Papal controversy and the very small god of Islam

So some Muslims are now threatening Pope Benedict XVI with death because he quoted an obscure Byzantine emperor who noted that Islam is a religion that kills those who don't agree to follow it.

And these Muslims are proving that the quote by Manuel II Paleologus is inaccurate... how?

I mean, it sure seems to me that if someone was telling others that yours is a bloodthirsty faith, and you wanted to prove it otherwise, the logical thing to do would be to strive to practice unconditional love toward that person, no matter what they were saying about your religion. Or as Someone much greater than I once said, "Love one another..." and especially your enemies.

Islam is certainly coming across as a religion without much confidence in the god it professes to believe in, given threats like these being made toward Pope Benedict XVI and others, be they Christian or Jewish or whatever. I mean, if you truly believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing God, you are supposed to have enough faith to know that He doesn't need your help to defend Himself before petty humankind. He definitely doesn't need you to kill others in His name. So to what extent can Islam really claim to have faith in God at all?

Muslims such as those who threaten "the infidels" do nothing to uphold and build-up their faith, and do everything possible to destroy its credibility. Pursuing God and what He would have us do is supposed to make us flee from our carnal instincts, not cling to them with maddened lust. To follow God and mean it is to be changed in His image, not become more like our own... which you have to admit, on its own human nature tends to be a pretty ugly thing.

I'm not saying this as a Christian pushing my own religion. I'm just trying to say this as perfectly an objectionable person as I can be: that the god of Islam, as those that threaten the pope are presenting him to us, would absolutely appear to a neutral person as a very small and hollow thing that could only possibly appeal to those with the very least of regards for their fellow man. And that those who are making such threats should reconsider what it is that they are doing, if they want the religion they claim to be worthy of any respect and consideration at all.

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I have seen the WHITE AND NERDY video

And I'll post more about it tomorrow... after it has the world premiere that it so deserves to have. When I do I'll also post "The Complete 'Weird Al' Fan's and Nerd's Guide to the 'White and Nerdy' Video".

(Want proof that I've seen it? Okay, how's this: pay very, VERY close attention to that Wikipedia page that Al is editing.)

This is the first real video that Al has done in seven years (if you don't count the one he did for "Bob" on the last album, the last one he did was "It's All About The Pentiums"). Personally, I think the "White and Nerdy" video is brilliant!! And very funny :-)

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My interview with "Weird Al" Yankovic

Since some people (yeah I'm talking about YOU Dylan!) have observed that I'm going more than a little nuts for "Weird Al" Yankovic lately, what with his new album coming out next week on the 26th, I thought: why not make yet another post about the guy? Well, five years ago this month I was blessed to have the opportunity to interview Weird Al, and ever since I've come to regard that as one of the all-time highlights of my journalism career. So in case anyone's interested, here's the interview I did with "Weird Al" Yankovic for TheForce.net!

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The 25 Worst Web Sites

Ten years ago one of my favorite websites was one called Mirsky's Worst of the Web. The guy running it showcased the absolutely most horrendous websites on the still-infant web with a lot of wicked wit. Sadly, Mirsky quit running it the fall of '96, but I still remember some of the sites he found, like this one.

Well, Mirsky may not be cataloguing them anymore but PC World continues his legacy with a new article featuring what they consider to be the 25 worst web sites on the Internet. Some of the bad sites include InmatesForYou.com, Windows Media Update, BidForSurgery.com (sort of like a Priceline for plastic surgery) and Neuticles.com... a site advertising testicular implants for your pet. Wait 'til you see what made PC World's #1 worst web site!

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Celebrating Constitution Day

This afternoon Erich Smith, another candidate for Rockingham County Board of Education (click here for his website) held a party in Wentworth to celebrate today being Constitution Day. It was a great time that included a cook-out, a dunking booth (am sorry to say that I didn't bring my swim trunks) and a few other things, including some political stump speeches. Which Eric brought an honest-to-goodness stump for speakers to stand on for. I gave one, the first-ever in my political career, and think I did pretty good considering it was really impromptu. I won a free copy of the Constitution with a smart-alecy answer to the trivia question "Which amendment guarantees freedom of speech?" (I blurted out "the Second Amendment... and I meant to say that!") All things considered, it was one of the more fun things that's happened since I filed to run. Thanks for the good times Eric!

