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Q & (maybe) A Just WonderingBy Rick Horowitz
While we wait, twenty questions: Did you flinch when you saw the plane go by? Maybe it was just the camera angle, but that picture in the paper the other day was a heart-stopper -- the big jet skimming past the Washington Monument on its way into National Airport. They say they've got it all worked out, but it still looks like we're only a twitch of the controls from another disaster. Was this part of the job description? I wasn't in the room when Donald Rumsfeld agreed to be secretary of defense again, but he can't have expected to be spending time in Uzbekistan. Do the words "one-trick pony" ring a bell? So Jesse Jackson decided that the answer to the most serious international crisis in decades was...Jesse Jackson. There's a surprise. What have they done with Cheney? The vice president delivers a gripping account of those first few hours after the terrorist attacks, including his own role in all the key decisions -- and then he vanishes. This couldn't have anything to do with certain White House big shots annoyed that Cheney upstaged the president. Of course not. Does it take less time to write monologue than dialogue? I wanted to like the special "West Wing" episode, honest I did. Now I'm waiting for the CliffsNotes. "Will you still love me if I say to you I don't believe that?" That's Sen. Robert Byrd, after Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson tried to assure lawmakers that when it comes to biological weapons, the government is ready to respond to "any contingency." There's responding well, and there's responding poorly. Did you flinch when you heard about the Greyhound bus? Join the club. How much proof does the Taliban need? More. And then more after that. What are we waiting for? Holding off on an immediate attack may not be just a matter of lining up the coalition partners. We have to assume that when we strike, the terrorists will retaliate. I suspect we're racing to roll up as many bad guys as we can before the bombs start to fall. "Dead or Alive"? Don't expect to see Osama bin Laden in a courtroom any time soon -- or any time at all. This isn't about "beyond a reasonable doubt." If only one ten-thousandth of one percent of all Arabs in the United States are terrorists, but 80 percent of all terrorists in the United States are Arabs...? I'm making up all these numbers, but that's the basic balancing act when it comes to profiling. And this counts, too: the consequences if we miss. It's not just an extra stash of dope on the New Jersey Turnpike. Is Bush getting better at this? Absolutely, though there are still the cringy, unscripted moments: "We...uh, uh...have to send a...uh...a clear message that...uh, uh, uh..." Write it down! Are we supposed to feel good that we've got Vladimir Putin on our side? Actually, yes. Is it just the accent? It's not just the accent. Britain's Tony Blair says all the right things, and he says them wonderfully well. Is Giuliani indispensable? Only to Giuliani. The mayor has been perfectly amazing throughout this crisis. Almost perfectly. He's finally given up on this third-term business. Now, if he can ditch this "just a few extra months" concoction... Did you flinch when you heard about the Russian plane? Join the club. Were you upset to learn that we tried to have bin Laden bumped off several years ago? You're much more upset that we didn't get it done. Who cares about seatbacks and tray tables? We're flying again, sort of. Some passengers will try to lose themselves in a good book. (Or in the Good Book.) The rest of us won't stop scanning the cabin. What is the sound of one shoe dropping? You're hearing it. Did you think this was going to be easy? Not a chance. Posted 10/4/01. He
doesn't have all the answers. He's worth reading anyway. Get fresh commentary
from syndicated columnist Rick Horowitz twice every week.
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Rick Horowitz
