INQUIRING MINDS....AND 911

As the 911 attacks approach their first decade of history, it is not only appropriate, it is vital that we continue to raise the following inquiries that beg for answers:


Why did the incoming Bush Administration de-activate the virtually frantic effort of the outgoing Clinton Administration to uncover al Qaida plans to attack America?

Why was the August 6, 2001, Presidential Daily Briefing Memo "Bin Laden determined to strike in US" so blithely dismissed?

How was the American electorate manipulated into supporting the Bush Administration's senseless and likely criminal war to conquer and control Iraq?

Why did the Obama Administration refuse an investigation of potential Bush Administration criminality involving pre-emptive war, implementing torture and spying on Americans based on the fiction of having to "look forward rather than back"?

Why did the 911 Commission ignore investigating those explosions in the bowels of the two WTC towers that were reported on as they happened during live TV coverage?
How did Building 7 fall down all by its lonesome?

It's not just that inquiring minds want to know. It's that they take seriously the admonition of famed 19th century Abolitionist, Women's and Indian rights advocate and all purpose agitator Wendell Phillips who cautioned: "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty".

OPEN LETTER TO GOV. RICK PERRY ON SOCIAL SECURITY PONZI SCHEME

Dear Gov. Perry,

I have been contributing a small portion of my earnings into Social Security since 1961. Even then, this 16 year old understood Social Security was a savior to millions of Americans since 1935, when working people literally died from being destitute in a heartless society ravaged by the Great Depression. I realized that while I may not be that needy fifty years down the road, it was comforting to know that it would be there for me, my family, friends; indeed, all my follow workers.

After 50 years of contributing, I began receiving a monthly Social Security check that I know is secure till at least 2037, and on to forever with just a modest effort by wise leaders. It is tragic that you choose not to possess the wisdom to qualify as one of those potential leaders.

Governor, even though Uncle Sam is keeping score on how much I've contributed, I am not. If I drop dead tomorrow, recovering barely a pittance of what I've contributed, it concerns me not the least. My excess contributions will go toward benefiting all workers by keeping the system solvent. That is called protecting The Commons, a concept you apparently have been unable to grasp in all your 61 years.

You may double down on your ludicrous charge that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme all you want. It clearly demonstrates that while your last name is not Ponzi, your Presidential candidacy is merely a scheme... designed to take from the needy to further enrich the already rich.

Also published in the Chicago Sun Times, Septemer 14, 2011