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Chamillionaire praises new Weird Al parody

Remember the infamous "Coolio incident" that happened in 1996? Well, looks like that is not going to be happening to "Weird Al" Yankovic this time because Chamillionaire has nothing but praise about Yankovic's new parody "White and Nerdy" (which if you're reading this post around the time I'm making it, you're now listening to it)...

The multi-platinum artist is happy to hear the new version, and holds no grudges towards Al. Cham said, "He's actually rapping pretty good on it, it's crazy...He's Grammy-nominated, man. He goes platinum. It's really an honor when he does that. I remember when he redid Michael Jackson's 'Bad.' Weird Al is not gonna do a parody of your song if you're not doing it big. You gotta be a big dog. He shot the video, and people will see it pretty soon. It's crazy."

Weird Al is highly regarded for his ability to closely mirror the original song, something impressed Chamillionaire as well.

"He's spittin' just like Krayzie Bone on the second verse...It's actually very funny if you listen to what he's saying. The way Krayzie is harmonizing, he does the same thing. It surprised me. I didn't know he could rap like that."

Now we know what Chamillionaire things about having Al parody his work. I can't wait to hear "Do I Creep You Out" and see what Taylor Hicks thinks about that one :-)

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"Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs..."

"...Blocking up the scenery, breaking my mind..."

The next phase of my campaign for school board is about to begin. Namely, the one where I start to seriously spend money. Here's the debut of the first major expenditure...

This is the yard sign that I'm gonna be planting in as many places as I possibly can over the course of the next month or so. Now, something that hadn't entered my mind... or that I'd even really understood... until our station's head producer told me at work the other day is that in making my signs blue in color, that some people will take that as meaning that I'm a Democrat. Which I'm not: I'm unaffiliated and as non-partisan as you can probably get. All this time I was trying to figure out where this "Red State/Blue State" nonsense came from, and I'm just now getting it. He said that blue has always been the "Democrat color" while Republicans get red. Well what the *@$# color am I supposed to make this sign: green or orange or screaming violet? It's a really dark blue 'cuz of the knight chess piece logo: when did you ever see a chess piece associated with red? Who makes up this "Democrat=red / Republican=blue" crap anyway?! And I didn't want to use black either 'cuz I'm putting out signs for a campaign, not a funeral. But anyhoo, this is the final design and I quite like it a lot. So did everyone else on my staff that I showed this too.

Y'know, for something that seems so simple, designing the yard sign was a major headache. I've had to figure everything from how it's going to look, to what kind of material to have it made from, to what size to make it, how many to order, quite a few other factors. More than I care to recount here. The colors were originally going to be reversed but "Weird" Ed suggested making the lettering, logo etc. white so as to be more reflective at night, and I thought that was a darned good idea.

So that's what'll be popping up around Rockingham County as soon as they get delivered. If anyone living here wants one in their yard, e-mail me at knightforboard@gmail.com and I'll get one to you pronto.

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The Bush administration won't get serious about sending illegals back to Mexico...

...but it doesn't hesitate to extradite "Dog" Chapman when the Mexican government orders it to.

Rep. Tom Tancredo has published a letter about it. I'm not that big a fan of "Dog" Chapman, but this stinks to high heaven.

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ERAGON trailer hits online

I haven't read this book yet. Lisa has and swears it's really good. Guess I'll have one more thing to catch up on before December, which is when this movie is coming out. Anyways, hit here for the Eragon trailer.

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The top five videogames of all time

TrustedReviews has some of their staff pick their top five video/computer games of all time. It's a long but good read and includes several games that I'd never heard of before (I did know about the PC Engine though so that sorta makes me a videogame geek). A few good surprises on the list too, like 1998's Blade Runner (which was a VERY good game).

