Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Olbermann at Ground Zero



After watching the Bushit speak last week at the American Legion, and again Monday night, I am just about crazy, not to mention speechless. Thankfully, Keith Olbermnann still retains enough objectivity that he can write a few coherent sentences. This is what he had to say about Bushit's self-serving remarks:

And lastly tonight a Special Comment on why we are here. Half a lifetime ago, I worked in this now-empty space.

And for 40 days after the attacks, I worked here again, trying to make sense of what happened, and was yet to happen, as a reporter.

And all the time, I knew that the very air I breathed contained the remains of thousands of people, including four of my friends, two in the planes and — as I discovered from those "missing posters" seared still into my soul — two more in the Towers.

And I knew too, that this was the pyre for hundreds of New York policemen and firemen, of whom my family can claim half a dozen or more, as our ancestors.

I belabor this to emphasize that, for me… this was, and is, and always shall be, personal. And anyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft", or have "forgotten" the lessons of what happened here — is at best a grasping, opportunistic, dilettante — and at worst, an idiot — whether he is a commentator, or a Vice President, or a President.



For the video and full transcript, go to Tom Paine's Pass It On.