Who's Unpatriotic?

“When I was in office, the “Republicans were pretty mean to me. When I left and made money, I became part of the most important group in the world to them. At first I thought I should send them a thank-you note — until I realized they were sending you the bill. They protected my tax cuts while:

• Withholding promised funding for the No Child Left Behind Act, leaving over 2 million children behind.

• Cutting over 140,000 unemployed workers out of job training; 100,000 working families out of child-care assistance; 300,000 poor children out of after-school programs.

• Raising out-of-pocket health-care costs to veterans.

• Weakening or reversing important environmental advances for clean air and the preservation of our forests.”

— from William Jefferson Clinton’s address to the Democratic convention,
July 26

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Somebody’s Going To Pay:Memorable moments from The 9/11 Commission Report:

“Reflecting on bin Laden’s success in reaching Muslim audiences, Richard Holbrooke wondered, ‘How can a man in a cave outcommunicate the world’s leading communications society?’ ”

—Page 377

“At some point during this period [2000], President Clinton expressed his frustration with the lack of military options to take out bin Laden and the al Qaeda leadership, remarking to General Hugh Shelton, ‘You know, it would scare the shit out of al Qaeda if suddenly a bunch of black ninjas rappelled out of helicopters into the middle of their camp.’ ”

—Page 189

“During the ride the president learned about the attack on the Pentagon. He boarded the aircraft, asked the Secret Service about the safety of his family, and called the vice president. According to notes of the call, at about 9:45 the president told the vice president: ‘Sounds like we have a minor war going on here, I heard about the Pentagon. We’re at war . . . somebody’s going to pay.’ ”

—Page 39

“Rice and others recalled the president saying, ‘I’m tired of swatting at flies.’ The president reportedly also said, ‘I’m tired of playing defense. I want to play offense. I want to take the fight to the terrorists.’ ”

—Page 202

“Secretary Powell recalled that Wolfowitz argued that Iraq was ultimately the source of the terrorist problem and should therefore be attacked. Powell said that Wolfowitz was not able to justify his belief that Iraq was behind 9/11. “Paul was always of the view that Iraq was a problem that had to be dealt with,” Powell told us. “And he saw this as one way of using this event as a way to deal with the Iraq problem.”

—Page 335

—Compiled by Michael Hoinski