Three weeks into 2008, markets plunge 1300 points. Can we stop blaming 9/11 now?

Three weeks into 2008, markets plunge 1300 points.
Can we stop blaming 9/11 now?

It's been more than six years since September the 11th. Ever since, "9/11" has been President Bush's "Get out of jail free" card. Everything bad that has happened in our economy, every crime he has committed in the name of "protecting us from terrorism", Bush defenders have pointed to "9/11!" as their ultimate defense. You say: "The economy is in the toilet." They say: "We're still recovering from 9/11." Gas prices too high? Blame that too on a Middle East that declared war on us on 9/11.

Not once when the Administration was bragging about "Record home ownership" leading up to and immediately after his re-election in 2004, did I hear anyone claim "9/11 was still hurting our economy". The "Record home ownership" they bragged of really only existed on paper. A rapid series of interest rate cuts by the Fed to rescue an already floundering economy rocked by 9/11, spawned a flurry of shady sub-prime mortgage lending.

When the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke the 14,000 mark for the first time last July, the Bush Administration was quick to take credit, claiming the new record was "evidence" that President Bush's economic policies were working. So then, what does it say when the markets are on the verge of wiping out eight years of gains since the Bill Clinton high of 11,722.98 on January 14, 2000?

Tuesday, the DOW closed at 11,971.19... that's just 248 points in EIGHT YEARS!

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I think that after 6 years of BRAGGING about the anemic growth, and now near total implosion, of The Bush Economy, I think Bush's defenders have lost their "9/11 trump card" when it comes to defending George Bush's absolutely horrendous and disastrous stewardship of the U.S. economy for eight years.