If anyone asks, here's my personal top five videogames of all time, for various reasons:

- Pitfall II: Lost Caverns - Atari 2600
- TIE Fighter - PC
- Super Mario Bros. 3 - Nintendo Entertainment System
- Doom - PC
- Halo - Xbox

I first played Pitfall II: Lost Caverns in 1984 and even today, after completely memorizing how to play a perfect game on it, it's still engrossing. TIE Fighter is bar none the finest Star Wars game ever created. Super Mario Bros. 3 was the NES at its best. Doom... well, as one person so eloquently put it: "Doom will never die... only its players will". And Halo is so beautiful that Lisa was utterly amazed by it the first time we put it in our Xbox. There are other games that come to mind too, - like Tetris and Wing Commander and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis - but if you were to strand me on a desert island and give me five games to keep me from going completely mad, those five would be them.

EDIT 3:55 PM EST: Why didn't I think to put Donkey Kong Country on this list somewhere? Maybe I should just post a Top Ten Videogames list someday :-)

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Ann Richards has died

She was the former governor of Texas. And her mouth was legendary. You might remember her speech at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, and her immortal line...

"Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."

I used to do a dead-on Ann Richardson impersonation for years, using that line. It was so fun to do: "Poooooooor Jee-orge, he CAIN'T heppit... he was born with a silver FUT in his mowth!" I enjoyed doing that one even more than I did impersonating Ross Perot.

Whatever your political stripe, it has to be said: America has lost quite an original character tonight. Prayers going out to her family.

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SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS: One of the most uplifting stories of Christian courage I've ever seen

For the past nine months I've been determined... no, obsessed with trying to watch a certain movie. It's a German film, apparently it got very limited showing here in the states and it's due to arrive as an English-subtitled DVD in November. But I haven't wanted to wait that long. This is the story of one of the most inspirational and heart-breaking things that happened during World War II and ever since I first read about these three students years ago, I've been utterly captivated by their courage... and the faith in Christ that sustained them through their trials until the very end. Finding and seeing this film has been one of the bigger projects I've occupied myself with since the year started.

Well yesterday, after making numerous inquiries about it over the better part of the past year, a copy arrived. Not the highest quality that I have been hoping for and I'll definitely be buying the DVD on the day it comes out on November 14th, this is so deserving of space on my DVD shelf. But this is such an important movie that I could not resist talking about it now...

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (click for official website) is the story of the White Rose: a group of college students in Munich who published a series of underground pamphlets denouncing Hitler and the Nazi regime. The film focuses on Sophie Scholl (beautifully played by Julia Jentsch), who was at the center of the White Rose along with her brother Hans and their friend Christoph Probst.

Over the years I've read and studied everything that I could about the White Rose, and I am absolutely floored at the historical accuracy of this movie. But what amazes me even more is that in making this film, the producers did not at all play down the students's faith in God that first motivated them to strike such a blow at Hitler's government, and then gave them the conviction to stand boldly before their accusers in the shadows of a Nazi courtroom. This is absolutely a story of having the courage to stand for Christ even in the face of your own death. Compared to the only other prominent religious movie that's come out in the past few years - The Passion of the Christ - Sophie Scholl: The Final Days stands out as being the far more inspiring tale. This is a movie that should be played for church youth groups across the country, as well as in every high school history classroom.

Everything about this movie is perfect: from when we first see Sophie singing playfully with a friend, to the final moments as she holds her head high and smiles while being walked to the waiting guillotine (that really happened by the way: witnesses said they had never seen someone so serenely accept her fate as did Sophie on the day of her execution). The acting, the lighting and camera-work, the music... good Lord this movie is going to be haunting me for the next few days, I just know it.

