Friday, January 28, 2005

Bush - Catastrophic Failure LEAV'S RESPONSE

THIS IS A POST FROM
http://catastrophicfailure.blogspot.com, WITH MY POSTED RESPONSE FOLLOWING.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Bush's Axis of Evil
The Bush 2nd term agenda is no secret. It is to further the agenda of 3 right-wing special interests (aka Bush's axis of evil) who were behind his re-election and at the expense of the vast majority of Americans, our environment, and the rest of the citizens of this world:(1) Bigoted "christian" fundamentalists (fundamentalism CLOSES hearts & minds),(2) A greedy clique within corporate America,(3) The war-mongering neo-cons who have their sites on American imperialism (google PNAC).So much for "compassionate conservative," being a "uniter--not a divider," and for not being into "nation building." Check out this article:
G.W. Bush: Phase 2 – On the Other Hand
posted by Thinks4Herself at 1:33 AM

1 Comments:
Chris said...
I suggest you read some of my posts at both www.leavworld.blogspot.com. and www.nextleav.blogspot.com. I am a Christian, but not a fundamentalist with a closed mind. I am no corporate tool. I work for a small business, and ride a bicycle to work. I am a neo-con only in that I was a HUGE LIBERAL once upon a time, and woke up around 1992 or so, thanks to Bill Clinton and Rush Limbaugh. I found that being a conservative wasn't in contradiction to conservation of the environment, or of helping the poor get off of welfare. I am a hawk on defense because this country has backed away from the terrorist threat through both Republican and Democrat administrations. I waited after the first attack on the WTC, and we did not respond. George Bush has, and I agree with all of his principles.

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

THOUGHTS ON RACIAL PROFILING

As I watch yet another PBS story about racial profiling, I have some questions. Have the people complaining about profiling of blacks ever had a problem with police targeting whites who come into black neighborhoods to buy drugs? I distinctly remember an episode of COPS where the cop tells a white guy "you're the wrong color to be in this neighborhood". More than a few times, I have been stopped, though only once searched, for nothing more than walking or riding my bike down the street, as far as I could tell. Each time, I cooperated with them, and had my ID on me. Each time I found that they were looking for someone that fit my general description, and let me go on my way. I actually found these incidents bothered me less than when people locked their doors as I walked by their cars at a light, another favorite "humiliation" cited by the "racial profiling" protest crowd.
This is not to deny racism exists. It exists both inside and outside police departments. Is it not racist to attribute someone else's actions to racism without even talking to them, or looking at all the facts of the incident? This is my big problem with accusations of "racial profiling", that it is actually just a tool for "RACE BAITING" politicians and activists. The worst part is that their blanket accusations make it harder to find the true racists in law enforcement. If you label all white cops racists, why would they do anything about getting rid of the real racists that they work with? It just breeds racial comtempt both ways. Let's not forget that racism is the enemy, and it can be harbored in hearts of every color.

Sunday, January 23, 2005

MEL GIBSON'S NEXT MOVIE: THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST


MEL GIBSON'S NEXT MOVIE: THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST
Mel Gibson should defy the critics who say that he cannot follow up his last religious blockbuster by following the story to its next logical step. The resurrection of the Christ could be a bigger triumph of Christian filmmaking, without the violence of the passion. Would this one shut up the Hollywood critics? Of course not! Hell, they will criticize it's Easter release date, and redouble their claims of anti-semitism, and blame it's success on the Religious Right, who are taking over America. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Gibson, I want to be the first one to publicly encourage you to do the next film depicting the journey of Jesus. What you did with your first film was amazing, and I think that you can surpass it with the next one. Right or wrong, yours is an evocative telling of the greatest story of God's sacrifice for us. I am a believer in your vision, and would like to see more.

Thursday, January 20, 2005

WHO'S A FACIST?

A SHORT HISTORY OF "FACIST" SMEARS
Defaming Ronald Reagan as running a "shadow government" that really controlled the country.


Accusing Reagan of working with Iran for the hostage release during his inauguration.

Rudy Giuliani being widely defamed as Hitler while Mayor of NYC, pre 9/11.


Hillary accusing Ken Starr of being part of "the vast right-wing conspiracy".

The spurious charge that the Supreme Court "stole" the election for Bush.

That Bush knew about, or was behind 9/11 was called "one interesting theory" by Howard Dean.

Re the Patriot Act: Ashcroft's Justice Dept. is worse than Hitler's SS! A widespread falsehood!

