On August 6 and 9, 1945. After six months of intense firebombing of 67 other Japanese cities, the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6, 1945, followed on August 9 by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki. These are to date the only attacks with nuclear weapons in the history of warfare.

In Remembrance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

When the bombs were dropped I was very happy. The war would be over now, they said, and I was very happy. The boys would be coming home very soon they said, and I was very happy. We showed ‘em, they said, and I was very happy. They told us that the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed, and I was very happy. But in August of 1945 I was only ten years old, and I was very, very happy.

The crew of the B-29 was so young and heroic, and in the photo they also looked very happy.  For some reason, I clearly remember the name of the pilot, Paul Tibbets. Of course I remember the name of the plane, the Enola Gay.  And oh yes, I remember the name of the bomb.  It was called Little Boy. That made me smile.

I was so proud to be an American that day because we had done something so remarkable. They said we were the first. We were Americans. We were powerful.  But they didn’t say that Little Boy had killed 66,000 people with its huge fireball that fateful day in August. They didn’t say that Hiroshima was not a military target, but a city filled with men and women and children and animals who had no idea they were about to die so horribly.  When you’re ten, they don’t always tell you everything.

I don’t think anyone made as big a fuss over the second plane, or its crew. Are they even in the Smithsonian?  Second best doesn’t count, I suppose, but I remember wondering why they had done it again. Wouldn’t the war be over anyway, like they said? Weren’t the boys coming home very soon? Hadn’t they already showed ‘em how strong we were in Hiroshima? So they told me that the second bomb was called Fat Man, and that made me smile.

So I was even prouder to be an American that second day. They said this would be the end for sure, and after all, these people were the enemy and you kill the enemy when you can. But they didn’t tell me that Fat Boy had killed 39,000 human beings with another fireball on another day in August. They didn’t tell me that Nagasaki was not a military target, but a city filled with…well, you know. They didn’t even tell me that there were horses trapped in the flames of Nagasaki, because I loved horses and that would have made me sad. But when you’re ten, they don’t tell you everything.

Today I’m no longer ten, and I am no longer happy when bombs fall. And the names Fat Man and Little Boy no longer make me smile because I now know the devastation and horror of burned bodies and twisted metal that result from the mushroom clouds. And I am ashamed that on this day Americans don’t stop to remember what was done. And I am horrified that my government has just killed thousands of defenseless men and women and children and animals who were not the enemy, and that the silence of America is deafening.

Today, I am so very sad that many young people don’t even know about the Enola Gay and the mission of its crew. And I am so terribly ashamed that the war we have just waged has been so devoid of the reality of death and pain. They haven’t told us about the thousands of civilians they have killed. They haven’t shown us the devastation they have caused. They withhold the true numbers of our own military who die each day. They never mention the hundreds who have been terribly wounded. War is surgical and sanitized, they tell us, and a very effective way to liberate people. They speak to us as if we all were ten.

George W. Bush is not ten. He has announced to the world that he, as the leader of this great nation, has the right to use nuclear weapons once again. This time, he says, he has the right to char men and women and children and animals if he “suspects" their leaders of being a threat to us. He is not ten. He really isn’t.  Then why is he so very happy?  And why, please tell me, is he still smiling?

Today, Chris Matthews continued his ongoing canonization of Tim Russert. Early in this evening’s Hardball show, Matthews repeated a segment of his original tribute to Russert’s career. By doing so, he either shamelessly established Russert as a leading 9/11 gate keeper or a blithering idiot. I strongly suspect the former.

Of all the endless possibilities, Matthews chose to memorialize Russert for some uncanny and privileged insight into the truth about what happened on September 11th. He wanted us all to know that

“[Tim Russert] knew on that horrid morning of September 11th that the hijackers had grabbed the transcontinental flights because they’d have enough fuel to melt the girders of the World Trade towers.”

Wow, just like that, on the morning of 911, Tim Russert KNEW the motivations of a whole group of incinerated hijackers. That’s really fantastic. He also KNEW the planes had enough fuel to melt the girders of the World Trade towers. He just KNEW the temperature of burning jet fuel, and he KNEW the melting temperature of steel. Tim Russert was not only a mind reader of the dead, but an undeclared expert in aviation practices and thermal physics. I’m impressed.

But I’m also outraged. Real or imagined hijackers aside, there are a myriad of questions that still remain answered about 9/11. In this article, I will address ONLY TWO. My purpose is not to delve into the mountains of evidence that have utterly decimated the nonsense in the official story of the attacks and the fairy tale known as the 9/11 Commission Report. That can be done by any one with the ability to use a search engine on the Internet.

My intent is to put to rest the notion that Tim Russert KNEW anything before or after there was any pretense of investigation by anyone. I also want to to illustrate how Matthews' commentary effectively thwarts the attempts by the 9/11 Truth community to expose the truth or even raise the vital questions about what happened on that day.

For the record, let's look at the Russert quote with some sense of reality.

For starters, in relation to the Russert quote, there is significant controversy about how much fuel would have been on board either 767 on that fateful morning. One theory that bears serious consideration has been outlined by people with far greater scientific credentials than Tim Russert. Here’s the counterpoint:

Since the aircraft were only flying from Boston to Los Angeles, they would have been nowhere near fully fueled on takeoff (the aircraft have a maximum range of 7,600 miles). They would have carried just enough fuel for the trip together with some safety factor. Remember, that carrying excess fuel means higher fuel bills and less paying passengers. The aircraft would have also burnt some fuel between Boston and New York.

So much for Russert’s unsubstantiated knowledge of the use of aviation fuel.

Second, there is considerable challenge to the claim that jet fuel from the 767 could cause the collapse of either of the Towers. Even at the maximum possible temperature a jet fuel could reach at combustion, there is serious question that a 767 aircraft could melt 96,000 tons of steel, and crumble 14,000 cubic foot concrete slabs between floors into dust particles. That becomes even more enigmatic when you consider that the pool of fire created by the impact of the planes was consumed in less than five minutes.

Perhaps Tim Russert knew something the rest of us do not, but I wonder why did not KNOW why the clever ‘hijackers’ opted against using the larger 747, with its greater fuel load. As it stands, we, too, will never know.

So, there goes any confidence in Tim Russert’s knowledge of thermodynamics.

Chris Matthews insists that Tim Russert knew things simply ‘because new them.’ Now there’s a credible reason for stating that he KNEW what has never been truly investigated or in any way corroborated about the events of 9/11.

This evening, the official nonsense fed to the public about the attacks of that day was reinforced in spades. Chris Matthews used Tim Russert’s passing to elevate the man’s credibility beyond challenge by the average American. That leaves a huge burden on those of us who know that all has been smoke and mirrors, and that nothing we have been told about 9/11 by anyone in the government or the mainstream media is true.

And that is why I took the time to write this article. I could not sit by and allow Chris Matthews to slide this lie past the public, unnoticed.

Ironically, in his tribute, Matthews also compared Russert to Tom Sawyer. That’s interesting, because one thing we all associate with Tom Sawyer is the term ‘white wash,’ Tom conned his friends into white washing a fence. That was harmless and innocent.

But using Tim Russert to help white wash the truth about 9/11 is neither harmless nor innocent. It is the calculated work of a complicit corporate gate keeper.