I wrote an op-ed column when I was at Elon about the White Rose. I'll say here what I said then: that there comes a time when a person has to stop and look at the way things are going around him or her. And realize that things are not right at all. And then has to have the courage to stand up and say "STOP this @&$% is WRONG!" regardless of how much the temporal authorities have it within their power to kill you for saying it. You have no choice: either you choose to take the stand, or no one else will. And does it really matter that "they" can destroy you in the flesh for doing it? Sophie, Hans and Christoph decided it was better to do what is right in the eyes of God than to do what the thugs in the Nazi regime were telling them to do. Every German schoolchild today knows the story of the White Rose... while those who killed them are nothing but scum in the dustbin of history.

Now, that is real immortality, my friends.

I'm going to post about this again the day the DVD comes out here in the states, but I'm giving you all fair notice now: by any means possible, you absolutely must watch Sophie Scholl: The Final Days. Indeed, I can think of no other movie in recent memory that has so much relevance to the world we are even now seeing arise around us... and what the task is that God would have each of us do in spite of it.

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Test new weapons on Americans first, says Air Force chief

Good God, they really aren't even trying to hide it anymore, are they? To this United States government the biggest enemy to worry about is the American people. And now we have confirmation about it from the head of the Air Force:

Test nonlethal weapons on U.S. citizens, official says

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before they are used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.

Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions in the international community over any possible safety concerns, said Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne.

"If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne.

"(Because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press."

The Air Force has funded research into nonlethal weapons, but he said the service isn't likely to spend more money on development until injury issues are reviewed by medical experts and resolved.

Nonlethal weapons can weaken people if they are hit with the beam.

Some of the weapons can emit short, intense energy pulses that also disable some electronic devices.

I have an idea: let's strap Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne down on a table and aim several microwave weapons down on him, particularly his genital area. Then turn on the weapons and walk away for the next several days.

These people just don't get it: that they are providing all the reasons why some out there are actively imagining hurting and killing "them".

Let's put it more succinctly: we have much more to worry about from President Bush and his administration and too many of our own military leaders than we ever have from Osama Bin Laden, the president of Iran and all those "terrorists" out there.

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News from KWerky Productions: New projects, making a statement with the feature film, and the ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK "update" edit

Time for a lil' update on what's going on with KWerky Productions, the filmmaking outfit founded by "Weird" Ed and myself.

As more time goes by I'm starting to think that it was for the better that we weren't able to make The Charles Schulz Code, because there were problems inherent to it that just weren't going to make it work. And the Da Vinci Code craze is now in such terminal condition that to press ahead with a parody of it... just doesn't have the "coolness" factor to it anymore. So far as short pieces go, Ed and I have an idea for a music video: we'll think about it some more and see if we can pull it off.

Meanwhile, KWerky Productions is entering the political realm, as it's producting at least one and maybe two TV commercials for my school board campaign. One of the commercials is pretty straightforward serious and the other... has something in it that some people are telling me is going to be very controversial. Or very funny. When they're done I'll post them to the campaign's website.

Those are the only projects of our own we are doing right now, but we've started being contacted by a few others who want our help in shooting productions. I've more or less agreed to be cinematographer of one production with a pretty ambitious goal ahead of it. One guy is doing an action-packed martial arts thriller that we're looking to help him with come November and a few weeks ago we were in talks about helping to make a historical documentary... which I am very much looking foward to doing with the people involved in this.

As for the full-length feature that I've been developing since this past spring: I'm still planning to go forward with it, but running for school board has really taken priority over most everything else I've been working on. The general story is there, but no real script yet. When this campaign is over (and Lord willing I'll be elected :-) I'll set to work in earnest on it, and possibly become the world's first independent filmmaker school board member :-)

On a related note: after a lot of thinking about it, and after being offered some VERY nice cameras (we're talking high-definition 3-CCD variety shooting at actual 23.97 fps) I've decided that we're going to make this movie with the same Sony Digital 8 Handycam that we made Forcery with. Why? Because after some of the nonsense I went thorugh last year I'm determined to take the biggest swipe that I can at some people's snooty elitism. By setting out to make the point that anyone... anyone... can be a good filmmaker, no matter what tools they have handy. Guess you could say I'm out to become a populist filmmaker, or maybe an Amish one since I'm so determined to go backwards on the high-tech stuff. But if there's going to come the real entertainment revolution by allowing each person the opportunity to make a great film, it's going to have to fly in the face of what certain "gatekeepers and lords" have decreed upon the rest of us. There's no reason why somebody with an average consumer-grade camcorder can not make a film that is on par with what is coming out of the biggest studios in Hollywood. And hopefully by the time this film is finished and released, I will have demonstrated that point completely.

