On this, the eve of the six anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, I had hoped to convey some profound words about loss and resolve. But all I seem to be able to think of is what if?

What if we didn’t have a President so enthralled with his legacy that he is willing to irreparably damage this country? What if we didn’t have a military so willing to shill for said President, all in the hopes that they might some day be proven to be the forward thinking leaders they aspire to be but fail so miserably at?

When an event moves from the immediate into the longer history, there comes a point when the question of how long is an appropriate time to memorialize those lost begin to surface. Some begin asking when is the right time to move on from an event like 9/11? The problem stems from the fact that we have never been allowed to move on. Because of this President, we as a country, were denied closure or as near to it as one could attain given the enormity of the event. Because Bush chose to take advantage of us in that most vulnerable of times, when we were still in shock, we have been denied a chance to come to terms with the past. For Bush, everyday has been that day when he stood atop the rubble and made promises we now know he never intended to keep. Bin Laden and those responsible have largely remained unpunished, still free to taunt us.

And when Gen. Petraeus goes before Congress tomorrow to give a report everyone already knows the particulars of, he will continue to aid this President in denying us a chance to move on, still denying us the closure we so desperately need. When viewed in that light, it is an insult to those who died that day that their unavenged deaths would continue to be used to justify yet more death and destruction.

See Fixer also.

(X-posted at The Xsociate Files)