TAT readers,
Our somber remembrances of the 9-11 attacks are agonizing for nearly all Americans. Those of us who experienced the attacks either in NYC, Pennsylvania or on our TV screens, will carry the scar of the attack deep in our hearts, for the rest of our lives. Those we lost in the two-decades of war were also casualties of 9-11, however there is one even deeper wound to our republic that I have rarely seen addressed, the end of American unity, our most valuable strength as a nation. I will not deeply dive into the full history and analytics today but rather, would like to speak to you directly from the heart about this unaddressed and yet unresolved, near-mortal wound to our national security. Without unity, we might as well change the name of our republic by removing the word “united” from the title. America under the current administration is being intentionally reduced to a collection of Balkanized communities, intentionally put at each other’s throats to keep us from uniting.
I can neither think of or find a similar phase of US history where disunity was as much a serious threat to our nation, other than the Confederacy’s treasonous attempt to dissolve our Union. It’s not circumstance that those today responsible for our current disunity, preach, legislate and practice nearly the same aberrant far-right ideology that was preached in the Confederacy. I’ve covered this in depth in a few essays and will leave them below, rather than going down a rabbit-hole with each. The only salient point today is that, without our historical unity and when attacked abroad or domestically, we will no longer survive as a nation or a republic. Hyper partisanship, especially when one side embraces our constitution while the opposite denigrates and violates it will become the so-called, “last nail in the coffin” of our republic.
A history lesson about true American values, not the fake patriotism of the MAGA/ GOP
Restacking this June essay: Our 2024 election isn't politics, it's a new, Civil War
Many are unaware that we are experiencing much the same as during the Great Depression era in America, 1929 through the beginning of WW II. After 12 straight years of Republican control, FDR came to the Oval Office. The Republican Party fought newly elected FDR tooth and nail to obstruct the social safety network called The New Deal, built by the Roosevelt administration to counteract the worst aspects of the Great Depression. Even today, older Republicans still despise things like Medicare, Social Security and a whole host of similar programs, born of FDR’s New Deal. The KKK was near its peak powers, blaming all non-white, non-Christian Americans for all of their woes. Especially during the depression, we had a socialist party born from the desperation of American labor who was seeking relief from the abusive oligarchs of the Day. This era of history looked much like today’s America.
"This chapter details events from 1933–1945, an era of defeat and discord for the Republicans as Franklin D. Roosevelt dominated American politics during the New Deal. Roosevelt reshaped American politics by creating the welfare state and broadening the nation's role in the world. The Republican Party had been divided on both achievements, and that fracture persisted after Roosevelt had left. On the right of the GOP, sentiment was strong towards repealing as much of the New Deal as the voters would allow. More moderate elements wished to retain the popular and workable results of the Roosevelt era while reducing bureaucracy and spending." - The Republicans and the New Deal, 1933–1945 - Oxford Academic - Lewis L. Gould - 16 October 2014
In 1933, some of these old-money oligarchs even quietly hatched a plan for a coup against FDR, allegedly financed by JP Morgan, Irénée du Pont, Robert Sterling Clark, Grayson M.P. Murphy, and Prescott Bush, among other oligarchs. Only the braided steel backbone of a highly decorated Marine general, named Smedley Butler, who exposed the plot and put an end to it.
The Great Depression exacerbated the partisanship with suffering Americans looking for any relief possible in order to survive the worst depression in modern history. Then something relatively magical happened. After the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, hyper-partisanship went largely dormant in order for our nation to unify and fight a global war against fascism. The US military led the way regarding desegregation and landmark legal decisions began opening doors to minority Americans, which dredged up some of those pre-war, deeply partisan divides. The GOP slid into the ideology of the John Birch Society (JBS), a more modern twist on previous far-right sentiments of Americans. The left had their own issues as well, but that imprint did not carry over into the modern world with anywhere near the same fervor, as did the oligarchy-funded JBS.
Our disunity grew, often violently during the early sixties and the Civil Rights movement which largely transitioned into Vietnam War protests. From the early seventies up until the Reagan administration, we struggled with inflation, fighting the Cold War and continued moving our republic closer to the intentions of our founding fathers, who were fairly radical progressives for their time. The late seventies into the first Reagan administration were far quieter at home and allowed most Americans to see that as a nation built on the awe-inspiring principles of the Scottish Enlightenment, we just might be able to live in peace and unity.
