Well said Scorpio69er. One doesn't have to espouse alternative "conspiracy theories" to realize the official 9/11 story is full of holes. As such, we should all be questioning the official conspiracy theory and demand to know the full truth about what happened that day.

It is not a question of if this was a conspiracy it is a question of how deep it goes. To see otherwise is selective blindness.

—anarcurt

Orwell got it right:

Nazi theory indeed specifically denies that such a thing as "the truth" exists. […] The implied objective of this line of thought is a nightmare world in which the Leader, or some ruling clique, controls not only the future but the past. If the Leader says of such and such an event, "It never happened"—well, it never happened. If he says that two and two are five—well, two and two are five. This prospect frightens me much more than bombs

Thank you Glen for raising this issue again as I think it's a critically important one and should not just be forgotten. I recall vividly the attempts to link the anthrax attacks to Iraq in order to justify the invasion that the Bush administration wanted all along.

Thankfully at least the British government is investigating the run up to the Iraq war. If only this country would do the same.

Nothing personal meant in my description of Bolton's facial hair.

No offense taken! I actually bear no resemblance to a Walrus (nor Bolton, thank god!) and have no facial hair. "The Walrus" refers to the Beatles song "Glass Onion" that references my given name.

Excellent post as usual. However, I think that Bolton, and others like him, aren't really afraid that terrorists are going to attack New York but rather their avowed cowardice is a cynical ploy to ensure that a large portion of the electorate remains fearful. A fearful population will more likely support the wars, interventions, erosion of rights, etc. that are part and parcel of the neocon agenda.

Excellent post Glen. This obviously raises the big question - what do we do about it? Both parties are beholden the powerful financial interests so it's not as simple as electing new leaders (at least from either of the two main political parties).

But if you close your eyes really tightly and only look forward, you may be able blissfully to ignore it all.

When I close my eyes and only look forward, I see "preventative detention" being used on American citizens for political purposes by some future administration. Those who defend this because it "only applies to terrorists" are misguided.

Excellent post Glenn and one your most important ever.

On a related note, Nall Gabler has an excellent op-ed piece in today's Boston Globe "The extreme Republican Party". Link in sig.

Excellent post Glenn. I've been trying to make this same point whenever I see/hear that race is the real reason for the animosity towards Obama. For those of us who clearly remember the Clinton era, it's like deja vu. Your quote below sums it up perfectly.

Other than the fact that Obama's race intensifies the hatred in some precincts, nothing that the Right is doing now is new

The fact that many seem to think the written descriptions of torture are mild means it's even more important that the torture pictures be released. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Perhaps being faced with visual evidence will get make some people come to their senses (though many appear to be beyond hope).

The blackmail angle isn't as crazy as it sounds and could account for Obama's about face on FISA. Former NSA employee Russ Tice has publicly discussed NSA's gathering data to blackmail public officials.

Who are we to question the top brass?

This has to be the most ridiculous statement I've ever read on Glen's blog - thank god he didn't write it! If the people don't question the top brass, we may as well give up on democracy right now. We should always be questioning the top brass and holding them accountable.

Call them what you want, Palin and Grassley aren't dumb. They are cynically distorting healthcare reform for their own political ends - and it's working. They both know full well what they are doing. Some of the American public is dumb for believing their lies and most of the media is dumb for not doing their job.

I'd also say Obama and the Democrat are dumb for not learning that "bi-partisanship" doesn't work. It's always a one-way street. How many times, like Charlie Brown kicking a football, do they need to fall victim to the right wing attack machine before they finally get a clue?

I've tried this argument, and it's always countered with, "Who cares? They're terrorists!"

You cannot reason with the Right.

I wish it was just the Right. Unfortunately a lot of people, not from the Right, seem to hold this opinion.

The left and right shoul be united in their opposition to unlimited detention. It's not hard to imagine a scenario where a domestic terrorist attack (real or false flag) could result in the unlimited detention, and possible torture, of American citizens based on nothing more than a dubious link to an 'extremist' organization. The vast majority of Americans, cowering in fear fueled by politicians and the media, would gladly look the other way. Whatever Obama's accomplishments in other areas of his presidency, he must not be allowed to expand on Bush's trampling of the constitution - it is incredibly dangerous. Thanks Glenn for keeping up the pressure on this issue.

As Glen pointed out in a different post, the woman in the Neda video (and many others like her) could just as easily been killed by American bombs if the "Bomb Iran" crowd had it's way. I'm sure we wouldn't be seeing any video of her death if that were the case.