Western Tribune Column September 17 2008

What an odd day September 11 turned out to be. Of course the anniversary (for lack of a better word) of the 2001 terrorist attacks brought memories of where we were when the attacks occurred and replays of television footage of the World Trade Center being hit.

We were later reminded that President Bush’s advice to the American people following 9/11 was to go shopping, by presidential candidates who say we should have been called to service instead. But wait, that’s a little too close to being a community organizer, so we see why the Republican president wouldn’t recommend that.

After the attacks Americans were brought together for a brief period and we were reminded of this by Senators McCain and Obama coming together at ground zero in New York to honor the dead by talking with their families and tossing flowers into a reflecting pool.

Maybe just slightly less significant was the coming together of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, who met outside Clinton’s Harlem office, spoke with reporters, then went inside for a two hour lunch meeting.

Clinton said he would do “whatever I’m asked to do” to help Obama get elected, then predicted the Democrat “will win and win handily.”

Meanwhile John McCain is hoping the current president will not do anything to help him, since he is trying to deny he is running for Bush’s third term, in spite of agreeing with current president 90% of the time. As Al Gore said, “Hey, I believe in recycling, but this is ridiculous.”

The alignment of the stars that produced this temporary truce in campaigning also allowed Sarah Palin to be interviewed by the media. She showed herself more than ready to continue the policies of war hungry Bush, in spite of a complete lack of understanding of the Bush Doctrine which she equated to his world view.

Her answers did nothing to assure America that she could be commander in chief.

For instance, when asked “What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state (Alaska) give you?” her reply was “They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.”

I feel safer already.