Oh, by the way....

I'm sitting here watching Fox News coverage of the memories on 9/11, and one thing just struck me: Once it was clear that airliners were our enemies' chosen asymmetrical WMDs, the decision to immediately land every airliner was just a stunning and completely unforeseen achievement.

Diverting an airliner is no small feat. Before I head off to some divert field, I have to know that I have enough fuel to get there (obviously). Less obviously, there are some airports which are not suitable for some airplanes. The length of the runway, the width of the taxiways, the weight-bearing capabilities of the same, and the available ramp space are all concerns here. Also, given that a divert field may be a suitable divert location for my plane, it is very possible to overwhelm that airport with too many planes.

Once they landed, the questions only then began to be brought. Were they there for an hour? A day? What? Can they get fuel? Are they at a location that has services by their airline? Can they get a flight plan and be dispatched? If they're staying for a while, how do they take care of their passengers? Do they buy them bus tickets? Rent them cars? Find them hotel rooms? Pizzas?

The inside story in the airline industry is that this was simply a stunning achievement, done completely off-the-cuff. The phone lines into our dispatch were melted down. Crews spent days in hotels trying to get a phone call into our scheduling people to see what they wanted the crews to do. Many simply just gave up and rented cars to make their way home. I was at home on 9/11/01 so I missed this confusion, but I did fly the following weekend when they opened up the airspace, and it was still chaotic.

Crimes....

1. It is a crime that those terrorists attacked us 8 years ago.
2. It is another crime that we still have not crushed al Qaeda.
3. It is still another crime that we elected a man wholly unqualified to lead us in war.
4. It is yet another crime that 8 years after the attack, the WTC remains little more than a hole in the ground.

My life has changed measurably since 9/11, both personally and professionally. Part of me wishes that I still lived on 9/10, but given that time does march on, I think I am a better man for confronting the world as it is.

You simply must....

Read both these accounts courtesy of Sean Linnane.

Twin Towers 9/11: A First Hand Account Part 1.

Twin Towers 9/11: A First Hand Account Part 2.

Sean promises more to come, and I'll update this when it appears.

Update: And here is the conclusion.

Twin Towers 9/11: A First Hand Account (Conclusion).

Go. Click. Read. Now.

Zero....

As will surprise no one who has read this blog for any time, I am less-than-impressed with Barack Obama. He is a leftist with ties to Marxists (Alinsky, Ayers), racists (Wright), and idiots (Biden).

But with his first two weeks, Obama has demonstrated one of the traits not commented on widely in recent days: Inexperience with leadership.

Obama has little experience at running anything larger than his former Senate office. His Harvard Law Review days show little evidence of leadership. He is our Community-Organizer-in-Chief, now cast into a leadership role, and he is floundering.

His Cabinet choices are appalling. Clinton is damaged goods (her husband's speaking fees from foreign sources), Holder is a politically-tied Attorney General, Geithner is a tax cheat. Richardson, Daschle and Killefer had to withdraw. His Labor Department nominee is in trouble. These are mistakes that those who have not lead make.

He is being treated rudely by the families of those killed in the GWOT. A leader would know how to assuage these people.

Iran and North Korea taunt him. Is Pakistan deliberately trying to embarass him?

His stimulus plan, while it may pass, has damaged him.

On That-Forum-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, I have been challenged for addressing Obama as "Zero". However, for a man of no accomplishment, who screws up half his cabinet appointments, who offers no solutions to our problems, who offends the families of our heros, who tin-horn dictators around the world openly mock, the term "Zero" seems to be apt.

His weakness is everywhere.

Told you so.

Some Random Thoughts on September 11, 2007

I am writing this a couple days after the Anniversary. For what I think is the first time, I was working this year on 9/11, and this year it was intentional. As I was bidding for my September schedule for the first couple of years after 9/11, I bid to stay home. Being here with my family just seemed so important. September is a busy month around our house...WifeofAzlib has a birthday this month, and while the kids were generally well into their school routines by September, there always seemed to be extra-curricular things that were just beginning. September is also beginning to be the end of our oppressive heat--meaning that I can begin to catch up on things outside.

But as I said, this year, I chose to be at work. I guess because this anniversary fell on a Tuesday, I got caught up in wanting to stand up and say: "Al Qaeda...We're still here. You can't knock us down." So, this year, for me, 9/11 fell on the last day of a three-day trip.

Anyway here, in no particular order, are more Random Thoughts...

• The Democrat-led Congress had scheduled themselves to receive their report from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker over 9/11. This seemed to me to be an intentional poke at President Bush.
• While at this point it should not come as a surprise to rational person, Move-on.org found a way to plumb new depths.
• The Democrats, and especially the Democrats running for President, cannot find it in themselves to distance themselves from these nutcases.
• Some of the Democrats are nutcases themselves. How they continue to be re-elected is beyond me.
  
• Despite this, Petraeus and Crocker absolutely slayed the nay-sayers.
• Gerard, in his always-wonderful essays, offers some remembrances and observations. A wonderful picture. Our wounds. And finally, questions whether we remember that we're at war.

Gerard, I know you won't read this. But I do remember. Every day, I remember. It will be in my bones until the day I die, and after that it will be in the bones of my children. I cannot begin to describe my regret on seeing that the lives of my children are being defined by war, but it is the plain truth.

Here is the tie tac that I wear every day while I am at work.


(Click to enlarge)