Then came Newt Gingrich’s scorched political philosophy that birthed the dangerous hyper-partisanship we see today. He took a simple approach, if someone across the aisle wanted anything, Republicans would oppose it. Today we see this albeit, there is zero conservatism left in the GOP. Today’s Republican Party easily fits the definition of far right-wing extremism, sharing little or nothing with true conservative values. Destroying American unity became the tool of choice for the GOP, in order to maintain control of our government.
It’s not all on the right either. Progressives on the left have their own problems and pushing the Democratic Socialism agenda, while we are attempting to retake congress, is in my opinion, somewhat selfish and disruptive. I don’t have many issues with their perspectives, but their agenda could be better served by being team players for the midterms, instead of waving a red cape at the charging right-wing bulls. Many races are tight and the GOP is wielding the word “socialism” as a weapon that could partially boost GOP turnout and votes. The Bernie Bros sabotaged the 2016 election via selfish vindictiveness and sent us unprepared, into this morass of dystopian fascism. Right or wrong, attempting to sway the entire nation from far right to far left at this time will only hurt the resistance.
In the vein of “united we stand, divided we fall,” our adversaries have long sought out these tears in the human fabric of our republic in order to exploit them in pursuit of weakening America. This provides a segue to discuss how since the 2016 election season, Republicans stopped being patriots and refused to collaborate with the rest of America, to shut down the Russian and Republican joint influence operations against America.
Since 2016, the Republican Party has put their support behind an extremist GOP ideology that with our current leadership, supports Russia. There is simply no evidence to the contrary. Every time Putin gets himself too deeply in trouble, the White House and sycophantic GOP-led congress bail him out via what they call, “policy.” Nonsense, it is purely a sellout of America and our longstanding NATO allies. We now find ourselves in a place we haven’t been since the end of our Civil War, with a large part of our citizenry adamantly refusing to defend our nation. Their demonstrable allegiance is to a cultivated worship of Trump. In lay terms, they are brainwashed. This is another topic I’ve written on extensively. A couple of links will also appear below that explain the so-called “brainwashing.”
In many ways, every victim in Manhattan on 9-11, paid the price for our unique way of life. Bin Laden, wished to destroy America by bankrupting us, using the Twin Towers as an iconic target of that intended bankruptcy. Like all terrorism, it is the innocent who suffer the most. Ironically, we and most of the world took on the challenge of Islamic terrorism post 9-11, but now refuse to address, far-right violent extremism at home. To add insult to injury, those Republicans who now refuse to assist in the restoration of our republic, also worship celebrity, money and power. This is not America.
Here’s the bottom line; we cannot defend America if we are not willing to defend what she stands for. When we remember our family and friends on that horrific September day, we must ponder what it was that caused their deaths. Extremist ideology is a remarkably powerful force whose threat to our society, must not be ignored. In all wars and battles, there are painful casualties. Those we memorialize today, were such casualties. They died because of what they represented. Others will die if we don’t renew our personal commitment to protecting the values we have often taken for granted. Those September 2001 attack, demanded that we seek justice for the attack. We didn’t always handle that response well. Still, until 2016, most of America was at least on the same page. Now, the entire Republican Party not only refuses to join us on that page, but is reading from an entirely different book, Project 2025.
All powerful nations will always have enemies. At this time, the enemies are within and the people falsely labeling themselves “patriots.” They are the furthest thing from it and for the past decade plus, are supporting our adversaries. The diversity of the 9-11 victims should tell you what makes America strong. Memorializing them is also demonstrable that we are mostly a nation of immigrants. That is what being an American is all about.
In closing and on a personal level, it was that attack that brought me back to the army after 26 years off, at 47 years old. I was far from alone. Units were full of mixed ages, and every race, religion or otherwise. We were unified in our mission, misguided as it occasionally could appear. I believe with my whole heart that those victims of 9-11, now deserve a nation that represents the best of us. After all, they lost their lives for what our nation represented to violent extremists. We are now at that crossroads again and must ask ourselves in earnest, do we stand for our founding values, or the values of greed and power. If we become the sacrificial lambs to another attack, I at least want to know that what we stand for, is worth dying for.
My remembrance of those victims today, demanded my introspection. Thank you all kindly and gratefully, for allowing me to share with you, the results of that introspection.
May their memories be a blessing
Paul