Never let a serious crisis go to waste

Something about this whole story is reminding of the attacks of 9/11 and what happened afterward. I'm not going to venture to say that the government carried this out. I would certainly hope they hadn't and the mere thought of it sickens me to my stomach. But, at the very least we can see that it is being taken advantage of, which sickens me just as well, to unite Americans. America United...where have I heard that slogan before?

First Thoughts: Obama Recaptures His 2004 Voice

Addressing civility head-on: Indeed, the most surprising part of last night’s speech -- beyond breaking the news that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ (D) eyes had opened -- was that Obama addressed the civility debate head-on, but with a twist. In the hours leading up to his address, we were convinced he was going to duck that debate, opting instead to eulogize the fallen and celebrate the heroes. But he must have realized that he couldn’t avoid it, especially after all the attention from Sarah Palin’s “blood libel” Web video. At the end of his remarks, he focused on the 9-year-old girl who died in Saturday’s shooting, Christina Taylor Green. (Being a father of young girls, that was something in Obama’s wheelhouse.) “I want to live up to her expectations,” he said. “I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it. All of us, we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.” Atlantic Monthly writer (and former Carter speechwriter) Jim Fallows ranked Obama's speech last night in Obama's top-three addresses, joining the 2004 Dem convention and the 2008 Philly race speeches. It's hard to disagree.

Obama Urges National Dialogue of Healing at Arizona Memorial Service

Saying he wants to live up to the dreams of a 9-year-old girl who perished in a Tucson parking lot last weekend, President Obama on Wednesday urged Americans to temper the political discourse now polarizing the public square.

If you read the stories you'll see that Obama is using emotional ploys to get Americans on his side. First, there was his announcement that Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time since the shooting. Why was this saved for the President to announce? Up until then, her doctors were giving updates on her condition to the press. It seemed like something to tug at the heart strings of Americans. Remember, he's trying to unite us now.

Before someone tells me that he needed to have a speech like this to calm all the political discourse in this country, ask yourself a few questions. Why is their so much discourse? Why are so many Americans angry? Who was perpetuating this anger? Think for yourself. Find the answers yourself.



Another part of the Obama's speech that bothered me:

Obama bluntly conceded that there is no way to know what triggered the mass shooting.

How could he possibly know this??? As I type this the police are tearing Jared Loughner's house apart for evidence and clues as to why he carried out this terrible shooting. Surely, he's being evaluated and interrogated as of now and a reason could come out. A rather bold statement for Obama to make.


This a terrible tragedy. But it's not as if President Obama can let a serious crisis go to waste.

"the human beatbox is the entertainer"...sorry you still got me singing the fat boys from your post on the how can i join the Illuminati thread....


Anyway i agree with your basic premise the whole situation does kind of have a 9-11 theme too it, i'm not sure what your personal opinion is on the world trade center, my line of thinking is i don't buy either the official story given buy the government and i don't buy everything the patriot community has to say about the attacks either i think it's some where in the middle and i do think some foul play was involved by the powers that be...

Let's just hope this incident wasn't concocted by the American government and the shooter wasen't a MK-Ultra manchurian candidate but after all this is a government that poisoned its own citizens during prohibition times and also gave syphilis to guatemalans so i wouldn't put anything past them.

Any time a tragedy of this nature and magnitude occurs it is not uncommon for the current administration to offer a token of solace and hope to the nation. If you take a closer look, politicians and talking heads from both sides of the political divide are chiming in on the issue and offering their own thoughts and condolences.

There's not much of a big deal going on here.

reply to post by maria_stardust


This is what made me think that there is something more to this than meets the eye:




I don't think that our government was behind this. I just think it's being taken advantage of by politicians.

Originally posted by King Seesar
"the human beatbox is the entertainer"...sorry you still got me singing the fat boys from your post on the how can i join the Illuminati thread....


Anyway i agree with your basic premise the whole situation does kind of have a 9-11 theme too it, i'm not sure what your personal opinion is on the world trade center, my line of thinking is i don't buy either the official story given buy the government and i don't buy everything the patriot community has to say about the attacks either i think it's some where in the middle and i do think some foul play was involved by the powers that be...

Let's just hope this incident wasn't concocted by the American government and the shooter wasen't a MK-Ultra manchurian candidate but after all this is a government that poisoned its own citizens during prohibition times and also gave syphilis to guatemalans so i wouldn't put anything past them.

edit on 14-1-2011 by King Seesar because: (no reason given)

As sophisticated and as deeply entrenched in world politics that our intelligence community is beyond belief that the attacks of 9/11 were not at least known about beforehand. I find that to be impossible. If it did occur without the CIA, FBI, or NSA knowing about it then there most assuredly should have been a major shakeup at these agencies. But, as far as I know there was not. I'm sure some people lost jobs just to save face, but no major players were touched.

Originally posted by PhantomLimb
I don't think that our government was behind this. I just think it's being taken advantage of by politicians.

Anytime a major tragedy occurs it is taken advantage of by politicians, it's nothing new. You seem genuinely surprised by this.

Sadly, I have to agree with the thread title. Never let a crisis go to waste..espacially those who are wealthy or in power.

Crisis in the 5000 year old ancient chinese civilisation is made up of 2 distinctive characters. Danger and Opportunity combined into one word.

Very often the ones who lost out were the poor masses, who have no power to effect change, more so without leadership. And where leadership is needed, very often, it is the venile and knaves that take such opportunities to grow their own wealth and power, for they know where danger and fear lays, opportunity to exploit is present. The masses are continually screwed.

During wars, its the military industrial complex that smiles.

During floods and famines, its the black marketeers that smiles.

During epidemics, its the big Pharma that smiles, despite their hippocratic oaths.

During racial, religious or any discriminatory conflicts , its the loudest side that gather the most violent or provoked into violence that wins, even if they are a minority.

During economic meltdowns - its the rich that buys up the properties and resources for they know that humans will always need it and somehow, a remnant will survive to be the slaves, less Divine acts. ( even in the event of divine acts, they had already calculated that angle and risks, for such acts would mean all would die, and money would be worthless anyway)

The only solution is to be as wise as the chinese civilisation had been - not to allow fear and danger overtake our logic and reason so that we each may not be exploited, and instead to turn in exploiters publically and reveal to the masses who they really are and are after.

Originally posted by maria_stardust

Originally posted by PhantomLimb
I don't think that our government was behind this. I just think it's being taken advantage of by politicians.

Anytime a major tragedy occurs it is taken advantage of by politicians, it's nothing new. You seem genuinely surprised by this.

I'm not surprised. I'm sickened by it.

You seem apathetic about it. What's worse?

Originally posted by PhantomLimb
You seem apathetic about it. What's worse?

On the contrary, I'm fairly realistic about the situation. This is the very nature of the political beast.

The way these situations are handled is rather formulaic:
Situation/Crisis/Tragedy (leads to/results in) Public Outcry + Political Spin (Politicians/Pundits/Talking Heads)

In fact, I've no doubt the people of this nation would be kicking and screaming up a storm if our politicians didn't step into the proverbial fray and offer their thoughts and condolences on such matters. If they avoided addressing such issues in a humanistic manner they themselves would be painted as apathetic and heartless.

Would you rather that our politicians remain silent in times of crisis?

reply to post by maria_stardust


It's not the idea that they have something to say about it. Of course they should. But, there are times when people's emotions are manipulated for a politicians cause. I'm sure Obama feels the way he says he does about this shooting. But, that doesn't mean that he won't manipulate Americans emotions to rally support around him. Like the former Clinton official in the video I provided said, Obama needed a tragedy like the OKC bombings to gain more support for his policies. It's disgusting.