WHY ARE THE ABOVE PEOPLE ALL COMPARED TO THE WORST FACISTS?

BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL REPUBLICANS!

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

RECORD COLD TEMPS SIGNIFY GLOBAL WARMING

RECORD COLD TEMPS SIGNIFY GLOBAL WARMING, according to "The Day After Tomorrow" fanatics.
Global warming fanatics including AlGore threw a secret press conference on the internet yesterday. Besides the freezing temperatures across the nation, other topics discussed were the drive to drive up oil prices, and how to salvage the Kyoto accords. An upside of the cold temps was increased conductivity on wires that didn't snap from the cold. Overall, bandwidth was up, but being monopolized by millions of idiots online blaming the record cold tempuratures on "global warming", with Bush's re-election a close second.

PRE-ELECTION PREDICTIONS! 11/24/04

I HAD TO STEP IN IT AGAIN...Friday, September 24, 2004

Iraq's Prime Minister Allawi addressed the U.N. and did a round of interviews with the U.S. media over the last few days. Much has been said about how he parrots Pres. Bush, of how they could have had the same speech writers. This is only true insomuch as they both are aligned against the terrorists, not trying to "understand" them. PM Allawi is focused on Iraq, while Pres. Bush has a wider focus, but anyone who doesn't see that the enemy is the same is a fool! Sen. Kerry still believes that Communism wasn't a threat to southeast Asia, after 2 MILLION people died following his advice back then. How many will die if Kerry is elected President? Kerry has the nerve to try to discredit PM Allawi, and to disconnect the terrorists in Iraq from the rest of the world. If he can't see that the links between these terrorists are worldwide, he is unfit for leadership of this country.

A second thing that Allawi mentioned was the western media bias, in favor of the terrorists. He called it "giving them oxygen". A wise man, this Allawi is. He didn't say the western media should not cover the bombings and murders, but that they should cover the school openings, and political councils that are happening in localities around the country. This is actually a fault of the "what sells" mentality more than the political bias, but the US networks would like nothing better than to have the power to affect this war somehow. It's just too bad that they don't saturate the airwaves with some of the positive developments in that troubled country. People are taking their cue from Dan Rather, and disbelieving what the liberal US media reports, believing instead the words of US servicemen who have been there, and the Bush Administration, as well as the Iraqi government. One view will prevail!

IN LEAV'S IMAGINATION, THE REAL FIGHT LOOKS LIKE THIS!
Here are the clear differences: Dan Rather is Kerry's surrogate, and Iyad Allawi is Bush's. Allawi survived Saddam's assasins with axes in a London hotel room. Rather survived men in suits beating him up, saying "what's the frequency, Kenneth?". Allawi is the fully respected Prime Minister of Iraq. Dan Rather, much like John Kerry, is losing credibility fast in the public eye. Both men have a big challenge ahead, but the difference is that if Rather or Kerry win, the public loses. If Rather stays employed, we all lose credibility in the news. If Kerry is elected, chances are we will lose the war on terror, at least as much as in the '90's, for the forseeable future. I guarantee that the enemies of America are salivating for a Kerry Presidency.

DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM!

Sunday, January 16, 2005

MORE BS from BS!

NEXTLEAV is my special place to post my craziest stuff...well, old BABS STRIESAND keeps putting my craziest stuff to shame on her very popular website! Can you believe what kind of person it takes to believe this, and further to sing it in public?

THE SPECIAL LYRICS TO PEOPLE ...Barbra Streisand
Posted on June 26, 2004
THE SPECIAL LYRICS TO "PEOPLE" AS PERFORMED BY BARBRA STREISAND AT THE LOS ANGELES FUNDRAISING CONCERT FOR THE KERRY CAMPAIGN

In response to requests, we are printing the exact lyrics sung by Ms. Streisand, a highlight of the June 24, 2004 concert, An Evening With John Kerry And Friends. The event raised over $5,000,000 to support the Democratic Presidential candidacy.

"PEOPLE"

Special Lyrics
By Alan & Marilyn Bergman

PEOPLE
I MEAN G - O - P - EOPLE -
WHO'D BELIEVE THERE'S SUCH PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD?
BUSH SEEZA
LOTTA CONDOLEEZA,
THEY'RE DIVIDING THE PLANET'S OIL
ACCORDING TO RICHARD "POIL"
AND THEY'RE ALL JUST TRAINEES
OF CHENEY'S.

