Where we should all be!

[catman]

Zell Miller is a Senator from Georgia and a Democrat. But he speaks the
>truth and this needed to be said.
>
>U.S. Senator Zell Miller
>
>Floor Statement: 'A House Divided Cannot Stand'
>Remarks as Delivered on the Senate Floor
>
>After watching the harsh acrimony generated by the September 11 Commission
>- which, let me say at the outset, is made up of good and able members -
>I've come to seriously question this panel's usefulness.
>
>I believe it will ultimately play a role in doing great harm to this
>country, for its unintended consequences, I fear, will be to energize our
>enemies and demoralize our troops.
>
>After being drowned in a tidal wave of all who didn't do enough before
>9/11, I have come to believe that the Commission should issue a report that
>says: "No one did enough in the past. No one did near enough."
>
>Then thank everyone for serving, send them home and let's get on with the
>job of protecting this country in the future.
>
>Tragically, these hearings have proved to be a very divisive diversion for
>this country. Tragically, they have devoured valuable time, looking
>backwards when we should be looking forward.
>
>Can you imagine handling the attack on Pearl Harbor this way? Can you
>imagine Congress, the media and the public standing for this kind of
>political gamesmanship and finger pointing after that "day of infamy" in
>1941?
>
>Some partisans tried that ploy, but they were soon quieted by the patriots
>who understood how important it was to get on with the war and take the
>battle to America's enemies, and not dwell on what FDR knew when.
>
>You see, back then the highest priority was to win a war, not win an
>election. That's what made them "The Greatest Generation."
>
>I realize that many well-meaning Americans see the hearings as "democracy
>in action." Years ago, when I was teaching political science, I probably
>would have had my class watching it live on television and using that very
>phrase with them.
>
>There are also the not-so-well-meaning political operatives who see these
>hearings as an opportunity to "score cheap points."
>
>Then, there are the Media Meddlers who see this as "great theater" that can
>be played out on the evening news and on endless talk shows for a week or
>more.
>
>Congressional hearings have long been one of Washington's most entertaining
>pastimes. Joe McCarthy Watergate. Iran Contra. They all kept us glued to
>the TV, and made for conversation around the water coolers and arguments
>over a beer at the corner pub.
>
>A Congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. is the ultimate aphrodisiac for
>political groupies and partisan punks.
>
>But, it's not the groupies, punks and television-sotted American public
>that I'm worried about. This latter crowd can get excited and divided over
>just about anything. Whether it's some off-key wanna-be dreaming of being
>the American Idol, or what brainless bimbo The Bachelor or Average Joe will
>choose or who will Donald Trump fire next week.
>
>No, it is the real enemies of America that I'm concerned about.
>
>These evil killers who right now, right now are gleefully watching the
>shrill partisan finger pointing of these hearings and grinning like a mule
>eating briars.
>
>They see this as a major split within the Great Satan America. They see
>anger, they see division, instability, bickering, peevishness and
>dissension.
>
>They see the President of the United States hammered unmercifully. They see
>all this and they are greatly, greatly encouraged.
>
>We should not be doing anything to encourage our enemies in this battle
>between good and evil. Yet, these hearings, in my opinion, are doing just
>that.
>
>We are playing with fire. We're playing directly into the hands of our
>enemy by allowing these hearings to become the great divider they have
>become.
>
>Dick Clarke's book and its release coinciding with these hearings have done
>this country a tremendous disservice, and someday we will reap its
>whirlwind.
>
>Long ago, Sir Walter Scott observed that revenge is "the sweetest morsel
>that ever was cooked in hell."
>
>The vindictive Clarke has now had his revenge, but what kind of hell has
>he, his CBS publisher and his axe-to-grind advocates unleashed?
>
>These hearings, coming on the heels of the election the terrorists
>influenced in Spain, bolster and energize our evil enemies as they have not
>been energized since 9/11.
>
>Chances are very good that these evil enemies of America will attempt to
>influence our 2004 election in a similar dramatic way as they did Spain's.
>And to think that could never be in this country is to stick your head in
>the sand.
>
