Virtual Fridays Without Fitzpatrick (VFWF) 31
In Response To Your 09/10/21 Newsletter
REAL LESSONS FROM 9/11 AND 01/06
Congressman Fitzpatrick:
Again you disappoint us with fake “leadership.” You cite in your newsletter the typical expressions of remorse, sadness and outrage about the horrific tragedy of 9/11 when power-hungry ideologues used violence to attack our democracy. And of course our hearts should and do go out to all the innocent people who died that day because of a terrorist attack. Violence and war are not the answers.
But you say nothing about the true lessons of the aftermath of 9/11, which you, as a leader, should be willing and craving to learn so that our country can learn from these lessons and proceed on a better path. But, no, that is too risky to you politically. You would have to acknowledge the profound errors of yet another Republican administration and thereby risk angering some of the voters in your Republican base. Better to stay silent and play the easy grief and sorrow card wrapped in a patriotic flag so we can all feel good about what a great guy you are. And without that raised consciousness, what is inevitable is that leaders like you will lead us down the same sorrowful path (does anyone remember Vietnam?) of endless war, wasted blood and treasure, and reduced standing in a world that sees our military machine used to cause innocent civilian deaths and fund and protect corrupt leaders who are hated by their citizens.
You spout the politically correct slogan “We will never forget,” but what you are forgetting are the lessons of the history of the aftermath of 9/11. You safely remain silent so as not to rock the boat and hope no one notices your silence, your lack of courage, and your lack of wisdom. Instead, you let the platitudes and photo-ops rain down on us like bombs bursting over the people of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Will you never forget that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and that another poor Republican Administration initiated a pointless war of death and destruction that killed thousands of Americans and Iraqis? Oh, I think you did forget that or at least want to forget that Republican blunder. But I am sure you are also now very busy trying to forget all the Trumpian blunders caused by that man-child you voted for in 2020.
Will you never forget that Republicans Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld beat the drums of war to invade a country that had nothing to do with 9/11? Will you never forget how many trillions of dollars were spent on that war? Will you never forget how many American soldiers were killed or wounded in that war? Will you never forget how many innocent Iraqis were killed or wounded in that war? No, you forget those facts and instead want to distract people by blaming a Democratic President Biden for boldly ending a pointless 20 year war that was unwinnable and that was endlessly wasting our precious blood and treasure.
Will you never forget that the Iraq war opened the door to torturing prisoners of war and that many people around the world no longer saw America as that shining city on the hill, a beacon of democracy, but as an invading military machine that condoned the torture of its fathers and sons?
Will you never forget the abdication of power that your Congress allowed year after year in funding endless pointless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with minimal oversight, turning blind eyes to rampant waste and corruption?
Will you never forget that these wars unleashed a torrent of racism and Muslim hatred in our citizenry that culminated in the election of a demagagogue that preyed upon the dark angels of Americans and flamed their fears and prejudices against the perceived Other. Will you never forget how the Statue of Liberty cried when President Trump pushed his Muslim ban?
Will you never forget the ease with which the military and the defense industry could be led into foreign wars where trillions of dollars were spent on instruments of death and destruction causing untold human misery while critical domestic needs went unfunded here at home year after year after year?
Will you never forget that 9/11 allowed the passage of the Patriot Act which was a huge attack on American civil liberties and freedom? Are you hoping your constituents forget that you are doing nothing to restore those freedoms to the American people?
Will you never forget that the deceptive and lying actions of a Republican administration created massive distrust in government and spawned a conspiracy theory cottage industry that persists to this day?
I mentioned above “the horrific tragedy of 9/11 when power-hungry ideologues used violence to attack our democracy.“ There is another horrific tragedy that happened yet again this year, incited by the man you voted for in 2020. On January 6, 2021, power-hungry ideologues used violence to attack our democracy as well. They were fueled by a distrust in our government, by lies and conspiracy theories, and by a racist hatred of the Other as they sought to overthrow the very foundation of our democracy, the peaceful transition of power after a free and fair election, while waving Confederate flags as they stormed the shining symbol of our democracy, your workplace, the Capitol building.
And yet you forgot all of this as you failed to impeach the man who incited this violent attack against our democracy and voted against having a commission to investigate its cause and voted against bringing those terrorists to justice who incited and planned this vicious violent attack on our soil..
Just as you forgot the true lessons of 9/11, you wish to forget the true lessons of January 6th and instead, choose to remain silent about the real truths of these horrific events. But sadly, there is an exception: we hear your platitudes and we see your photo-ops. And so we pray for the day when voters see through you, and when, then thankfully, your platitudes and photo-ops will stop.