Finally, the last time I did one of these updates I mentioned something that might be a little "controversial". Well, I tried... honest folks, I did... to use what skills and tools are in my possession to create a "fan-edited special edition" of John Carpenter's Escape From New York. This was not something I ever planned to distribute in any way shape or form: it existed solely as an experiment for sake of my own curiosity. What I tried to do is take the original 1982 movie and with some careful edits of scenery, spoken words, etc. instead of having it portray a 1997 that never happened, it would instead depict a vaguely defined possible future reflecting a New York City minus the World Trade Center towers (in the "update" Snake lands atop one of Donald Trump's skyscrapers) and an America where the PATRIOT Act finally went too far. There's so much material in the original film that I think foreshadows the things we've seen happen to this country in the past five years and I just wanted to run away with all that. Well, the furthest I successfully got was an adaptation of the original screenplay that took into effect all of these present-day factors, from which was extrapolated the grim world we saw in Escape From New York. Maybe I'll post the script someday, if I can be absolutely 100% sure that doing so wouldn't violate any copyright.

And that's basically your KWerky Productions update for this quarter :-)

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Those new Star Wars DVDs on sale today? Don't buy 'em...

At least, I certainly won't be buying them. Why should I? We already got the classic trilogy - A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi - on DVD just two years ago. There isn't a single thing that's been changed in this new release from the previous one... nothing at all.

Except the three individual DVDs on sale today also have their respective "original versions" packed inside as a separate DVD disc. Which is something that a lot of fans (myself included) have been wanting for a long time now. What isn't being told to the average consumer is that the original editions of each movie are fairly low quality, having been taken from the laserdisc release of the trilogy back in the 1990s.

Basically that's all you're getting if you buy this new release hoping for something new: a re-release of a letterboxed (NOT anamorphic like just about every DVD produced today is) laserdisc that will not look clean and pristine compared to the more modern prints... to say nothing of how bad these are going to look on a large-screen television.

Star Wars fan though I am, I just can't see how anyone can justify getting these DVDs, if they already have the 2004 trilogy set. Now, if Lucasfilm ever "discovers" good quality prints of the original editions (they claim they were all destroyed in the making of the Special Editions... which would be archival sacrilege if they really allowed that to happen) and makes an archive-quality DVD set of the very first editions of the classic Star Wars trilogy available... well you better believe that I'll be there first in line to buy them all.

But that's not what we're getting today. And there's no reason why we shouldn't be getting them.

So if you haven't already surrendered to temptation, have the courage to hold up... and be content with the 2004 DVDs. I mean really: why would anyone want to buy an exact copy of something they already have?

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Since the 26th can't get here fast enough...

There are two big days looming on my calendar during the next couple of months: Election Day on November 7th when we'll see what comes of my school board campaign. And September 26th, which is two weeks from today. I plan on being at the local Wal-Mart at 2 in the morning (gonna give 'em a few hours to get it out on the shelves) to buy "Weird Al" Yankovic's latest album Straight Outta Lynwood. Just 14 days away... and I can hardly wait!!

But while we are waiting, there's plenty of timeless Al stuff to keep us smiling... like this one. Can't believe it's been ten and a half years since this video debuted. Where does all that time go? Well anyway, this is probably not only Al's best video ever, but one of the best music videos of all time. Here it is: from the Bad Hair Day album it's the music video for "Amish Paradise"!