>That is why the sooner we stop this endless bickering over the past and
>join together to prepare for the future, the better off this country will
>be. There are some things - whether this city believes it or not - that are
>just more important than political campaigns.
>
>The recent past is so ripe for political second-guessing "gotcha" and
>Monday morning quarter-backing And it is so tempting in an election year.
>We should not allow ourselves to indulge that temptation. We should put our
>country first.
>
>Every administration from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush bears some of the
>blame. Dick Clarke bears a big heap of it because it was he who was in the
>catbird's seat to do something about it for more than a decade. Tragically,
>it was the decade in which we did the least.
>
>We did nothing after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in 1993,
>killing six and injuring more than 1,000 Americans.
>
>We did nothing in 1996 when sixteen U.S. servicemen were killed in the
>bombing of the Khobar Towers.
>
>When our embassies were attacked in 1998, killing 263 people, our only
>response was to fire a few missiles on an empty tent.
>
>Is it any wonder? Is it any wonder that after that decade of weak-willed
>responses to that murderous terror, our enemies thought we would never
>fight back?
>
>In the 1990's is when Dick Clarke should have resigned. In the 1990's is
>when he should have apologized. That is when he should have written his
>book. That is, if he really had America's best interest at heart.
>
>Some will say, "We owe it to the families" to get more information about
>what happened in the past and I can understand that. But no amount of
>finger-pointing will bring our victims back.
>
>So, now we owe it to future families and all of America now in jeopardy not
>to encourage more terrorists, resulting in even more grieving families,
>perhaps many more over the ones of 9/11.
>
>It's obvious to me that this country is rapidly dividing itself into two
>camps: the wimps and the warriors.
>
>The ones who want to argue and assess and appease, and the ones who want to
>carry this fight to our enemies and kill them before they kill us. And, in
>case you haven't figured it out, I proudly belong to the latter.
>
>This is a time like no other in the history of this country, and this
>country is being crippled with petty partisan politics of the worst
>possible kind. In time of war, it is not just unpatriotic; it is stupid,
>and it is criminal.
>
>So, I pray that all this time, all this energy, all this talk and all this
>attention could be focused on the future instead of the past.
>
>I pray we would stop pointing fingers, assigning blame and wringing our
>hands about what happened on that day David McCullogh has called "the worst
>day in our history" more than two years ago
>
>And instead, pour all of our energy into how we can kill these terrorists
>before they kill us - again.
>
>For make no mistake about it. They watch these hearings. They are scheming
>and smiling about the distraction and the divisiveness they see in America.
>And while they may not know who said it years ago in America, they know
>instinctively that a house divided cannot stand.
>
>There is one other group that we should remember is listening to all of
>this - our troops. I was in Iraq in January and one day when I was meeting
>with the 1st Armored Division, a unit with a proud history known as Old
>Ironsides, we were discussing troop morale, and the Commanding General said
>it was top notch.
>
>And I turned to the Division's Sergeant Major, the top enlisted man in the
>division, a big, burly, 6-foot-3, 240 pound African American and I said,
>"That's good, but how do you sustain that kind of morale?"
>
>Without hesitation he narrowed his eyes, and he looked at me and said "The
>morale will stay high just as long as these troops know the people back
>home support us."
>
>Just as long as the people back home support us. What kind of message are
>these hearings and the outrageously political speeches on the floor of the
>Senate yesterday sending to those marvelous young Americans in the uniform
>of our country?
>
>I say Unite America! Before it is too late! Put aside these petty partisan
>differences when it comes to the protection of our people.
>
>Argue and argue and argue and debate and debate and debate over all the
>other things - jobs and education and the deficit and the environment - but
>please, please do not use the lives of Americans and the security of this
>country as a cheap-shot political talking point.

[colmurph]

Good read Catman, thanks for posting it. Nice to know there is one sane Democrat out there who can see the forest and the trees.