Truth to power
by ChrisSeptember 25th, 2004 12:09 am
From Kerry’s speech today at Temple: “we all understand it’s difficult to protect everything but there are certain places where there’s a chance for much greater catastrophe than others.”
This quote speaks to a fundamental truth, which congress and the president seem unable to grapple with. Certain places in this country are more important to the economic, social and psychological health of our nation than others and are therefore more attractive targets to terrorists. Most of us can name them without a moment’s hesitation; New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles.
While I would never pretend to understand the thinking of al Qaeda, they certainly seem to understand how and where to hurt us where we will be most wounded. What none of us should understand and what should enrage all of us is that homeland security funding is not disproportionately directed towards those cities at most risk. Instead that funding is distributed inversely to actual risk.
Let me speak to NYC specifically. While I’m not one of them, I understand that a great many people who don’t live there really don’t care for New York, however we should all understand its singular importance to our country’s well-being. As someone who deals professionally with corporations located across the country and across the world I can testify to the fact that even a single day’s snowstorm in NYC has very real and tangible ripple effects across the entire economy. One need only look up which corporate entities have their headquarters located in New York City to get some understanding of what I mean.
In my mind a “strong and resolute” leader would be able to speak truth to the powers that be within his own party and direct counter terrorism funding to those places where terrorism is most likely. Unfortunately our president has been incapable of such. A truly strong leader who was truly interested in the protection of his nation would have no such problem and homeland security (and yes I hate that term) would be something more than an excuse to dole out the pork.
