Responds to letter about Clinton, 9/11

Responds to letter about Clinton, 9/11

Again, I have to respond to another letter from Bob Keegan found in the Sept. 9 edition of The Acorn. Mr. Keegan claims that I incorrectly thought that he was blaming President Clinton for the attack on 9/11. To again quote Mr. Keegan, "President Clinton sat on his hands for eight years causing the deaths of 3,000 Americans." That sounds like blame to me. He then goes on to say the refusal of "liberal judge appointees" to grant wire taps was also a factor. Again, this sounds to me like blaming Bill Clinton.

Unlike Mr. Keegan, I find the Patriot Act to be an affront to the constitutional rights and civil liberties of all Americans. The idea that a government agency can tap your phone, read your mail or arrest you without a charge is a violation of the Constitution. The possibilities for abuse under this act are frightening. Perhaps the problem was the inability of the Bush administration to gather and act upon existing information such as memos from the FBI and not the lack of illegal wire taps.

Mr. Keegan then goes on to claim that his party does take responsibility for their actions and does not blame the previous administration. He claims that he has "yet to hear Bush make excuses or blame the previous administration for anything." As a regular viewer of all cable news stations (even FOX) I have heard blame passed hundreds of times.

Do phrases like "we inherited a recession from the previous adminstration" or "President Clinton’s dismantling of the intelligence agencies left us vulnerable" sound familiar? Quotes like these are part of the rhetoric found daily from conservative pundits on all cable news stations. I find it almost impossible for him not to acknowledge this.

Mr. Keegan is a veteran and should receive the gratitude of all Americans. I merely want to make the point that the partisan attacks he seems so fond of only serve to further divide the country and takes away the ability of all Americans to focus on the problems and challenges that face our nation. He should remember that President Bush claimed he was a uniter and not a divider. So far he has not kept that promise.

Robert McPherson

Oak Park