Pat Buchanan's American Cause: "The War at Home"

The American Cause ^ | September 12, 2001

[ouroboros]

The War at Home
September 10, 2001

"You may not be interested in war," Leon Trotsky said, "but war is interested in you." Yesterday, it hunted us down and snatched thousands from their airplane seats, their morning briefings, and their business meetings with grisly efficiency. In an act of terror too horrific to comprehend, much less control, America was attacked by a power too cowardly to show its face.

A century of titans' clashes left the U.S. mainland unscathed. We felt secure within our borders, confident of our country's strength. But this morning, twin icons to our old invincibility lie ruined. The World Trade Center, monument to our economic dominance, and the Pentagon, center of our military might, now entomb more victims than we can yet count. They leave families ever after affected by their absence and a country lesser for their lost contributions.

Tempted though some may be to glean talking points from the tragedy, this is no time for sermonizing about failed intelligence or soured imperialism. This is a season for a heartsick nation to mourn our fallen and commend our heroes. Details will surface soon enough, but they won't fill empty chairs at dinner tables. Buildings can be reconstructed; broken families cannot.

We may never know with certainty why evil stalked our skies that day. But we can find its agents. With the same steely resolve as the terrorists who targeted us, we will answer with a double measure of the same determination. Any nation that harbored them, any group that supported them, any individual that gave them aid must be held accountable - not in the name of revenge, but for justice's own sake.

The war that came looking for us yesterday plays by unwritten rules. It bypasses our fighting forces, stakes no claim to our territory, and makes weapons of our own assets. Pandemonium and panic are the laurels it covets, but yesterday we denied terror that reward. As casualty reports rose, so too did the spirit of a disconsolate nation - so much so that New York's mayor asked volunteers to stop coming and blood banks couldn't contain willing donors.

Late last night, amidst the carnage of lower Manhattan, an anonymous patriot raised a flag from a twisted lamppost. Beneath its watch, rescue workers toiled through the night, sorting through the wreckage of buildings and bodies. As they tended the wounded and grieved the dead, our banner's colors faded beneath layers of dust, yet it fluttered still -- a tattered reminder that America, though shaken still stands, and will live to fight another day.

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[CWOJackson]

Perfect.

[11th Earl of Mar]

Yes it was. And he even did it without bashing Bush. [surprise, surprise]

[x]

An excellent tribute that will some day be anthologized. Pat has always had it in him to be a great statesman. Though he disappointed in his political career, he doesn't here.

[Deadeye Division]

bump

[NMC EXP]

Nice post, thanks. PJB is the best speaker, hands down.

Regards

J.R.

[CWOJackson]

Harry Browne and raimondo could learn a lot from Pat...along with the other people here on FR offering excuses for the attack.

[CWOJackson]

This is too good to loose.

[CWOJackson]

This is too good to loose.

[victim soul]

Thank you.

[victim soul]

Thank you.

[Ward Smythe]

No one ever said Pat couldn't be eloquent in his speech. He rises to the occasion.

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

Earlier today I mentioned on another thread that my own ideological disagreements with Bush were moot at this point and time. And that true patriots would get behind and support OUR president at this time, a TIME OF WAR. I'm glad the man I voted for, Patrick J. Buchanan, does indeed have the character and courage of a true patriot that I always believed he did. Go Pat Go. Go Dubya Do.

[Poohbah]

I'm in Crystal City, wrapping up a meeting. I was less than two miles from the Pentagon when the plane crashed--amazingly, we didn't hear a damn thing in the meeting (we were all engaged in what Intel calls "creative confrontation" and most normal people call a "screaming match" :o)

This morning, I had CNN on, and they were showing the flag being hung from the edge of the Pentagon roof by some rescue workers, with several uniformed military personnel standing behind them at attention and saluting. I was a little late getting to the hotel lobby--I had to sit on the bed and cry. That scene reminded me that America is not a place, or a people--it's an ideal, and as such cannot be dimmed or tarnished.

Pat is right--the terrorists did not succeed. America is united as it hasn't been since 1991.

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

I'd also encourage all the Buchanan Brigades to put aside everything, the quibbling, the scapegoating, and get behind our president George W. Bush. We are at WAR.