Poisoned by Whom, Katherine Kersten?

UPDATED: According to our glorious global strugglers against…oh, excuse me, our glorious warriors against terra (firma), the veterans of the first Gulf War weren't poisoned. But they were.
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Katherine Kersten has another column in the desperate-for-readers Minneapolis Star Tribune, shaking her ever-present, tut-tut schoolmarmish finger like a butt thermometer in front of a cowering infant, and lecturing us once more on our sins.

This time she's actually found a worthy target for her trademark janey-one-note scorn: September 11 conspiracy theories. I must say that I am highly skeptical of all this so-called "scientific evidence" that the Bush Administration planned/allowed/or sat by helplessly while a shadow government planned the terroristic attack. (After I watched the convention of conspiracy theorists and groups like the people involved in the crapumentory "Loose Change" present their "evidence," they called a roll of liberals to be punished, or purged, Soviet-style: Noam Chomsky and Amy Goodman among them. I mean, come on! Noam Chomsky?)

Yes, these theories are utter crap from what I've seen. These people need to cough up better arguments than those cut from the same pinking shears as Intelligent Design! However, Kersten ducks the question of true responsibility once more, asserting that a few university professors from the University of St. Thomas and U-W Madison are creating this pervasive "poisoned atmosphere" in which these theories flourish. And I thought the point of her column was to debunk conspiracy theories.

What bullshit! A few college professors can hardly create such an "atmosphere," especially in anti-intellectual America. But naturally, Kersten doesn't point that famous shaming finger at the real culprit. She mewls--with uncharacteristic gentleness this time --that people are calling George W. Bush evil instead of "wrong or misguided." So, does Kersten actually mean to suggest that George W. Bush is possibly "wrong or misguided?" Because I think that she, as well as Donald Rumsfeld himself, Condi Rice, and other Bush Administration minions have repeatedly portrayed critics of the Iraq War as unpatriotic, ignorant, selfish, dangerous, and "morally confused."

I think that the President himself has pursued several illegal actions, including the wiretapping scandal and the collection of the phone records of American citizens, that have contributed to this "poisoned atmosphere."

I think that President Bush has no shame about invoking September 11, 2001 whenever it suits him in order to strike us with fear, and then pointing to the "lack of a terrorist attack since" to remove this fear that he wants to remove, which he is ready to summon again when it pleases him. (Sadaam was related; he wasn't related; he was. Make up your fucking mind!) How about that for creating a "poisoned atmosphere," Katherine Kersten?

Remember the duct tape fiasco, Katherine Kersten?

President Bush, during his 2004 campaign, had loyal Republicans removed from his appearances for wearing such innocuous t-shirts with the saying: "Preserve our Individual Liberties." People had to sign their political loyalty away in order to attend his highly-scripted campaign appearances. How about that for creating a "poisoned atmosphere," Katherine Kersten?

Five years later, the FBI still has not been able to interview the families of the 19 hijackers who caused September 11 to happen, because George W. Bush's good buddy Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia won't let our agents do their job. How about that for creating a "poisoned atmosphere," Katherine Kersten?

Our "friends," the Saudi Arabian government will not let us--will not let us, us, the United States of America!--appoint any ambassador to their country that speaks fluent Arabic. How about that for creating a "poisoned atmosphere," Katherine Kersten? (So much for "My country, right or wrong.")

The military, due to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, has kicked out so many gay military translators who are fluent in Arabic that they cannot keep up with the plethora of intelligence waiting to be translated. How about that for creating a "poisoned atmosphere," Katherine Kersten?

You know, I won that Katherine Kersten haiku contest sponsored by City Pages last year, and I shouldn't have. There was another haiku that didn't make the top three, but which I think summarizes Katherine Kersten's so-called moral attitude perfectly:

"You are so selfish,
all you parents of soldiers.
Death builds character."

She ought to know. She's an expert on "character."

UPDATED: Oh, by the way, Katherine Kersten, it seems that at least one general is saying that Al Qaeda has taken over one entire province of Iraq. 500,000 square miles. Hey, lady, this war is going "well" enough for your own kids to enlist! How about it?

Yeah, how about no more Harley men (every single one from my grandfather on down) going into the damn military, Katherine Kersten? Come on, let's hear it now about how we're "all equal in God's eyes."