Two years ago I was fairly naive, I'll be the first to admit. I was far more concerned with my own day-to-day problems than with world events. They didn't seem to matter very much... they couldn't affect me personally, could they? I'd be willing to bet most of us felt the exact same way. The events of 9/11 showed me how wrong I had been. If I live a thousand years I'll never be able to erase that terrible day from my memory.

For months afterwards, most Americans were united in our desire to find out who had committed these atrocities and punish them. But as the immediacy of the day faded, we split once again into two groups. A vocal minority (though one with control over the media) wanted to put it all behind them, crawl back into their shells, and resume their comfortably self-centered lives. They wanted to forget, to be naive again, to move on to something new. Most of us wanted to find the deeper reasons behind the attacks, and prevent them from ever happening again... to us, or to anyone. By the time the Taliban fell in Afghanistan, the first group was was already beginning to attack instead of support the President, demanding that things return to "normal", and blaming him for "causing" a war! What they refuse to see is that the old "normal" is irrevocably altered. (In fact, just by acknowledging that fact I've invited more of their vitriolic attacks.)

Most Americans realised the massive task of crushing terrorism had only just begun, President Bush among them. And this was where he made his mistake -- he didn't believe that any American could so easily turn away from a job barely started. He didn't reckon with the essential impatience, the insistence on instant (and perfect) results frequently demanded by Liberals, nor with their willingness to ignore problems that aren't right here and now. Personally, I have to wonder whether most Liberals aren't afflicted with ADD/ADHD, or Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. After all, according to the Attention Deficit Disorder Help Center, "Many people with the ADD symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder or ADHD may be unable to sit still, plan ahead, finish tasks, or be fully aware of what's going on around them... these people with the symptoms of ADD or ADHD seem to exist in a whirly- gig of disorganized or frenzied activity." President Bush also didn't take into account the basic dislike of America most Leftists display so openly now, more than ever before... but there's no handy medical condition that can explain THAT away. He trusted that ALL Americans wanted to make certain 9/11 could never happen again, and probably still doesn't believe that some Americans are actively working to backstab him. Others seem merely willing to let him down.

I'm not talking about Liberals and Leftists, people most of us never expected to be on America's side in the first place. I'm speaking about those who seem to have succumbed to the anti-Americans' attacks on the war against terrorism still being waged. Why have some people changed from supporting the President to opposing him? Are they giving in to the Bush- bashers because there are a few Iraqis taking potshots at our troops, planting bombs, and attacking the infrastructure? Do they have to be reminded that after the fall of Berlin in WWII, groups of Nazis called "Werwolves" did the exact same thing for years? (Incidents of sniping, road mining, and poisoning by Nazi loyalists were reported as late as 1947, according to Perry Biddiscombe, author of Werwolf! The History of the National Socialist Guerrilla Movement, 1944-1946.) It seems that hardcore Liberal Democrats are afraid of victory while a Republican is in the White House, and are busy convincing Classic Democrats that victory for America means political defeat for them. Are the Democrats really so cynical that they'll try to gain political points from the deaths of American soldiers? Or are some people simply so easily swayed by the baseless, unproven lies of hysterical raging Liberals? Either way, there's something wrong with people who'll use bad news for all Americans to make headway in a political campaign, and those that will let them get away with it need to examine their own motives. Whenever the Liberals accuse the President of any wrongdoing (oh, about every ten seconds or so), I always ask for proof of their accusations... and am immediately, viciously attacked. What kind of people do that? People who have nothing to offer... no facts, no figures, no proof to back up their hate-based accusations. Believing that they could be moved by anything but their own political agenda was Bush's big blunder.

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Email Joe Mariani: CavalierX@yahoo.com

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