, as a nation, are so quick to blame the CIA and FBI for an intelligence failure, but we don't seem so worried about their backups failing. That disturbs me.

I know, so no one has to put it in the comments, that this post won't affect the world and the mainstream views of this nation's population, but I had to say something. Today is the right choice for saying it because if we really want to honor the memory of all those people, we need to know the truth, especially if it's more frightening than what we all want to believe.

And with that, I'm off to work.