The nation remembers 9/11 today, and is reminded about the utter failures of the Bush administration leading up to the attacks. As a new op-ed published last night in the New York Times uncovers, the Bush administration was repeatedly warned in the months leading up to the attack that terrorists were operating in America and determined to carry out an attack. But rather than doing anything about it – the Bush Administration dismissed the warnings as mere distractions pushed by Saddam Hussein, even though there was absolutely no proof of any coordination between Bin Laden and Hussein.

The incompetence – and downright negligence – of the Bush administration is staggering – and Americans paid dearly for it. It’s now been 11 years since the attacks – and since then we’ve seen 11 years of continuing war, 11 years of continuing surveillance, and 11 years of continuing disintegration of our civil liberties.

Today we honor the victims who lost their lives on that day, but as a nation we must also recognize the profound impact the decisions our leaders made in the months and years after 9/11 that have made our country less safe, destabilized the planet, and shredded our constitution. Let’s hope that future memorials to this day aren’t clouded by war, anger, and xenophobia.

-Thom

(What did you learn from 9/11? Tell us here.)

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Monday's Daily Stack

Article: "Sarah Palin: Choice In This Election Comes Down To ‘Free Stuff Or Freedom’" by Josh Feldman.

Speech: "A Rendezvous With Destiny", 27 June 1936 acceptance speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt. "An old English judge once said: "Necessitous men are not free men.""

Speech: "Address at a New York Rally in Support of the President's Program of Medical Care for the Aged" by John F. Kennedy, May 20, 1962.

Article: "Chicago teachers strike for first time in 25 years" by Don Babwin.

Site: Hunter School.

The Big Picture
- Sam Sacks, The Big Picture producer, progressive commentator

Article: "Gloria Steinem Supports Teachers In Chicago Strike".

Article: "Obama campaign mobilizing thousands of lawyers to combat voter ID laws, voting restrictions" by Natasha Khan and AJ Vicens.

Article: "4 Million Americans to Receive Voter Registration Materials by Mail in Coming Weeks: Outreach by NAACP, National Council of La Raza, Voter Participation Center & Other Partners" by Business Wire.

Video: "Bill Clinton's 2012 DNC Speech Video And Full Text Transcript" by Connor Adams Sheets. "In Tampa, the Republican argument against the president's re-election was pretty simple: we left him a total mess, he hasn't cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in."

Article: "Maslow's hierarchy of needs" by Wikipedia.

Article: "States That Get The Most Federal Money" by Michael B.Sauter, Lisa Uible, Lisa Nelson and Alexander E. M. Hess.

Hour Two: If the war on women is just a "distraction"...then why does the GOP keep using it?
- Carrie Lukas, Independent Women's Forum

Article: "Is A "War On Women" The Best That President Obama Can Do?" by Carrie Lukas.

Book: "Liberty Is No War on Women" by Carrie Lukas and Sabrina Schaeffer.

Article: "Erick Erickson Likens DNC To Vagina Monologues In Controversial Tweet" by Rebecca Shapiro.

Article: "Ann Coulter Sends Controversial Sandra Fluke Tweet During Democratic National Convention" by Rebecca Shapiro.

Law: "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act", 2009.

Article: "Mitt Romney admits using Chinese slave labor @ Bain." by @anneonymous670.

Article: "The Gender Wage Gap 2009 (Updated September 2010)" by Robert Drago, Ph.D., Claudia Williams.

Hour Three: Debate - Tax credits for wind energy
- Phil Kerpen, American Commitment / Author, "Democracy Denied"

Article: "Americans for Prosperity Leads Huge Coalition Opposing Extension of Tax Breaks for Wind Energy" by AFP.

Article: "Drake Well", 1859 by Wikipedia.

Article: "Installed Wind Capacity" by US Energy Department.

Article: "Joe Biden Endorses Same-Sex Marriage" by Igor Volsky.

Article: "Obama: ‘I Think Same-Sex Couples Should Be Able to Get Married’" by Rick Klein.

Article: "Paul Ryan On Medical Marijuana Legalization: 'Let The States Decide' (VIDEO)".

Article: "10th Amendment". "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"

The good: "US election 2012: Larry Flynt offers $1 million for details of Mitt Romney's tax returns" by Nick Allen.

The bad: "Allen West: Obama Campaign's 'Forward' Slogan Promotes 'Soviet Union, Marxist-Socialist Theme' " by Nick Wing.

The very, very ugly: "Alvin Tjosaas Alleges Wells Fargo Mistakenly Foreclosed On, Destroyed His Vacation Home (VIDEO)".

Article: "Romney's Donors Share His Love of Offshore Tax Havens" by George Zornick.

Article: "Uranium Is So Last Century — Enter Thorium, the New Green Nuke" by Richard Martin.

Site: "Thorium Energy Alliance".

Article: "The Civilian Conservation Corps" by PBS.

Article: "Chicago Teachers Union opening strike headquarters" by AP.

Article: "Romney Says He Supports Popular Obamacare Provisions On NBC, Quietly Reverses Hours Later On Conservative Website" by Judd Legum.

Article: "German Constitutional Court to Rule on ESM" by Harriet Torry.

Article: "Paul Krugman Vs. Rand Paul: Krugman Proves Goverment Has Shrunk Under Obama" by Alan Colmes.

How the Bush Administration blew it on 9/11
- Kurt Eichenwald, Vanity Fair, Author, “500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars”

Hour Two: overturning Citizens United & defeating Tea Party extremists
- Becky Bond, CREDO Action, CREDO SuperPAC

Get BIG $ out of our elections...
- Trent Lange, California Clean Money Campaign, AB 1648-California DISCLOSE Act

Latest on first responders legal fight: Federal government may finally recognize 9/11 cancer link, say attorneys of survivors
- Sean Patrick Riordan, Attorney for 9/11 first responders group "Feal Good Foundation" (non-profit founded by first responder John Feal to help first responders)

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