Hmmm. I wonder. I’m 42 now, male, not overly stressful job. Let’s figure I make it to 70. So that’s approximately 30 years. Guliani has apparently “sealed” his “papers” for 25 years. (Can he do that?) So it might be a close shave . . .

For the purposes of this essay, let us go on the assumption that there is MUCH more to the events of September 11th of 2001 then our current administration and the so-called “bipartisan” 911 commission has told us commoners.

Let us also assume that at least one of the deaths of either Missouri governor and Senate candidate Mel Carnahan and his son, et al (October 16, 2000 – private plane crash) or U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone and his family, et al (October 25, 2002 - private plane crash) were suspicious, having occurred 3 weeks prior and 11 days prior, respectively, to the elections in which they were candidates.

Let us further assume that the death – “suicide” - of Ray Lemme of the Florida Inspector General’s Office on July 1, 2003 – conveniently occurring in a motel just inside the next-door state of Georgia where autopsies are not mandated in such circumstances – is also suspicious. (Thanx Brad! - http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001243.htm careful of the pics folks – truly not for the faint of stomach.)

With all that, if even a 10th of the elements of the “conspiracy theories” (mind you, I’m not debating them here, merely allowing for all possibilities, and thus the quotation marks) relating to the events listed above are true, there is a HUGE MONSTER WITH AN ACCOMPANYING STOMACH-EMPTYING ODOR being just barely held back, CRAMMED behind the closet door of this administration and its tendrils of influence and threat. It is definitely taking more than one secret keeper to hold that monster in there. Straining shoulders and backs are pressed against that closet door constantly.

See, it occurred to me while my 13 year old son and I were watching Tuesday, April 11th’s episode of CBS’ “THE UNIT” (I cringe when they say the part at the beginning about “answering only to the president”) that SO MANY PEOPLE MUST KNOW THE TRUTH for even just that 10th mentioned above to be true. There are only so many human beings living on this earth that will hold secrets to themselves indefinitely. It just isn’t human nature.

Bottom line: If any of the “alternative” explanations are true, somebody will talk, somewhere.

I’ll fire these out in no particular order . . .

Eight mile debris field behind the final resting place of Flight 93, including an engine almost entirely by itself and almost entirely without wing parts. If it was shot down by presumably a heat-seeking missile and didn’t crash as a result of passenger interference with the hijacking, or a bomb from inside (which doesn’t fit the debris pattern) then at least two pilots, one base radio controller and one high ranking military brass know it. Can they have all held that all inside this long? If they were forced to send innocent fellow Americans, whom they are normally in the business of protecting, to their ends could they have all kept it to just themselves? They have spouses. They have fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters.

South tower came down (brought down?) first though hit second. Tons of dust. Seemingly controlled collapse. You know all the details. Even if we stretch our imaginations and grant that our own military did the explosives rigging themselves, it is a very specialized endeavor, to bring down a skyscraper into itself. That isn’t one of things on the list of training options in any of the military branches I know of. Demolitions yes, but controlled demolition of skyscrapers, no. The science of bringing down a tall city building in the midst of a bustling city is entrusted to one of a short list of professionals – such as the group hired to clean up the aftermath. (Say and isn’t it interesting that the pieces of steel debris were just that right size for their equipment to handle and stack and remove like logs – just like they apparently advertise their explosives expertise to accomplish?) So either a military team trained for months (years?) to wire the place up (ludicrous – ever watch the Discovery channel? this stuff is passed down through generations, or learned over many years of training, just like the art of killing oil well fires) or one of those pros did it. Same for both towers. In either event, they have spouses. They have fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters.

757 hits the Pentagon? Oh wait, that hole wasn’t big enough – was it? Ohhhh, right, the wings folded back like on some transformer toy and the plane parts vaporized while the bodies of the passengers remained intact enough to identify. I forgot. Somebody saw what hit that building. More than one somebody. Somebody made that something - that most likely wasn’t a 757 - hit that building. More than one somebody. They have spouses. They have fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters.

Sensing a pattern? If that monster is in there, he won’t keep origamied away in that closet forever. I am not a journalist of any sort. But, to sheepishly quote that most famous of television conspiracy theory series, “The truth is out there.”

Now admittedly it would seem that our pauper king sitting on his paper throne is currently watching his house of tissue melt in the rains of truth. (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.) But he has pulled off stunning bits of slight-of-hand before and I don’t believe we can count on those “rains of truth” exposing the skinny little worm shivering in his BVDs and Burger King crown as a foregone conclusion. We, someone, needs to look diligently for those little cracks in the wall of subterfuge. When found, we need to then get a fire hose and blast it open at full pressure. It will only take a few to make it happen.

Some of the secret keepers have talked to someone. Maybe part of this should be to appeal to those someones that the secret keepers have talked to, to implore their respective secret keeper to STAND UP AND TELL THE TRUTH.

Please. There are too many questions unanswered, too many inconsistencies. Too many lives at stake and too many lives already lost. I could see getting caught up in the rational. We understand the motives, even if we do not agree with them. If you secret keepers stand up and tell the truth, many of us will stand up ourselves and applaud you for the display of courage, many with tears in their eyes at the relief of finally hearing that truth. We know that the pressures to keep quiet are great. We understand that lives of loved ones may have literally been threatened. But this country needs to hear the truth. Fear and loathing in the US is not what you signed on for. Help us turn this massive vessel back on course. Our children will find another way to fuel their world.

Look at them secret keepers. Look at your children. Look at your families and friends at that next get-together. Think about them. Some of you are surely bursting with pain and guilt and may even be watching your lives crumble about you, watching your marriage fail, and your children forced to take sides as assuredly you will look the parent to blame. All due to your insistence on keeping the secrets. It will harden you into an empty stone shell. Stand up and tell the truth.

Stand up and tell the truth.

Ian Q McTafferty is a Husband of 15+ years, father of one teenager, a thinker, a survivor, an armchair philosopher, a voracious reader, a student of all cultures, and a firm believer in TOLERANCE, TRUTH, JUSTICE & PEACE.