9/11 UNITY - NOT IF THE DEMOCRATS CAN HELP IT

Last night President Bush delivered a very non-partisan unifying speech on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In the speech the President stressed the need for unity and for recommitting ourselves as a nation to the resolve that we felt and each of us experienced as a nation in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. The resolve that demanded a exacting vengance to terror, terrorists and the states and people who harbor them as a result of the murderous attacks against our country. The President took great pains in not seeking to politicize the speech in a partisan way and was encouraging all Americans to patiently stand firm in our resolve and a national unity to win this war against an ideology whose only goal is our destruction. So in response to this out reach for unity in the spirit of 9/11 and in rememberance of that terrible day how do the Demcorats react? Non - unified and partisan. No great surprise but one would think that with the memory of all that took place five years ago and the reminder so apparent of all that this nation felt and experienced that day even they could lay aside partisanship as they did then. I was home still recovering from a week long bout with the flu yesterday and had the opportunity to view most of the memorium that were televised throughout the day. As I watched I saw the emotion and the common sorrow and resolve in the faces of the participants, the families and yes even the politicians with one very blatant exception. At the memorial service at the Pentagon after the wreath had been laid by President and Mrs. Bush they then spent a good deal of time mingling and sharing with those who were in the audience. Many were family members and the President shared hugs, smiles and even tears with most of them. He shook hands with nearly all officials in the midst then came across the path of one in partucular. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid was near the end of the group just before the President stepped into the Pentagon. I watched with interest as he shook hands with many of the opposition and each greated him with a smile or the emotion of the event was on their face but not Reid. He first hesitated in his hand shake then withdrew his hand quickly with a look of disdain and disgust on his face and obviously wishing he were somewhere else. It then was no great surprise to see that his name appeared at the top of the list of Democrats who condemed the President for his speech last night and that any hope of a spirit of unity in defending this nation against our common enemy has no chance with Democratic leaders such as Harry Reid. "The American people deserved better last night," Reid said in a statement. "They deserved a chance to reclaim that sense of unity, purpose and patriotism that swept through our country five years ago." This statement by Reid is so obviously filled with hypocrocy that it drips with contempt. He claims that the President was not looking for a unification spirit though his speech which it totally false and even as this partisan hack makes the statement he himself preaches non unity! The very , "unity, purpose and patriotism," that Reid says theAmerican people deserve to reclaim is exactly what his actions and statements deny and prevent! This is the very reason why the effort to win this war is hindered. The reason that the tools necessary to gather intelligence and to deal with dangerous prisoners who are the source of much of the information that has thwarted many attacks and the very military that fights this war are hampered in their duty and in the implimintaion of programs is because all of these have now become tools for the Democrats and especially Reid to use as weapons in the political process. It sometimes surprises me that we have accomplished all that has been accomplished since 9/11 with hacks like Reid as leaders in the Senate and placing political partisanship above the nation. It seems at times that he and his kind are Democrats first and Americans second. But that to is a non unified statement. If we truly want to win this war as we must then it is going to take the unified effort of all Americans. Yesterday was a potent and vivid reminder of that necessity. I hope that Harry Reid will one day take heed but I doubt it!

Ken Taylor