RUMSFELD,
WE MUST GET RID OF RUMSFELD -
HE'S THE SPOOKIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD.
AS FOR POWELL -
HE'S NEITHER FISH NOR FOWL.
HE'S IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM,
WHILE THEY'RE ALL FIDDLING WITH DOOM.
NO ONE'S MINDING THE STORE.
WHAT'S MORE,
LET'S DISCUSS THIS WAR WE'RE LOST IN,
DON'T ASK WHAT IT'S COSTIN' -
WHAT'S A TRILLION OR TWO TO RULE THE WORLD?


(Second chorus)
THE SENATE
HOW I WANT THE SENATE!
ALL WE NEED IS TWO PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!
I SEEA
ANTONIN SCALIA.
HOW I DREAD EV'RY TIME HE SITS -
SCARED OUT OF MY WOLFOWITZ.
TIME THOSE NEO-CON GUYS
WERE GONE GUYS.

THEY'RE LYING -
WHILE THE GLOBE IS FRYING -
AND THE FISHES ARE DYING IN THE WORLD.
THEIR SOLUTION
FOR ALL OF THE POLLUTION:
IS JUST TO BEAR IT AND GRIN,
AND PRACTICE NOT BREATHING IN.
BUT THINGS ARE GONNA BE GREAT.
JUST WAIT -
WHEN THE WHITE HOUSE STATIONERY,
READS PRESIDENT JOHN KERRY -
WE'LL BE THE LUCKIEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!

Original music: Jule Styne
Original lyrics: Bob Merrill


Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

THE "STREET" CONNECTION 11/12/01

THE "STREET" CONNECTION
C.K.Leavitt 11/12/01
"The Arab Street", a term falsely used to describe to describe the poor and oppressed in the Middle East, is a product of the same propaganda machine that produced "The Workers' Revolution", with similar flimsy underpinnings. These are slave countries, whose leaders actively channel their internal opposition onto the "infidels", currently understood as "America" (and Israel). It was no different during the Cold War, when other oppressed peoples, from many nations, were brainwashed to hate America. Now Russia and all of the former Soviet nations are working with us, against the terrorist threat. Similarly, the "Arab Street" will become part of the "Main Street", if America is successful.
All societies have poor and oppressed populations. In our free society, we open ourselves to all opinions. This means even the long reach of the ANTI-WESTERN CIVILIZATION crowd, who have already embedded themselves in western culture. In fact, there's no shortage of America-haters right here at home!
An interesting thing to look at is the Nation of Islam. I have no doubt that most of their membership are typical Americans, with their fair share of frustration with the world. What if Louis Farrakan turns out to be a puppet of this same extremist fringe, paid to stir up "The American Street"? In America, you can protest against your own country, so where better to propagandize!

Thursday, January 13, 2005

PRE-INVASION THOUGHTS ON IRAQ 12/24/02

Waiting For the Straw That Breaks the Camel's Back Christopher K. Leavitt 12/24/02

We must assume that war is inevitable. More specifically, that war with Iraq is inevitable. What we are waiting for is the straw that breaks the camel's back. A reporter on ABC news, reporting on the downing of the predator drone, finished his report by saying that the Bush administration wouldn't use this as a "pretext" for war. This illustrates one point, which is how misguided the mainstream media's distinction between the "war on terrorism" vs. the "war on Iraq" is. Saddam Hussein is a traditional Stalinist leader, a thug who seized power through murder, and maintains dominance of his country through terror. Because of the international community's intervention (and Israel's 1980 bombing of his nuclear weapons plant at Osirak), he has not become the next hitler yet. Make no mistake, he has allied himself, however tenuously, with al queda. In fact, he is building TWO of the biggest mosques in the world to attract the religious fanatics. It is said that the mosques are dedicated to Saddam, no doubt with the mandatory huge paintings of him on the walls, in contradiction of Islamic teaching. The fact is that these al queda terrorists care about as little for their god Allah, at least at the leadership level. Simply observe the remains of Osama and Mullah Omar's compounds in Afghanistan, and you can see the same "blasphemous" (to Islam) murals. They use terror, money, and even religion to control populations, great and small, for their own enrichment, at the expense of both their own people and the rest of the world.
In today's globalized culture, this must stop. Western culture has it's problems, but at least it's open to considering new ideas from other cultures. The supression of individual rights, whether economic, political or religious (or anti-religious, for those without faith) should be opposed aggressively, and the first "target of opportunity" to rid the world of this cancer is Iraq, with Iran hopefully already in the planning stage.

We should not be waiting for "the straw that breaks the camel's back"; it fell on Sept. 11, 2001. Now it's time to act.

