'Deep breath'

Over at Eschaton, there's an interesting comment thread about why 9/11 attracts so many conspiracy theories.  One comment in particular, however, jumped out at me.  In it, Robbo points out how much the right has gained from 9/11, regardless of whether there was a conspiracy involved or not:

I don't believe in any 9/11 conspiracy theory, but every bit of evidence supports the notion that the radical right jumped on 9/11 to jump-start the drive to get America into precisely the jam we're in this very moment.

Deep breath. The entire nation, along with most of the disapproving world, is preoccupied with a dumbass war against a former client state of the U.S. -- a war that's looking dumber and more dangerous every day; the public is "rallying around the flag" right on cue, despite the well-publicized litany of lies repeatedly told by Administration officials to sell us this war; we have turned our back on the international court of law and several important international treaties; our steel tariff was just declared illegal by the WTO, meaning that another international institution may have to be relegated to the junk-heap already occupied by NATO and the UN; the nation is not having open debates on any of a number of other serious issues facing the country; Dick Cheney and a crew of reactionaries are holed up in a fortified bunker somewhere undoing the nation's regulatory framework (e.g., exempting military bases from the Endangered Species Act); the media have few correspondents left to follow up on a variety of massive corporate scandals that left Wall Street reeling (how's your 401K?); the military budget is pushing $400 billion/year even before massive war/reconstruction costs, which we will bear the brunt of this time because of widespread international horror at our actions; Bushco's major campaign contributors are receiving fat no-bid contracts to re-build the country our military is systematically dismantling; John Ashcroft is busy writing PATRIOT Act III in between busting head shops and outlawing abortions; the Republicans shoved through massive cut taxes (primarily for the wealthy) at a time when federal and state budgets are hemorrhaging, thereby ensuring that government services and regulatory structures will become ever weaker and less able to constrain amoral corporations; and the U.S. Freaking Congress has responded by issuing a resolution directly the President to designate a day "recognizing the public need for fasting and prayer in order to secure the blessings and protection of Providence for the people of the United States and our Armed Forces."

These are irrefutable facts. Who needs conspiracy theories? Wake up.

Bleak as it may be, sometimes its good to look at the whole ball of wax in one shot like that - an important reminder of what we're up against.