WE HAVE THE NEVER FORGET IN THE BACKGROUND OBVIOUSLY, THAT
WAS ONE OF THE LEADING HASHTAGS GOING AROUND ON 9/11,
UNDERSTANDABLY SO.
AND WE UNDERSTAND WHAT SOME OF THE
POLITICIANS MEAN WHEN THEY PUT THE NEVER FORGET, OBVIOUSLY THEY
HAVE THEIR OWN POLITICAL AGENDA, BUT IN THE PRODUCTION MEETING WE
WERE TALKING ABOUT, LIKE, WHY IS IT WE FEEL THIS NEED YEAR AFTER
YEAR AFTER YEAR TO MEMORIALIZE IT WHEN APPARENTLY A QUARTER OF
ALL AMERICANS ARE NOW TOO YOUNG TO REMEMBER IT?
AND WE KNOW HOW
9/11 WAS USED AT THE TIME, AND THE LEGACY CONTINUES TO BE USED,
TO PURSUE NONSENSICAL SELF-CONTRADICTORY POLITICAL
POLICIES AND PHILOSOPHIES.
IS THERE -- WHAT SHOULD WE NEVER
FORGET FROM 9/11?
NOT WHAT THE POLITICIANS ARE CYNICALLY USING
THEMSELVES, BUT WHAT WOULD YOU SAY WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET?
>>THAT IT WAS FUNDED BY THE SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY, THAT IS
THE NUMBER ONE THING WE SHOULD NOT FORGET.
>>AND WE FORGOT THAT THE MINUTE IT HAPPENED.
IN FACT, NOT ONLY
DID WE -- WE WENT FURTHER THAN THAT, WE FLEW OUT THE SAUDI
FAMILY TO MAKE SURE THEY WERE PROTECTED.
BY THE WAY, PEOPLE
FORGET, THAT IS A FACT, NOT JUST SOMETHING IN A MICHAEL MOORE
MOVIE, THAT MOVIE WAS NOT FICTION, IT WAS REALITY.
WE FLEW
OUT THE SAUDI FAMILY AFTER 9/11.
WHY DID WE NOTIFY THEM?
I
DON'T MEAN CONSPIRACY, I DON'T MEAN ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
I MEAN LIKE,
THE NATURAL INSTINCT OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WAS, OH MY GOD,
THE TOWERS WENT DOWN, GO PROTECT THIS SAUDIS AND MAKE SURE THEY
CAN SAFELY LEAVE THE COUNTRY.
WHAT A WEIRD THING TO THINK,
RIGHT?
THAT MEANS YOU KIND OF KNEW THE SAUDIS DID IT.
YOU KIND
OF KNEW IT RIGHT AWAY.
>>ON A DAY WHEN HE WAS VISIBLY PARALYZED, INACTIVE, COULD
NOT THINK OF WHAT TO DO, THEY GOT THAT DONE.
>> THAT IS A GREAT ONE TO NEVER FORGET.
WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET
THAT THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD EXPLOITED THE GREATEST
TRAGEDY IN AMERICAN HISTORY TO GO TO WAR IN A COUNTRY THAT HAD
A LOT OF OIL.
I FEEL WEIRD SAYING THAT, BECAUSE IT SOUNDS
CRAZY, BUT THAT IS WHAT THEY DID.
THEY EXPLOITED IT BECAUSE
IT WORKS POLITICALLY, AND IT WORKED TO SERVE AN END WHICH WE
KNOW THEY WANTED SERVED, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, SIMILAR TO
THE MICHAEL MOORE POINT, THEY WROTE IT DOWN.
SENT A LETTER
ABOUT IT.
THEY ALL SIGNED, AND THE SERIOUS CONSPIRACY PEOPLE
WILL BELIEVE THEY ORCHESTRATED IT, THAT IS HORSESHIT, BUT THEY
THOUGHT, THIS IS GREAT.
WITHIN REASON.
LET'S TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
THIS, TO DO SOMETHING THAT DIDN'T PROTECT THE COUNTRY, THAT
MADE US ALL MUCH LESS SAFE, AND KILLED AT A BARE MINIMUM 100,000
IRAQIS.
>>HONESTLY THE WHOLE NEVER FORGET THING IS SO SELF-SERVING,
BECAUSE EVERYBODY FORGETS THE MINUTE IT IS ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE,
RIGHT?
IT'S ALWAYS LET'S NEVER FORGET WHAT HAPPENED TO US, AND
MAKE SURE WE KICK OTHER PEOPLE'S ASSES OVER IT.
