By Timothy D. Naegele[1]
Pat Buchanan—an adviser to Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, and a former GOP presidential aspirant himself—has written a sobering article that asks this ominous question, as follows:
In Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, former President George W. Bush’s theme was national unity — and how it has been lost over these past 20 years.
“In the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks,” said Bush, “I was proud to lead an amazing, resilient, united people. When it comes to the unity of America, those days seem distant from our own. A malign force seems at work in our common life that turns every disagreement into an argument, and every argument into a clash of cultures.”
Though he surely did not realize it, Bush had himself, moments before, given us an example of how that unity was destroyed when he drew a parallel between the terrorists of 9/11 and the Trump protesters of Jan 6. Said Bush:
“There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit.”
What is Bush saying here?
That Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran shot to death trying to enter the House chamber on Jan. 6, and Mohamed Atta, who drove an airliner into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in a massacre of close to 3,000 people, are “children of the same foul spirit.”
Query: Was not Bush himself here giving us an example of the “malign force” that “turns every disagreement … into a clash of cultures”?
Bush did not mention his own contribution to our national divide: his invasion of a country, Iraq, that did not threaten us, did not attack us, and did not want war with us — to disarm it of weapons it did not even have.
Which contributed more to the loss of America’s national unity?
The four hours of mob violence in the Capitol the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, or the 18-year war in Iraq that Bush launched in 2003?
“In those fateful hours” after 9/11, said Bush, “Many Americans struggled to understand why an enemy would hate us with such zeal.”
Yet, well before 9/11, Osama bin Laden, in his declaration of war on us, listed his grievances. Our sanctions were starving the children of Iraq. Our military presence on the sacred soil of Saudi Arabia, home to Mecca, was a national insult and a blasphemous outrage to Islam.
After 9/11, Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. President Barack Obama attacked Libya and plunged us into the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars.
Thus, over 20 years, we have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands — Afghans, Iraqis, Syrians, Yemenis, soldiers and civilians alike — and driven hundreds of thousands more from their homes and their countries.
Are Americans really as oblivious, as Bush suggests, as to why it was that our enemies “hate us with such zeal”?
Many of these peoples want us out of their countries for the same reason that 18th- and 19th-century Americans wanted the French, British and Spanish out of our country and out of our hemisphere.
Yet, it is not only the Bush and Obama wars that have made us so many enemies abroad and so deeply divided us at home.
Our southern border is being overrun by illegal immigrants whose number, since President Joe Biden took office, has been running at close to 2 million a year, with 30,000 “get-aways” a month. These last are mostly males who never make contact with the Border Patrol as they move on to their chosen destinations. They are coming now not only from Mexico and the northern tier countries of Central America but also from some 100 countries around the world.
Americans fear they are losing their country to the uninvited and invading millions of the Global South coming to dispossess them of their patrimony. They never voted for this invasion and have wanted their chosen leaders to stop it.
Former President Donald Trump earned their trust because he tried and, to a great degree, succeeded.
Unlike previous generations, our 21st-century divisions are far broader — not just economic and political, but social, moral, cultural and racial.
Abortion, same-sex marriage and transgender rights divide us. Socialism and capitalism divide us. Affirmative action, Black Lives Matter, urban crime, gun violence and critical race theory divide us. Allegations of white privilege and white supremacy, and demands that equality of opportunity give way to equity of rewards, divide us. In the COVID-19 pandemic, the wearing of masks and vaccine mandates divide us.
Demands to tear down monuments and memorials to those who were, until lately, America’s greats — from Christopher Columbus to George Washington to Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, from Abraham Lincoln to Robert E. Lee to Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson — divide us.
We are even divided today on the most fundamental of questions:
Is America now, and has it always been, a good and great country, worthy of the loyalty and love of all its children, of all its citizens?
And are we Americans proceeding toward that “more perfect union” or heading for a reenactment of our previous violent disunion?[2]
Everything that Pat Buchanan has said in this article is true. I have written about these and similar issues, over and over again; and about the corruption of our organs of government, and the traitors within.[3]. What is our fate, and the fate of the great American experiment of which each of us is a part? Is it inevitable that our nation will be torn asunder, and spin off like whirling dervishes into the great unknown?
The 20th anniversary of 9/11 has come and gone, with remembrances of that tragic day in our history and those who suffered so—and our heroes—taking place across our land and abroad.[4]. One thing is certain: we are all Americans, regardless of our skin colors, faiths or backgrounds. Indeed, almost 12 years ago, I concluded:
I believe in this country, and I believe in Americans of all colors, faiths and backgrounds. The United States is the only true melting pot in the world, with its populace representing a United Nations of the world’s peoples. Yes, we fight and we even discriminate, but when times are tough—like after 9/11—we come together as one nation, which makes this country so great and special. Also, all of us or our ancestors came here from somewhere else. Even the American Indians are descended from those who crossed the Bering Strait—or the “Bering land bridge”—according to anthropologists.[5]
I have not changed that conclusion.
© 2021, Timothy D. Naegele
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[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6 and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/ He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams; and he can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com
[2] See https://buchanan.org/blog/who-and-what-is-tearing-the-us-apart-158535 (“Who and What Is Tearing the US Apart?”)
[3] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2021/08/30/the-taliban-are-victorious/ (“The Taliban Are Victorious”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2021/08/27/censorship-at-dia-no-wonder-we-lost-afghanistan/ (“Censorship At DIA, No Wonder We Lost Afghanistan”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2021/08/20/afghanistan-the-future-looks-grim-for-those-left-behind/ (“Afghanistan, The Future Looks Grim For Those Left Behind”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2021/08/15/the-tragedy-of-afghanistan/ (“The Tragedy Of Afghanistan”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2021/08/12/is-america-becoming-a-failed-state/ (“Is America Becoming a Failed State?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2021/07/26/will-the-coronavirus-mutations-cripple-america-when-it-is-becoming-clear-to-the-world-that-joe-biden-is-not-fit-to-serve-as-president/ (“Will The Coronavirus’ Mutations Cripple America When It Is Becoming Clear To The World That Joe Biden Is Not Fit To Serve As President?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2021/03/12/war-with-china/ (“War With China?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2021/01/13/the-day-america-died/ (“The Day America Died?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/12/22/2020-annus-horribilis/ (“2020 Annus Horribilis”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/08/08/biden-is-brain-dead/ (“Biden Is Brain Dead”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/08/04/chinas-goal-is-global-domination-and-it-must-suffer-the-soviet-unions-fate/ (“China’s Goal Is Global Domination, And It Must Suffer The Soviet Union’s Fate”) (see also the comments beneath each of these articles)
[4] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2021/09/13/9-11-every-american-should-read-this/ (“9/11—Every American Should Read This”)
[5] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/america-a-rich-tapestry-of-life/ (“America: A Rich Tapestry Of Life”); see also https://www.philstockworld.com/2009/10/11/greenspan%E2%80%99s-legacy-more-suffering-to-come/ (“Greenspan’s legacy: more suffering to come”—Interview with Timothy D. Naegele)
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