Political Quotes

“I was honored to join with President Bush and others at the Pentagon yesterday to commemorate the fifth anniversary of 9/11. I was pleased, also to join my colleagues on the east steps of the Capitol last evening in an emotional tribute to those who died on that fateful day 5 years ago. Mr. President, 9/11 was one of the darkest days of this Nation's history. It brought America together. We were inspired by the bravery of our fellow Americans. We stood shoulder to shoulder with the President. And when he stood upon the mound of rubble at Ground Zero, with a bullhorn in hand, he spoke for all of us. Last night, however, the President, in his address to the Nation, spoke for himself, for his administration, and not for the Nation. No bullhorn, only the bully pulpit of his office, which he used to defend an unpopular war in Iraq and to launch clumsily disguised barbs at those who disagree with his policies. By focusing on Iraq in the manner he did, the President engaged in an all-too-familiar Bush administration tactic: conflate and blur the war in Iraq with the response to 9/11. Despite definitive and repeated findings that there were no ties between Iraq and al-Qaida--a finding most recently echoed by the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee--the President continued to deliberately lump and blur al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, Iraq, and 9/11 together.…”