Remains of Cheney's Day

During the solemn remembrance, a former VP steps up to unite us all by carping, "If President Obama were participating in his intelligence briefings on a regular basis then perhaps he would understand why people are so offended at his efforts to take sole credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden.

"Those who deserve the credit are the men and women in our military and intelligence communities who worked for many years to track him down. They are the ones who deserve the thanks of a grateful nation.”

The gratitude should extend to Dick Cheney as well for recalling how he and George W. Bush the Uniter brought us together in those seven years after 9/11 by blaming everyone but themselves for the nation’s distress.

The snarl is no doubt triggered by a New York Times OpEd reminder of the memo “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” that Cheney and others ignored a month before the onslaught:

“Could the 9/11 attack have been stopped, had the Bush team reacted with urgency to the warnings contained in all of those daily briefs? We can’t ever know. And that may be the most agonizing reality of all.”

Of course, Mitt Romney has two different versions of how he learned about 9/11. And at Shanksville, Pa. where passengers crashed another Washington-bound plane that day, the President reminds victims’ families:

“No matter how many years pass, no matter how many times we come together on this hallowed ground, know this--that you will never be alone. Your loved ones will never be forgotten. They will endure in the hearts of our nation, because through their sacrifice, they helped us make the America we are today--an America that has emerged even stronger.”

And hopefully can eventually lose Dick Cheney and his ilk in the backwash, the remains of that terrible day.