There can be no denying that Sept. 11 was a watershed event, a heartbreaking day, a profound and tragic loss of lives -- that did require sensible changes to our Country (as opposed to many of the measures Bush has implemented). But, that being said...

...I really despise the cheap way that the Bushies parrot the line: "This is a new kind of war. Sept 11 changed everything. We are fighting a war on terror, this is a new kind of enemy. The President is committed to ensuring the safety and security of the American people." They pull this one out of the bag especially when confronted with a question they don't want to answer -- Scott McClellan used this old saw the other day when Helen Thomas grilled him about indefinite detentions.  Gonzalez also played the Terror Card, when on the hot seat for his torture memos.

Here's how I think we should respond, whenever they pull this cheap trick:

"What's with President Bush and this Siege Mentality? You act like America is under siege. America is NOT under siege. America is the most powerful nation in the World. The ONLY Superpower. Americans are brave. We're strong. We've fought World Wars, the Cold War... we've overcome a Depression... We can be like the greatest generation that ever lived!

"President Bush and his team are the ones that seem frightened. Not surprising when you look at how they are all Chickenhawks. When firefighters were rushing into the blazing World Trade Center -- Bush was really only concerned about his safety -- as he later admitted in a German television interview . He then took off in Air Force One, to 'get out of harm's way' -- as he put it.

"Do we really want a bunch of cowards throwing away our Constitution because THEY are so frightened? Do we really want these weak-kneed wimps putting Americans under lock and key, under total surveillance, because they have the cold sweats over a world that has always been uncertain and filled with dangers? Where are the adults? Why do we have these bedwetting kids in charge?

"Whatever happened to 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself?' Why is it we now have a fearful (as opposed to a fearless) leader whose  motto seems to be 'Be afraid. Be very afraid.'

"WE are not frightened. It is YOU in the White House who are frightened. YOU are chicken littles -- YOU are even afraid of answering questions. When asked a 'scary' question that you don't want to answer, all you can do is whimper that 'The sky is falling. The sky is falling!'

"True, America was attacked on Sept. 11 -- but we are NOT under siege. We have been attacked before...and we have proved our courage again and again. Bush may wilt. But we won't!

"Yes, Sept. 11 changed many things. But it didn't change EVERYTHING. It didn't change the fact that Americans have been and ALWAYS WILL BE brave and have been and ALWAYS WILL BE strong. We are still strong, despite the weak, cowardly Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld. So paranoid that they invaded a country over imaginary weapons of mass destruction, sending OTHERS into battle, while they hide behind their desks -- and in the safety of their Secret Service protection.

"If President Bush was really 'committed to the safety and security of the American people', he would do his job and inspect ALL containers, secure ports and DOE facilities, etc. Then maybe Bush and his team wouldn't be so insecure about our (really THEIR!) safety -- so that they wouldn't feel the need to gut our Constitution, our freedoms ... all so that Bush and his team can live in their safe little 'bubble' as he likes to call it...and so that Dick doesn't have to hide down in his bunker!

"But Americans ARE brave and strong -- we are not cowards who throw away our humanity out of fear...unlike President Bush and his frightened team of chickenhawks, who think they need to throw a dragnet around American citizens with their Patriot Act. The way they act, it's like they are afraid of the American people as much as they are of terrorists. The American people are not the terrorists. The bogeyman is not around every corner."

Some things we can say back, depending on the situation -- be it a press conference, an argument with a dittohead, etc.

The main thing is to point out their "Siege Mentality."