OPEN LETTER TO RUSH LIMBAUGH

LEAVITT on LIMBAUGH: 10/03/03 Back in 1992, after losing my nightclub business, I was down and out. Around this time, I had one of my drunken political "debates" with my friend Matt "Hoops" Reilly, at Clarke's bar. I, being a Liberal Democrat then, was defending "slick Wiily" Clinton as "our" version of "tricky Dick" Nixon, and correctly predicted that he would not only be elected, but would get away with "whitewater", the "bimbo eruptions", and anything else that the Republicans could throw at him. Then Matt asked me if I had ever listened to Rush Limbaugh. "What, that racist, bigoted homophobe?" -or words to that effect, was my reply. "How can you say that if you never listened to him?" was the comeback, after I admitted that I hadn't. Well, it took me a few months, but I found his radio show on WABC 77 (NYC). I listened to him, this brash Conservative, with an open mind. I was astounded with his obviously tounge-in-cheek "arrogance", and his extreme "political incorrectness"(at least to a Liberal). Rush first weaned me off of the daytime soap operas, then inspired me to beat my crack addiction. The critical change came when I thought about how down and out I was. After blowing all of my inheritance money, I never turned to the government for assistance after things went bad; I was fortunate enough to have friends who helped me through that difficult period. This is exactly Rush's message, that we should not depend on government to turn our fortunes around. In fact, the NY State government (a TRULY LIBERAL ESTABLISHMENT, even with a "Republican" Governor) sucked the life out of the one business I did own. It was like a slow-motion epiphany. I started seeing events, both in my life and in the world at large, in a larger historical context. The more I listened to Rush, the more he made sense to me. I can't say I agree with everything Rush says, but I love the way he frames an issue. I have been listening to him since '92 or '93, and the only "preaching" I remember was for self-reliance and the 3 F's (FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND FAITH), as opposed to reliance on government! The logical extention of this is to defeat the Democrats, and this is how I became a Republican, thanks to Rush Limbaugh. Now that Rush is at the center of the media spotlight for his drug use, I think that my story is especially poignant. I've kept act together for over six years, and I bet Rush will be able to beat his addiction as well, with the help of those same 3 F's. I, for one, haven't lost faith in him. He loses no credibility with me for having human flaws. He was one of many factors that helped me get my life back together. I hope that I can be a factor in helping him get his life back on track, too. As a member of Rush 24/7, I'm sending my story to Rush on his "double secret" email, and hopefully he'll read it eventually, and take inspiration as I did from him. GOOD LUCK, RUSH! -FROM CHRIS LEAVITT

Thursday, January 06, 2005

TORT REFORM DEBATE on PBS

TORT REFORM DEBATE on PBS NEWSHOUR

I was watching the NEWSHOUR with Jim Lehrer on PBS, and during the tort reform debate, a woman opposed to reform said that a brain damaged child's award would be capped at $250,000. The man who supported tort reform corrected her misleading statement, saying that the child's medical and living expenses would be paid for life, but pain and suffering damages ABOVE that would be capped at $250,000. Quite a big misrepresentation by the anti-tort reform side, don't you think? Keep that in mind if you watch any people debate this, or even in the reporting about it! Half-truths are the bane of good journalism, tainting without technicaly "lying". Good thing that PBS had someone from the conservative side swift enough to catch the spin and hit it out of the ballpark. I'll have to look up the names, but it was fun to watch.

Sunday, January 02, 2005

COMMENTS FROM BS (BARBARA STRIESAND!)

This section contains statements and speeches by Ms. Streisand.

The "So-Called" Liberal Media ...Barbra Streisand
Posted on December 10, 2004
The idea of a liberal media bias is simply a myth. If only it were true, we might have a more humane, open-minded, and ultimately effective public debate on the issues facing the country. We may actually embrace the principles of liberalism, instead of using it as a tool to divide the nation. Everything good that has happened in this country is founded on the ideology of liberalism. Liberals in the past were liberators who fought for a woman's right to vote, and fought to end segregation in the United States and then to end apartheid in South Africa. Thanks to liberals, today we have public education, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, environmental protection laws, a minimum wage law...among many other wonderful programs. Such a label should be worn with a badge of honor and defended by Democrats, not allowed to be used as slander by the Right Wing.
TRANSLATION: EVERYTHING GOOD COMES FROM LIBERALS, AND THEIR THOUGHT PROCESS! BELIEVING THAT IS NOT A BIAS!