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9/11 + 5 years

Five years ago this morning, a little before 9 AM, I was crashed asleep on the couch in my apartment in Asheville when the phone rang. It was Mom, asking me if I was watching TV. After working the night before and then up 'til late helping with some major news stuff on the website I used to staff on, I'd only gotten to bed around 2 in the morning. So I mumbled something about "no, just woke up". She said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. The first thing that came to mind was that it was probably an accident: I was envisioning some small private plane crashing into it, like that military one that hit the Empire State Building years ago. "Accident"... that's what I first thought about.

"And then another plane hit the other tower a few minutes later."

"What?!?"

Now, that's no accident.

I could share what happened the rest of the day, but in going over old posts I realized that I'd already written out a really good synopsis of what happened to me that day two years ago, so instead of reiterating it here I'll let you go there and read if you feel led to do so.

But there is one thing from that day that I'll post here: the America Online Instant Messenger chat between "Weird" Ed and I that took place a short while later. I'm still writing from my apartment in this and he's at work. This starts just a few minutes before the towers fell...

Chris: was taking a nap this morning: it was a big night for TFN, we had our TPM DVD coverage. i was taking a nap when Mom called and said to watch this

Chris: now reporting a car bomb exploded outside the State Dept. building

Ed: yeah, I had heard something right before I came back to my office...

Chris: the WTC towers are leaning to one side now

Chris: one might collapse entirely

Ed: I had heard that they have already collapsed...or at least the top sections had

Ed: but I am watching the CSpan feed and wondering why there are so many stupid people in this country

Chris: they're "sheeple"

Chris: they think and say just as they're told to say

Chris: what the...

Chris: ummm did i miss something just now?

Ed: what are you talking about?

Chris: wasn't there a tower there just a few seconds ago?

Ed: *nod* the live feed on CSpan just showed it collapse....like the implosions I have seen on TV..

Chris: i mean... all i'm seeing now is

Ed: the top just fell onto the rest of the building and it went down...

Chris: Ed... oh holy [expletive], smoke's going ALL over the city

Ed: *nod*

Chris: man this is too much. i've never said "f" like that before

Chris: holy [expletive]

Chris: it's...

Chris: Ed are you seeing this?

Chris: we just saw the World Trade Center... just go

Ed: *nod*

There's much, much more from that day. Throughout the day I had AOL IM conversations with Ed, Chad, my Mom, my sister, and my friend Deborah (who I'd only known through the Internet but got to meet her and her family a few months later at Star Wars Celebration II). The only time I left my apartment was to drop in on my two landladies for a bit (by far two of the sweetest ladies I've ever known :-) and then to work in the computers department at the Best Buy in Asheville for a few hours, where the total number of customers we had that day could be numbered on one hand. Then it was back to the apartment where I talked with Chad - who was working at the CNN Building in Atlanta - until past 1 in the morning on the 12th.

I saved every single one of those AIM conversations, just like I've always done. But the ones from that day are particularly... haunting. Someday I'm going to share those with my children, so that they can get an idea of something about what it was that we went through that terrible day. If nothing else even as personal correspondence they're a primary historical source... and I've no doubt there are multitudes of other stories out there from that day.

Anyway, since today's the fifth anniversary I thought that since everyone else is recapping what they were doing that day, that I might as well share my own story. As for any personal commentary, I will only say this: that 9/11 was the greatest criminal act that has ever happened on United States soil that so far has still gone unpunished. Those responsible for it have still not been brought to justice... and probably never will so long as our attention is being directed elsewhere. In the meantime since then, it can only be said that whatever Osama Bin Laden was trying to do in orchestrating the attacks, he was successful... because he made the United States capitulate to him by becoming a nation in fear instead of a nation resolved.

We were angry as hell five years ago today. We should still be angry: at those who did this to us as well as those who exploited it for their own selfish interests. I said it on this blog yesterday and I'll say it again: America is not supposed to be a land that spies on its own people or harasses young and old at airports or does anything else that our founders tried their best to steer us away from.

This isn't the country that existed on September 10th, 2001. And there's no reason why it can't be again, either.

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