IT IS NEVER LIKE,
HEY, LOOK AT RWANDA OR SOMALIA, USUALLY FORGOTTEN.
EASILY
FORGOTTEN, IT IS HAPPENING TODAY, I FORGOT IT ALREADY.
UNFORTUNATELY, NEVER FORGET, WHICH COULD BE A GOOD SLOGAN IF
PEOPLE WERE GENUINE AND HONEST ABOUT IT, IS OFTEN USED FOR A
BAD PURPOSE.
USED FOR SELFISH PURPOSES, AND IS NOT ABOUT
REALLY MAKING SURE THE TRAGEDIES DON'T HAPPEN IN THE WORLD AGAIN.
>>IT IS USED TO KEEP YOU SCARED.
NEVER FORGET YOU COULD BE BLOWN UP TOMORROW.
>>NEVER FORGET YOUR KIDS ARE NOT SAFE, AND WE HAVE TO KILL A
BUNCH OF PEOPLE THAT YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
>>WHO DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS.
>>THE DEATHS OF THE 3000 AMERICANS WAS HORRIFIC, BUT, YOU
KNOW, THOSE IRAQIS, THEY LOVE THEIR KIDS EXACTLY THE SAME.
AND
IN THE PROCESS OF ALLOWING THAT TO HAPPEN, WE HAVE ALIENATED
GENERATION AFTER GENERATION WHO MIGHT, SOME OF WHOM WILL,
SEEK TO HARM US.
MAKING LIFE EVEN MORE DIFFICULT.
>>BY THE WAY, NONE OF US ARE SAYING THAT WE SHOULD NOT HAVE
GONE TO AFGHANISTAN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
IT IS DEBATABLE AS TO
WHEN WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT AFGHANISTAN, BUT WHAT DID IRAQ
HAVE TO DO WITH IT?
IT DIDN'T, WE DID NOT TAKE OUT -- WE DID
NOT GO ARREST OR FLY OUT OF THE COUNTRY TOP IRAQIS IN THE
COUNTRY, WE IMMEDIATELY FOUND THE TOPS SAUDIS IN THE
COUNTRY AND FLEW THEM OUT.
WE KNEW WHO DID 9/11, WE KNEW IT WASN'T IRAQ.
>>THEY KNEW IT.
THOSE WERE STRAIGHT OUT LIES DESIGNED TO
KEEP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BELIEVING THAT THE IRAQ WAR WAS
A NECESSARY RESPONSE TO THIS TERRIBLE THING THAT HAPPENED.
I
HAVE MENTIONED THIS BEFORE, CENK, BUT I INVITE EVERYONE TO
WATCH THE DAVID LETTERMAN/DAN RATHER INTERVIEW THE DAY
LETTERMAN WENT ON THE AIR.
IT IS GREAT THEATER, GREAT TELEVISION,
POWERFUL CONVERSATION BETWEEN TWO EXHAUSTED, EMOTIONAL MEN,
MOSTLY EXHAUSTED WAS RATHER, BUT YOU SEE IN THAT THE BEGINNINGS,
IN RATHER AND LETTERMAN, ONE SERIOUS SKEPTICAL NEWSMAN AND
ONE LIBERAL, RECOGNIZING THE NEED TO GO AFTER PEOPLE, THE
NEED FOR REVENGE.
THEY WERE FOAMING AT THE MOUTH WITH THE
NEED FOR REVENGE, AND THE TALKING POINT FROM THE BUSH
ADMINISTRATION AND DICK CHENEY WAS ALREADY OUT.
THEY WERE IN THE
MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION IN SEPTEMBER, WHENEVER THEY WENT
BACK ON THE AIR, 20TH, 19TH, TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE
DIDN'T DO WAS FINISH THE JOB BACK IN WHATEVER IT WAS, 1991.
WE DID NOT FINISH THAT JOB, WE DO NOT CONTINUE ON TO BAGHDAD.
WITHIN 10 DAYS WE WERE ON TO THIS NONSENSE TALKING POINT
THAT WE NEVER GOT OFF AND WE WENT TO WAR.
>> IT STILL AMAZES ME THAT -- MOST PEOPLE CAN GRASP THE SORT
OF IDEA BEHIND THE STATEMENT, YOU GENERALLY DON'T WANT TO
NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS.
BUT THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND AT ALL
THAT YOU SHOULDN'T GIVE THE TERRORISTS WHAT THEY WANT.