Frankly, the idea that the media is sympathetic to conservative causes rather than liberal ones is obvious, for reasons of ownership, economics, and outside pressure. With the major networks being controlled by a small group of large corporations, the news reporting has become most often sympathetic to conservatives, for fear of losing advertising dollars and being reprimanded by the current administration.
TRANSLATION: CONSERVATIVES ARE BAD PEOPLE! THE ONES THAT OWN FOX NEWS AND OTHER MEDIA ARE CONTROLLING EVERYONE ELSE, EXCEPT THE LIBERALS! THIS IS EVIDENCE OF CONSERVATIVE BIAS!

Dan Rather was castigated by the media for airing the Bush National Guard story before completely verifying one document. As we have known for years, the details of Bush's service record offered in the story were true, as Killian's secretary even verified, although the document presented in the piece is in question. Men who served in Bush's unit for the year he claimed he was in the National Guard, have stated on record that they do not remember seeing him there. The LA times also reported the story and even printed that when asked to report to Vietnam, Bush checked the box stating "do not volunteer for overseas." Now, an award-winning respected journalist has decided to retire early with a black mark on his career. In sharp contrast, no such walking papers or even a slap on the wrist was given to those in the Bush Administration, who perpetuated false information to the public as a way to rally support for the Iraq war. Dan Rather's error didn't hold a candle to the seriousness of the lies and lives lost by entering into an unnecessary war. One's actions are a little sloppy - the other's actions are high crimes and misdemeanors. Among the litany of false claims by the Bush Administration were a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, the purchase of aluminum tubes for nuclear weapons by Iraq, the possibility of a "smoking gun" to become "a mushroom cloud," and Iraq's purchase of yellow cake from Niger. If the President, who has formed a habit of blaming others for the mistakes committed by his administration, thought that the intelligence, defense and security information he received was bad, then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, CIA Director, George Tenet, and National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice should have been fired immediately. Yet few in the media took aim at anyone in the Administration for their egregious errors and deceit. If Dan Rather was so excoriated for talking about a document that may not be real, the press should have pressured this administration to step down for their countless lies and irreparable mistakes - starting with the President. The Bush Administration's lies were far more serious and detrimental to the American public, in that it falsely represented the reasons to wage war and send American soldiers into battle. Thousands of young soldiers and a hundred thousand innocent Iraqis have died in vain, thousands have been wounded and more continue to die everyday as this war wages on. The hypocrisy would be laughable, if it wasn't so tragic. DAN RATHER'S LIE WAS NOT AS BAD AS BUSH AND THE REST OF THE WORLD SAYING SADDAM HAD WMD!

The press failed once again with regard to fellow Journalist Robert Novak, who stooped to a low in journalistic integrity by naming an undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame in his nationally syndicated column, thereby destroying her career and putting her life and her network of associates in danger. Novak was neither fired from CNN, where he is a commentator on Crossfire, or from his newspaper column. Nor was he even publicly reprimanded. The "liberally-biased" media failed to hold Robert Novak accountable for his highly partisan and destructive actions. BOB NOVAK SHOULD BE IN JAIL, NOT JUDY!

Remember back during the 2000 election when RNC employees posed as "irate local citizens" and stormed polling places in Florida in order to squelch the recount process. Where was the press coverage investigating the deception and informing Americans of the truth. Where was the press coverage of Florida's highly controversial felon list, which was produced by a private contractor and riddled with inaccuracies, denying tens of thousands of eligible voters the right to vote? When minority voters are being intimidated and disenfranchised by the thousands leading up to and during a close election race, the public relies on the press to bring the story to the forefront thereby prompting immediate action by our leaders. DEMOCRATS WERE THE THUGGISH ONES THIS YEAR, AND I SUPPORTED THEM!!

With the presence of Fox News, The O 'Reilly Factor, Rush Limbaugh, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post, no one can dispute the existence of a strong conservative media. However, where these news outlets feel free to proudly proclaim their "conservative bias" by sharing their unwanted opinions, prestigious TV network anchors like Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Bill Moyers and Jim Lehrer carefully tow-the-line to present the news in a balanced manner. They are real journalists who objectively present the news in order to allow the audience to make up their own minds. But sadly, today some of these wannabe TV reporters make inappropriate and derogatory statements perhaps in an effort to make a name for themselves. I TRIED TO AVOID THE SPOTLIGHT, BUT I WAS EXPOSED AGAIN!!

