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And it's the fault of this president for obsessing about Saddam Hussein (since he's been doing since the early 1990s) and not doing enough to protect his own people from future attacks.

The terrorists have all the power here. They're holding all the cards. They once again managed to scare a large part of the world. They also know something that American soldiers DON'T know. The know what the outcome of their plan is going to be. They use the element of surprise, and when they wake up in the morning, they don't wonder if they're still going to be alive the next day. They already KNOW they won't be because they've planned it that way. They control their own fate, as well as the fate of everyone who gets in their way.

Our soldiers have to deal with that every single day. A car bomb here. A suicide bomber there. Every single day is 9/11 for them. It sounds real nice to pretend to respect and honor them when participating in a photo op on an aircraft carrier. Why doesn't he care enough about their lives to provide adequate body armor and Humvees for them? He has no problem giving big tax breaks to his rich base (and YES, they are his REAL base, not the Christian right; just wait till he betrays you all with his moderate Supreme Court nominees). He has no problem giving free healthcare to all Iraqis. Forget about the American people for a minute. Why can't he care about our troops -- our CHILDREN -- enough to supply them with adequate equipment? Of course, he personally would not know what constitutes adequate equipment because HE WAS TOO MUCH OF A COWARD TO EVER SERVE IN COMBAT.

As far as giving this President too much credit, you obviously didn't comprehend one word of my post.

Former 9/11 Commissioners: U.S. at Risk

By HOPE YEN, Associated Press WriterSun Dec 4, 6:28 PM ET

The U.S. is at great risk for more terrorist attacks because Congress and the White House have failed to enact several strong security measures, members of the former Sept. 11 commission said Sunday.

It's not a priority for the government right now, said the former chairman, Thomas Kean, ahead of the group's release of a report Monday assessing how well its recommendations have been followed.

More than four years after 9/11 ... people are not paying attention, the former Republican governor of New Jersey said. God help us if we have another attack.

Added Lee Hamilton, the former Democratic vice chairman of the commission: We believe that another attack will occur. It's not a question of if. We are not as well-prepared as we should be.

The five Republicans and five Democrats on the commission, whose recommendations are now promoted through a privately funded group known as the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, conclude that the government deserves more Fs than As in responding to their 41 suggested changes.

Since the commission's final report in July 2004, the government has enacted the centerpiece proposal to create a national intelligence director. But the government has stalled on other ideas, including improving communication among emergency responders and shifting federal terrorism-fighting money so it goes to states based on risk level.

There is a lack of a sense of urgency, Hamilton said. There are so many competing priorities. We've got three wars going on: one in Afghanistan, one in Iraq and the war against terror. And it's awfully hard to keep people focused on something like this.

National security adviser Stephen Hadley said Sunday that President Bush is committed to putting in place most of the commission's recommendations.

Obviously, as we've said all along, we are safer, but not yet safe. There is more to do, Hadley said on Fox News Sunday.

Ex-commissioners contended the government has been remiss by failing to act more quickly.

Kean said the Transportation Security Administration was wrong to announce changes last week that will allow airline passengers to carry small scissors and some sharp tools. He also said the agency, by now, should have consolidated databases of passenger information into a single terror watch list to aid screening.

I don't think we have to go backward here, said Kean, who appeared with Hamilton on NBC's Meet the Press.

They're talking about using more money for random checks. Terrorists coming through the airport may still not be spotted, Kean said.

Kean and Hamilton urged Congress to pass spending bills that would allow police and fire to communicate across radio spectrums and to reallocate money so that Washington and New York, which have more people and symbolic landmarks, could receive more for terrorism defense.

Both bills have stalled in Congress, in part over the level of spending and turf fights over which states should get the most dollars.

This is a no-brainer, said Hamilton, a former Indiana congressman.

From the standpoint of responding to a disaster, the key responders must be able to talk with one another. They could not do it on 9/11, and as a result of that, lives were lost. They could not do it at (Hurricane) Katrina. They still cannot do it.

As for the dollar dispute, Hamilton said, We know what terrorists want to do: they want to kill as many Americans as possible. That means you protect the Washington monument and United States Capitol, and not other places.

Congress established the commission in 2002 to investigate government missteps that led to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Its 567-page final report, which became a national best seller, does not blame Bush or former President Clinton for missteps contributing to the attacks but did say they failed to make anti-terrorism a higher priority.

The commission also concluded that the Sept. 11 attack would not be the nation's last, noting that al-Qaida had tried for at least 10 years to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Calling the country less safe than we were 18 months ago, former Democratic commissioner Jamie Gorelick said Sunday the government's failure to move forward on the recommendations makes the U.S. more vulnerable.

She cited the failure to ensure that foreign nations are upgrading security measures to stop proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical materials, as well as the FBI's resistance to overhauling its anti-terror programs.

You remember the sense of urgency that we all felt in the summer of 2004. The interest has faded, the Washington lawyer said on ABC's Good Morning America. You could see that in the aftermath of Katrina. We assumed that our government would be able to do what it needed to do and it didn't do it.

___

On the Net:

9/11 Public Discourse Project: http://www.9-11pdp.org/

Copyright � 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

I wonder if I'm the only one who finds your idea of a joke offensive. Just when I was ready to be offended by "blob of tissue" you chime in with your turkey joke. I'm stunned sometimes at the callousness of some people. I don't know why I would be stunned considering the world we live in, but I still am from time to time. Thank my Heavenly Father! I wouldn't want to be so cold.

Those "blobs of tissue" have heartbeats. Those "blobs of tissue" have such beauty and such potential. Those "blobs of tissue" are alive.

In a story that appeared in the Times on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Ayers told a reporter while promoting his memoir "Fugitive Days": "I don't regret setting bombs...I feel we didn't do enough."

This was just so highly amusing, I couldn't resist I had to share. I hope it makes you smile, it did me!

It is a big venue because of the huge number of people who want to be part of the historic event of our first black candidate's acceptance speech. I see it as a defining moment in our history and I am pleased that he wants to include as many as possible. Wish I were there. Still, the flight suit . . .

Everything about Bush's administration was not all bad, but 98% of it was. I did not vote for him for either term, but I did respect him as our country's president. All of the people against President-Elect OBAMA are knocking him before even giving him a chance.

I am thankful for a change. Anything has to be better than what Bush has given us for the last 8 years. People say we are doomed, this country is going down. Bush started that roller coaster ride quite some time ago. President-Elect Obama can now run this country down any more than Bush has already done. Besides, it will take some time to sift through all of the mess that Bush created.

By the way, many have said that Obama will be killed. If no one stepped up to the plate to take first dibbs at Bush for what he has done to this country, Obama will be just fine. He is in God's hands and God will take care of his own.

For once, it would be a great accomplishment if we all came together as Americans instead of being divided, mostly by race. Sad fact is most people are still very prejudice and will never get past the color of one's skin color.

I realize he already owned the jet, but REALLY!!!!!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,454844,00.html

I think the Simpsons had a big run on ratings like this at one point. That show was also fiction.

Carrying a hydrocephalic fetus doesn't put the mother at high risk. Please.. nm

Former 9/11 Commissioners: U.S. at Risk