THEY
DIDN'T JUST WANT TO KILL A FEW THOUSAND PEOPLE BY SLAMMING
PLANES INTO THE PENTAGON AND TWIN TOWERS AND GOD KNOWS WHERE
THE OTHER FLIGHT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO, THEY WANTED TO START A
CONFLICT THAT THEY COULD USE TO RECRUIT, AND TO GET US TO SEND
OUR SOLDIERS AWAY FROM THE RELATIVE SAFETY OF THE U.S. AND
PUT THEM IN A PLACE WHERE THEY COULD BE KILLED, AND WE
ENTHUSIASTICALLY GAVE THEM EVERY SINGLE BIT OF THAT.
WE SPENT
TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS SINCE THEN.
>>IS THERE ANY EVIDENCE THAT THEY THOUGHT FOR A SECOND THAT
THEY WOULD GET IRAQ OUT OF THIS?
I THINK THEY GOT LUCKY.
THEY WERE LIKE, AFGHANISTAN.
>>MAYBE THEY DID NOT GET LUCKY.
MAYBE THE REASON THE SAUDI
FAMILY FUNDED IT AND SCARED US TOWARD IRAQ WAS THAT THE GOAL FOR
THE SAUDIS WAS TO KNOCK OFF SADDAM HUSSEIN, WHO THEY VIEWED
AS A THREAT FOR 20 YEARS.
AND THIS WAS THEIR CHANCE.
LET'S GET
THE BIG STUPID AMERICANS TO GO TAKE THAT GUY OUT FOR US.
YOU
WOULDN'T KNOW, BECAUSE WE CAN'T ADMIT THAT THEY DID THIS TO US.
>>OR WHO IT WAS THAT DID IT, YEAH.
>>THE OTHER THING I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO GO TO, WHICH IS
EQUALLY DEVASTATING, IS THAT WE LET THE TERRORISTS TAKE AWAY OUR
RIGHTS.
WE GOT SO SCARED THAT WE WERE LIKE, OKAY, FORGET ABOUT
OUR PRIVACY RIGHTS, FORGET ABOUT OUR FOURTH AMENDMENT
RIGHTS, JUST SPY INTO OUR LIVES.
>>EVEN RUDY GIULIANI WAS LIKE, I WILL HAVE TO STAY MAYOR FOREVER.
HE CANCELED THE ELECTION AND PUSHED IT.
CAN'T HAVE AN ELECTION MONTHS AFTER --
>>CAN HAVE AN ELECTION.
IN AMERICA.
>>THE POWER OF TERRORISM IS NEVER JUST IN THE ACT, IT IS IN
HOW YOU RESPOND AND WHAT YOU GAVE IN.
AND WE GAVE EVERYTHING
WE COULD HAVE GIVEN TO THE TERRORISTS.
AND IF IT IS A
TRAGEDY THAT 3000 PEOPLE DIED IN THE TOWERS, IT IS ALSO A TRAGEDY
THAT MORE THAN THAT MANY SOLDIERS DIED WHEN WE WENT INTO
IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, LET ALONE AS YOU SAID THE HUNDREDS OF
THOUSANDS IN IRAQ.
EVENTUALLY SOME OF THAT, SOME OF THE
INSTABILITY IN SYRIA CAN ALSO CERTAINLY BE TRACED BACK, WE
HAVE A QUARTER OF 1 MILLION PEOPLE KILLED BY ASSAD.
IF
ALL OF THESE ARE TRAGEDIES, THEN THE WAY WE RESPONDED AND WHAT WE
ALLOWED TO HAPPEN, BOTH IN TERMS OF CHANGING FUNDAMENTALLY WHAT
IT MEANS TO BE AMERICAN, WILLINGLY GIVING AWAY THE THINGS
WE HAVE ALWAYS SAID WE LOVED ABOUT OUR COUNTRY AND OUR
CONSTITUTION, AND THEN GOING AND -- THE MONEY AND THE LIVES
WASTED, AGAIN, ENTHUSIASTICALLY AS A RESULT OF THAT ACT.
>>I THINK THE GREATEST TRAGEDY IS THAT WE LET THEM TERRORIZE
US.
THAT WAS THEIR INTENT, AND WE HELPED FOLLOW THROUGH ON
THAT.
WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN BRAVER AND STRONGER THAN THAT, AND
SAID, NOT ON OUR WATCH.
WE WILL REMAIN AMERICANS, WE WILL KEEP
ALL OF OUR RIGHTS, WE BELIEVE IN OUR DEMOCRACY, WE BELIEVE IN OUR
CONSTITUTION.
INSTEAD, A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY RAN IN
FEAR FROM THAT, AND LET THOSE GUYS ACHIEVE SOME OF THEIR
OBJECTIVES BY TERRORIZING US AWAY FROM WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN
AMERICAN.