9/11 volunteer faces charges for ‘Sicko’ role
After suffering for more than five years with health problems related to his volunteer work at ground zero, Maywood, N.J., resident Bill Maher believed he had nothing to lose joining documentarian Michael Moore on a sneak trip to Cuba for medical treatment, captured in the new movie “Sicko.” Maher knew he was taking a risk, but he didn’t think he was breaking any laws. He was surprised to learn last week that, for violating travel restrictions, he and two other 9/11 responders featured in the picture are under investigation by the Treasury Department, which is building a case against Moore.
I suppose if this Administration actually cared even a whit about 9.11 first responders, they’d be trying to figure out how they can help this hero get the care and treatment he deserves. After all, Bill Maher (no, not THAT Bill Maher) sacrificed his health and risked his neck in the aftermath of the 9.11 attacks; you’d think the least a grateful nation could do would be to take care of him. Yeah, right; this IS the Bush Administration we’re talking about here, whose mission statement seems to be “GO F—K YOURSELF. WE’RE IN CHARGE.”
Maher isn’t about making a political statement, although he’s been reduced to doing exactly that in an effort to draw attention to his health issues. This is a man who gave of himself on the worst day in this nation’s history…and yet the health consequences he continues to suffer as a result of his selflessness and service continue to be largely ignored by a government who wishes he’d simply go away. Worse, that same government is looking to persecute prosecute Maher for having the temerity to attempt to draw attention to his plight. OK, so travelling to Cuba is illegal, but this is a law that has been very subjectively enforced over the years. Now it simply looks as if the Bush Administration is trying to tolerate for being to made to look like the self-absorbed, uncompassionate ideologues they really are.
Nice, eh?
“It’s ridiculous,” the 54-year-old Maher said. “What about paying attention to the 9/11 responders who are dying, who can’t get any help? If we wind up going to jail, it’s going to send another message out.”
It is ridiculous, and it sends the very clear message that Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader cares far more for ideology than the health and welfare of those Americans who gave of themselves on and after 9.11. Hey, we’re sorry you got sick, but go f—k yourself already. We don’t care.
Welcome to the true definition of “Compassionate Conservatism.”
