Speaking of 9/11 ....

Republican betrayal of 9/11 responders
It is outrageous that Republican party 'patriots' nearly succeeded in blocking the bill to guarantee healthcare for 9/11 heroes

Recently, though, perhaps the most unconscionable act was the blatant obstructionism Republican Senators engaged in recently: they threatened to deny healthcare to 9/11 first responders who are now suffering illnesses resulting from toxic exposures at Ground Zero. Reflecting the party's flawed moral character, every single Senate Republican followed through on their threat to block the bill until Democrats agreed to extend Bush-era tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.

Partisanship venom at its finest. Our nation's bravest souls, who ran into burning buildings to save innocents, were almost deprived healthcare because our politicians wanted to cut rich Americans a tax break. The Zadroga bill, named after the first NYPD officer whose death is attributed to the noxious fumes at Ground Zero, initially passed in the House, but fell three votes short of the 60 needed to break the Senate filibuster. It wasn't until late last week that the bill also passed in the Senate, but not without Democrats' begging, and with only minimal public outcry.

The hypocrisy is astounding, nauseating almost. For the past nine years, the Republican rallying chorus has consistently harkened to the heroism of 9/11, whether it was relevant or not. Remember 9/11: we shall never forget. The astronomic sales of NYPD T-shirts speaks volumes. Rhetoric is cheap, but when it comes to actually providing for our first responders, the Republican party failed, and failed miserably. The disturbing display of callousness towards 9/11 first responders was indicative of the vindictive partisan divide we are destined to see next year.

According to the WTC Health Registry annual report, of approximately 70,000 registered enrollees, 10% reported developing asthma in the first 16 months after 9/11. In the year following the attacks, firefighters developed the lung disease sarcoidosis at five times the normal rate. Public health experts fear the widespread development of malignant mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer attributable to asbestos. Add that approximately 40% of the World Trade Centre workers monitored by a Mount Sinai Hospital study lack health insurance and it qualifies as a public health crisis.

The men and women who selflessly rushed into the blazing Twin Towers to save lives did not hesitate. They did not waiver; nor did they bargain or negotiate before they lunged towards their death and towards future illnesses. But when it came to rewarding them – and not with the pseudo-patriotism of flagwaving and groupthink chants – but with tangible, compassionate medical care for their ailments, our politicians to the right of the aisle did.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... healthcare

You can hear the surprise in *MY* voice....



Nine years after 9/11, 900 responders are dead
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Oh noes!!! The inhumanity. It is just politics. Attaching ammendments to bills that are ready to pass that are completely un-related. Sometimes you act so naive.

Your "compassionate conservatism" is duly noted.... (And totally expected...)

Do you guys really have to use today to do this? Give a rest for one day. Can't we be just Americans for ONE DAY!

Sorry, but we all know that the only "TRUE Americans" and "TRUE Patriots" are the conservatives. That being the case, I wanted to remind everyone how Bush "kept us safe"...(if you don't count 9/11....)

CinnamonGirl wrote: Do you guys really have to use today to do this? Give a rest for one day. Can't we be just Americans for ONE DAY!

If LJ didn't post biased liberal crap, she'd just disappear in a Descartes inspired moment of reality contemplation.

LJ is not an American- she's a "citizen of the world".

I think we are all americans today and we all were shocked and saddened by the events 11 years ago today. on that day there were heros all around and no one cared if you were Democrat or Republican. I admit I have had to do some incredible soul searching recently and get a little more real about people. I don't have quite as much 'blind faith' in people like I used to but I refuse to believe we don't all care about what happened. LJ cares and we all care. We have to find something that binds us and 9/11 ALWAYS should. LJ and all of you we ALL CARE!!!!!!!

I'm all for remembering - it's hard for me to see how any of us who were old enough to be aware of what was happening can ever forget that day - but i think there should be a time limitation concerning picking at the scab. Not only in so far as playing political football with the date (insert here the obligatory "both sides do it") but also with the ghoulish replays of videos of planes crashing into the towers, 911 calls and "patriotic" spots incorporating those things.

I guess I'm a cold heartless kind of guy. We were attacked. I feel for the victims. I honor the memories of the responders that were lost doing their always heroic jobs.

But with a nebulous enemy and the mixed opinions on how to react to the threat of a repeat attack, I find myself more disgusted with the political use of the attack rather than unified. I have always been and always will be proud to be American. Flawed as it is, we've got the best thing going.

I guess saying something like "We're all Americans today" rubs me wrong. I figure we're all Americans every day. I don't doubt LJ's (for example) patriotism for even an instant. Not on any day. I may judge her lack of tact or political sanity, but never ever her patriotism. It doesn't take a tragedy for me to keep that in mind.