Heartless Libertarian
"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." P.J. O'Rourke
9/11/2010
9-11
Nine years later.
I was stationed at Fort Lewis on Sept 11th, 2001. I was asleep when the first plane hit the WTC. I was just getting up when the second plane hit, and heading out for my morning run when the plane hit the Pentagon. After my run, I showered and read the newspaper while I ate breakfast.
I didn't know anything had happened until I got in my car at 0825 to head in to work. By that time, both towers had already collapsed. Fort Lewis had closed every gate except one, and the trip to work that normal took about 25 minutes, took 2 hours.
I was assigned to be the unit night LNO at the I Corps EOC. So that night I watched footage of planes hitting the Twin Towers, from just about every angle, for twelve hours.
My boss' boss, the Division G-3, was stationed at the Pentagon. His office was destroyed, but he was in a meeting elsewhere in the building. Today has a very personal meaning for him.
I've been in Afghanistan on September 11th the two years prior to this. The piece of steel in the picture above came from the World Trade Center. It now sits in from of the headquarters of NATO Regional Command - East, at Bagram Airfield.
Nine years ago today, al-Qaeda assassins, allied with the Taliban, killed Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud.
Massoud had been one of the most effective mujahadeen fighting the Soviets, and was the most effective leader remaining standing against the Taliban. As such, he would have been a natural ally for the U.S. had he remained alive.
This is not to say that the situation in Afghanistan would have been all sweetness and light had Massoud survived. But they definitely would not have been worse. Massoud was not only a great warrior, but also a man of conviction who advocated for tolerance and peace.
The post title is the traditional Muslim blessing upon the deceased. Now, from the Christian: Requiescat in pace Permalink |
It's a nice place to start...but you need to start actually eliminating things. Like farm subsidies...take them out behind the barn and kill them. (Ethanol fuel requirements, too.) The entire departments of HUD and Education, along with HHS except the CDC. Sell Amtrak to any investors who'll take the risk, for whatever price you can get.
Repeal any Porkulus money that hasn't already been spent. And repeal Obamacare. Add in some bits knocking down the state-erected barriers to interstate commerce in medical insurance, as well as minimum coverage requirements, and let the markets digest that - say, for at least 5 years - before you dick around with it anymore.
Replace the current special-interest playground of a tax code with a flat tax at a revenue neutral rate.
Oh, and help out the states by passing a law allowing state governments to declare bankruptcy.
Then we'll talk about selling federal land to retire what debt we can, and disassembling the Social Security and Medicare Ponzi schemes.
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