9/11, how much we have changed

The world changed forever on 9/11. Since then, the country has accelerated its’ steady decline. We have started, without provocation, a war we cannot win. The United States uses torture, one of the things we swore not to do in the Bill of Rights. We have slipped right back into the Middle Ages, and one must wonder how much further we must go before somebody comes to their senses.

Bin Laden is still at large. Yes, that is the very same Osama we were going to track down like a dog. Afghanistan is slipping back into the previous hellish control of religious nuts. The world is very much worse off, and the trend does not seem likely to be reversed.

I think it was Ben Franklin who once said that those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither liberty nor security. Today we face this terrible decision about leaving Iraq. If you are old enough to recall the disgraceful American escape from Saigon, you must feel a terrible sense of shame at the prospect of again abandoning those who depend on us. The cost of withdrawal is high and the cost of staying is higher. The situation has no good ending.

(Broadcast September 11, 2007)