I read a post over at Jeff Jarvis and an interesting thought occurred to me.

Would you consider it offensive for people to be able to buy debris from the WTC and Pentagon site? Even the Pennsylvania site?

1) The items would be sold at cost. This removes the profit motive. Although I am not against profit per se, I do not want to discuss it in this post.

2) Disregard the enviromental and health concerns.

This solely deals with the philosophical justification for wanting to own a piece of that history. I want a piece so that I can remember. My current item to remember that day is the video shot by those French Brothers.

This way we can all remember.

Mickey Kaus starts down the conspiracy avenue with the "Unspeakable political angle" on the bombings (in the pieces headed Bombs, Ballots). Who benefits, politically, from the bombing in Madrid. And suggests to Kerry boosters to start spinning a future terrorist attack on the US as a failure of the President to make us safer.

Nice. But there are a lot of problems with this line of thought. First of all, the terrorists have not been spectacularly insightful about the consequences of their actions. Remember, 9/11 was supposed to start the uprising of the Muslims and drive the US out of the Middle East. That wasn't exactly what happened. It also assumes that the terrorists can act when and where they want to. They no longer have the initiative. Plus, it puts Kerry boosters (and Kaus is not one, but one assumes that he wants Bush out of the White House) in the uncomfortable position of wanting a terrorist attack on US soil. And then there is the chance that it would backfire - if they push the line that another attack proves us to be less safe, and then an attack doesn't happen, doesn't it mean we really are safer?

I've said it before, I'll say it again. In this election, the Democrats must hope that things get worse. The economy doesn't get better, and we lose the war on terror. A candidate for President betting against the US - that's a bad place to be.

During the furst Gulf War, I was stationed in Italy. During the buildup, the Italian people were very anti-war, and would protest at the front gate of the American base in Vicenza. Just before the war started, there were well over a hundred picketers out there. The Italian government, however, was very supportive. They allowed overflight and transshipments, and provided troops for base security.

In the first hours of the war, several pilots were shot down, and appeared on TV as POW's, with bruised faces. One of those pilots was Italian, and was from the Veneto region.

The next weekend, there were 2 protestors. And suddenly the people were very supportive - I would get a thumbs up and hear "Saddam kaput!" when I was out in the town.

Just a story from the near past, lest we forget.

3/11/2004. A massive bombing in Madrid. 200 killed, over a thousand injured. The Spaniards are our friends, our allies in this war on terror.

And remember this: John Kerry called them a fraud.

It is still not quite clear who was behind this bombing, but signs point away from the usual ETA suspects. There was a copy of the Washington Post in the lobby of the Spanish embassy, turned open to this page:

President Bush issued this statement:

Today I spoke to His Majesty the King of Spain -- Jose Maria Aznar, as well -- about our country's deepest sympathies toward those who lost their life as a result of terrorist bombings in Spain. I told him we weep with the families. We stand strongly with the people of Spain. I appreciate so very much the Spanish government's fight against terror, their resolute stand against terrorist organizations like the ETA. The United States stands with them. Today we ask God's blessings on those who suffer in the -- in the great country of Spain.

Friends, not frauds. We are with you.

I have a hard and fast rule to never vote for a graduate of the Naval Academy. Sure, its a little bit about rivalry, but there are empirical reasons, too. Jimmy Carter. Ross Perot. Oliver North. And John McCain.

Yes, the Republican John McCain who said he would "entertain" the idea of being John Kerry's VP. Now, the "mainstream" press is obviously playing this up more than its worth, because McCain did stress that it was highly unlikely that such a thing would come to pass. But over in The Corner, they doth protest too much - and I heard Sean Hannity declaring that Senator McCain is a "good Republican" and really the story is being overblown by the press.

McCain's pointing to the unlikeliness, though, is McCain being too clever and playing to his press friends. Oh, no they wouldn't pick me because I am pro-life, a deficit hawk, blah blah blah. He could have said something like "I respect my colleague Senator Kerry and obviously admire his service to our country in Vietnam, but I would have to respectfully decline, as I would not run against my party and don't agree with his approach or his policies."

So even if the press is overplaying it, McCain chose his own self-aggrandizement over his party's President, and has done damage by it.

So never, ever, vote for a Naval Academy graduate. (Equal time, with Wesley Clark and Jack Reed, think real hard before voting for a USMA grad, too.)

In today's Washington Post, a story (registration required) about the Department of Energy Bomb Squad, the Nuclear Emergency Support Team, or NEST. A story of interest to me because I did a major exercise with NEST in my former life. The point of the story seems to be that NEST needs more money. The money paragraph, literally:

Supporters of the teams, and some independent analysts, say all is not well with NEST and its affiliated programs. Aircraft and other equipment are degrading, according to people with knowledge of the program. And as long ago as 1996, experts warned DOE of a growing talent shortage in the programs because of retirements of nuclear scientists that accompanied the downsizing of the nuclear weapons program after the Cold War.

That's alarming! Here we are with a war on terror and fears of dirty bombs and yet we let the program designed to help with that languish!

I thought, hey, I have the skills for this, and I would love to be working some anti-terrorist gig right now, why don't I see if they are hiring people? Going to the DOE Jobs Website, none of the jobs listed are for NEST. Hmmm. Why the big article in the Post, then? Is this a directed leak, attempting to put a request for more money in front of Washington, DC readers? Or is it somehting real? If we are indeed shortchanging the NEST, that should be a huge story, not in the back pages, right?

In the Mediterranean. Two of our most steadfast allies in the war on terror generally and the war in Iraq particularly have been Spain and Italy. Now, another Mediterranean country has elected a conservative government - Greece. That is a big deal, actually, as Greece has under its Socialist governments been significantly anti-American. Now, if only France got on board.

Look at how they handle a debate on campus intelectual diversity?

With kindness, openness, understanding, their arguments bereft of stereotypes, ad hominems, and other things that may inhibit their clear and fundamental belief in free speech.

Right?

Honestly, they are becoming a stereotype of themselves.

Yes, Blogs for Bush and George W Bush website buttons over there on the side. And when the RNC telemarketer called this time, I gave them money instead of hanging up.

John Kerry played a role in our loss in Vietnam. I don't want him to have a chance at making us lose this one, too. It is just too important to win in Iraq and the Global War on Terror. Our enemies want him elected, that should be reason enough.