Hero vs Zero

Hero is a term that's thrown around too, too much.

In this case, this man is the very definition of 'hero'.

And he's from the Bay Area too.....

Bay Area pilot hailed as hero in N.Y. plane crash

________

5 white-knuckled minutes aboard Flight 1549

_______

Some vid of the landing.



The landing and rescue start around the 2 minute mark on this one:

_______

This is a great point made by a DK diarist.

Though, it wasn't a 'miracle'. This was training and focus and a commitment to excellence that has been so sorely lacking in this country.

Daily Kos: This Miracle Brought to You by America's Unions:

"They're calling it a miracle--the successful landing of a US Airways jet in the Hudson and subsequent rescue of all 155 passengers. They're detailing the heroism of all involved, starting with the pilot and including cabin crew, ferry crews, and first responders. What they're not telling you is that just about every single one of these heros is a union member."

________

Funny because if he had time... It'd be true.

Via: Dapper Dave

The plane that crashed into the Hudson River may have been brought down by Canada geese---so Bush has announced we are invading Mexico."

_______

The very last 24 hours to take America's Number 1 Zero to the tool shed.

I won't miss bashing this SOB and his evil bunch of croonies one bit. Neither will anyone else apparently.

Bush's Final Approval Rating: 22 Percent, CBS News/N.Y. Times Poll Finds President Will Leave Office With Lowest Final Approval Rating Ever - CBS News:

"(CBS) President Bush will leave office as one of the most unpopular departing presidents in history, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll showing Mr. Bush's final approval rating at 22 percent."

_______

I say this is about right.

The Bush Verdict Is In:

"He took the nation to a war of choice under false pretenses -- and left troops in harm's way on two fields of battle. He embraced torture as an interrogation tactic and turned the world's champion of human dignity into an outlaw nation and international pariah. He watched with detachment as a major American city went under water. He was ostensibly at the helm as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression took hold. He went from being the most popular to the most disappointing president, having squandered a unique opportunity to unite the country and even the world behind a shared agenda after Sept. 11. He set a new precedent for avoiding the general public in favor of screened audiences and seemed to occupy an alternate reality. He took his own political party from seeming permanent majority status to where it is today. And he deliberately politicized the federal government, circumvented the traditional policymaking process, ignored expert advice and suppressed dissent, leaving behind a broken government."

_______

Daily Kos: Bush Drops Fake Cowboy Shtick:

"George Bush bought his 'ranch' down in Crawford in 1999 shortly before he started running for president. And now that he's done with politics, he is moving out of there as soon as he possibly can. The Bushes have bought a new home in a tony neighborhood (and until recently a whites-only community) in Dallas. So, what happened to retiring down to the ranch?

Well, it's what most of us suspected - all total bullshit. He was never a cowboy. That ranch had nothing on it. No cows, no farming, just a lot of bullshit brush that Bush pretended to clear (for what fucking purpose?). The ranch was always a political gimmick. It was purchased so that Bush could play the role of the Texas cowboy when in fact he has always been the Andover cheerleader."

_______

But while he'll be gone in 24 hours, he will not be forgotten.

They must be held accountable. Must. MUST.

Past is prologue

Op-Ed Columnist - Forgive and Forget? - NYTimes.com:

"Why, then, shouldn’t we have an official inquiry into abuses during the Bush years?

One answer you hear is that pursuing the truth would be divisive, that it would exacerbate partisanship. But if partisanship is so terrible, shouldn’t there be some penalty for the Bush administration’s politicization of every aspect of government?

Alternatively, we’re told that we don’t have to dwell on past abuses, because we won’t repeat them. But no important figure in the Bush administration, or among that administration’s political allies, has expressed remorse for breaking the law. What makes anyone think that they or their political heirs won’t do it all over again, given the chance?

In fact, we’ve already seen this movie. During the Reagan years, the Iran-contra conspirators violated the Constitution in the name of national security. But the first President Bush pardoned the major malefactors, and when the White House finally changed hands the political and media establishment gave Bill Clinton the same advice it’s giving Mr. Obama: let sleeping scandals lie. Sure enough, the second Bush administration picked up right where the Iran-contra conspirators left off — which isn’t too surprising when you bear in mind that Mr. Bush actually hired some of those conspirators."

_______

Agreed.

Robert Creamer: The One Big Thing George W. Bush Did Right:

"History will record that George W. Bush made one critically important contribution to our country -- and to the entire world. He and his administration provided unquestionable proof of the bankruptcy of radical-conservative ideology, and set the stage for a qualitatively different progressive era in American politics."

_______

One last dig via Letterman:

_______
_____
___