This is a really loathesome pasttime we are entertaining here, discussing how the Republicans and Americans would respond if the US was ever hit again.  It is troubling to me why we entertain ourselves with these disturbing images, but we do.  So I thought I would offer another perspective on this notion of what might happen if the US was hit again.  I like taking looks at things from new angles, but first let's take a look at the problem with doing this exercise in the first place.

What will the Republicans do if we were hit again?  Here's another angle, are the Republicans really our biggest worry if there is another catastrophic attack?    The Democrats would still have power.  It will be for them to respond.  Our work today should be in continuing the destruction of the myths the Bush regime created when they held power.  Fearing what they would say perpetuates the myth they are some force with which to be reckoned.  They are no such thing.  They're a bunch of tea baggers, for crying out loud.  We need to keep making the world aware of how utterly dysfunctional their ideas really are.  Then if there is an attack, no one would think to ask the Republicans for their opinion.  It would have no merit, just as it does today.  They keep spouting their opinions, but few people actually care.

It concerns me that Democrats did not perform in a particularly noble manner either following 9/11.  The majority of them favoring war with Iraq before the weapons inspectors could finish their investigations, favoring war when all our proof was a bunch of drawings of weapons brought to the UN, pictures of empty military ordinance that <i>could</i> contain chemical weapons, those chemicals we sold Saddam in the first place. 

Americans need to be prepared for this country to respond differently.  The truth is, we are still responding to 9/11.  The Bush Regime in no way, shape, or form, finished that job.  I can easily concede, Mission Accomplished, because I suspect the mission of the Bush Regime was never publicly acknowledged.  Bush destroyed Iraq, a rogue nation unbowed to the interests of his oil companies.  Maybe that was the simple goal.  Saddam was kind of like the caricature we are given related to Hugo Chavez, another rogue leader who has the audacity to self-determine what he does with his own countries oil resources.  But I digress.

Obama is returning our focus to a fitting response to 9/11 by escalating our efforts in Afghanistan.  But what he has found, and what we are loathe to admit, is that the US has squandered all of the political capital we had acquired on 9/11.  The world, even Iran, was whole heartedly in support of the US in pursuing the perpetrators of that heinous assault.  Today, the world is tired of the arrogance we allowed to rule us and is begrudging any further assistance.  I suspect the financial disease we set upon the world is not an inhibitor to their resistance to come to our aid and finish the job of bringing Osama bin Laden to justice.

If the US were hit again, I would hope the world might repeat their support at the same level of intensity they displayed after 9/11, but I am skeptical they would.  When all is said and done, this nation is stained by the deplorable deeds done in the name of Dubya.  He may be out of office, but our image remains tarnished.  It will take a great man to revive this public relations nightmare, but I believe we have the best man for the job.  Obama, more then anyone, is best able to recruit the world to join us in a fight if we were attacked again.  I believe we would determine who was responsible and take a determined and methodical approach to whoever was responsible, and justice would be promptly served. 

Yes, things will be very different if the US is attacked again, but it is no stretch to say we would handle our response much better if there is a next time, should it come to that.  I would hope the Republicans are so feable and discredited, their opinions are ignored, unless they do finally develop some new ideas.  Frankly, thinking about this nightmare scenario is a poor use of my time.  It's all hypothetical and not revitalizing in the least.  I would prefer to spend my time mulling over useful imaginings, like national healthcare, a robust economy, and even whirled peas!

[Note:  I posted this late a couple of days ago and there were no comments.  Maybe it came when people were already off TPM for the day, or maybe there were so many posts it got buried.  I will try this again thinking it was never seen, but hey, maybe it's crap.  If anyone thinks that, I need that feedback too, but maybe a little less harsh.]