Despite all the claims of pushing a biased liberal agenda by the press, the Republicans have managed to win five out of the last seven Presidential elections, and this year continue to strengthen their control of the congress. Their success undoubtedly is due in part to the fact that reporters on major networks have become so fearful of either losing their job or being deemed biased, they have relinquished their journalistic responsibility to hold our leaders accountable. I SUCK HARDER THAN ALL THE REST OF THE DEMOCRATS, WHO CLEAN THE CHROME OFF MY BUMBER!!!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DISTASTE FOR FANCE! (er, FRANCE)

UNDERSTANDING THE FRENCH is to know DISTASTE!
The bigger the picture one takes of the French, the worse they look. This policy they recently adopted, trying to make a "balance" against US power, looks to end badly, as most of their foreign schemes have. Having sided with Saddam in the recent conflict, they now have to be looked at as potentially collaborating with Iran, Syria, or even North Korea and China. One wonders how far will France go to "counter" what it perceives as US influence worldwide.
The EU is another bad idea that the French think will ressurect their glory days, this time lording over the new Eastern European democracies. The problem here is that the new Europe has low tax rates, and bursting economies. France, Germany, among others are welfare states with economies approaching the state of the old Eastern European nations under communism. One senses that the "new" Europeans might not enjoy exchanging one yoke for another, once the chafing starts again. (as in soon)
France has been a "has-been" on the world stage for the better part of the last century. Now, they constitute a new threat: Millions of "unassimilated" Muslims from various nations living in housing projects outside of the cities all over France. When the French economy collapses, will there be an Islamist, or Communist uprising, even as democracy takes root in Iraq, and Eastern Europe? If either of these groups take over France, they will have access to nuclear arms. This could be the outcome of their Socialized economy, if they aren't allowed to suck the life out of the booming EastEU countries.
France and Germany are like the canaries in the coal mine of unbridled Socialism, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The amount of EU regulation of enterprise probably exceeds the centralized bureaucracy of the USSR in its heyday. France's Socialist economy won't even qualify for membership in it's own little EU club. One hopes they don't take all of Europe down with them again, with their crazy schemes.
This is all just speculation. But one can agree on a few things, no?

F#*K FRANCE!
BOYCOTT FRANCE!
TELL EVERY FRENCH PERSON YOU MEET HOW STUPID THEIR PRESIDENT IS, AND THAT THE U.S. WILL GET ALONG WITH FRANCE SO MUCH BETTER ONCE THEY REPLACE THAT JERK JAQUES CHIRAC!


Chris Leavitt 07/01/04

BOB ALLEN ON 9/11

I woke up this morning in my 17th floor apartment in Brooklyn Heights and
watched the sun come up over lower Manhattan, something I have done every
morning for the six years I have been living here.

The skyline across the East River looked miraculously untouched, and I might
have believed that the horror I had witnessed from my window yesterday was
only a plot for one of my novels, except the two towers, which had been the
centerpiece of my view, were gone, replaced by a pillar of smoke still
billowing from a spot where I had stood only a week ago.

But the rising sun still glinted off the other skyscrapers, and the smell of
smoke was dissipating from my apartment. I turned on the TV to hear my
mayor
say we New Yorkers had too much spirit to have it extinguished by an act of
terror. And he's right. Live goes on.

Out my window, people are opening their businesses, including an Arab-run
news stand across the street. The man, who listens to music I find strange
and speaks in a language I cannot understand, works hard many hours every
day. I have seen fear in his eyes late at night when he wonders if the next
customer will add a few pennies to his daily earnings or come to steal from
him. He may look and speak different, but he's just like all of us in this
vast melting pot of American with the sames dreams and fears.

We cannot hate people for the color of their skin or their place of origin;
that's not the American way. We hate people for their actions, and we will
make those who caused this horrendous act pay for their crime. But if we
follow the advice of those who have let hate cloud their judgment at this
time of terror, then we will be as bad as those who perpetrated this crime.

The terror is real. Just now I hear the roar of jet engines outside my
window, and a shudder runs up my spine. I realize that's how the people of
London must have felt during the blitz, but this time I know it's an
American
fighter jet flying precautionary cover over my City. But the thought that
such an action has become necessary makes me shudder, too. My country has
changed. Life will never be the same again. But if we let these terrorists
steal freedom and decency from us, they will have won. These gutless
wonders
can defeat us only if we let them. These terrorists have no arsenal to use
against us. They were able to attack America only by using our own peaceful
tools --our passenger airliners -- as weapons against us. If they cause us
to hate senselessly, they will use our own emotions against us, too.

--Bob Allen
Wednesday, September 19, 2001 12:19:49 AM