Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

The hostage start date had to have been before the 10/12/2000 bombing of the USS Cole, when an entire U.S. naval destroyer parked in a Yemeni port was defended by 2 sailors, each carrying unloaded pistols and carrying only two rounds each; rules of engagement demanded that the sailors not load and fire their pistols unless first being fired upon and then being given the captain's permission.

Next clue: women members of the U.S. military serving in Saudi Arabia (including fighter pilots) already had been sacrificed as hostages at least by the fall of 1990 (and perhaps earlier) when they were required to wear abayas (long robes) and cover their hair with scarves off base and were not permitted to drive or even sit in the front seat of ground vehicles. They were also required to be accompanied by a military man, who, if questioned by a Saudi Arabian, was instructed to identify the female service member as "his wife."

Days from 9/22/90: 7,373.

When Obama said, "I'm always worried about using the word 'victory,' because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur" on July 23, 2009 to ABC News.

The American public held hostage to a Kneejerk Guilt and Blame America Studies Prof in the White House: 495 days.

Dear Professor:

...the events of 1979 are where I trace this all back to and they have not been resolved. Iran has been at war with us (what part of "Death to the Great Satan" is unclear?) since the fall of the Shah and has been continually stirring the pot. The war was declared fair and square by these clowns and we have yet to wake up. The USS Cole is one of several unrevenged atrocities...does anyone even remember 200+ Marines in Beirut, or the embassy bombings (multiple) or the FIRST WTC attack? Or Daniel Pearl? Probably a dozen others, too.

The American public held hostage to a Kneejerk Guilt and Blame America Studies Prof in the White House: 495 days. brer rabbit

You forgot the word "Imbecile" @brer. "Emperor Hirohito" didn't come onto the deck of the USS Missouri to sign the surrender, it was his emissary.

Sorry, Professor, I think the date is 11/4/08, when the American people voted by a fair majority for this ObamaNation. The people didn't get the truth, the MSM lied, and we were sold down the river (how many metaphors did I mix there?!). They started forming their "transition team" before that, but that is the date that will live in infamy, IMHO. That makes it 756 days.

Spartan beat me to it:

November 4, 1979. It's a no-brainer. Without retaliation for taking the Iranian hostages, everything that has happened since is a direct result. When The Mullahs took Iran, it resulted in us supporting Saddam, whom we naturally had to depose because he was at least as bad. The Soviets don't invade Afghanistan if the Shah is still in Iran. No Taliban, no Osama. And you know the rest.

DinoRightMarie, I think that a more proper term would be "treason team", don't you?

And when will you get it through your head that it was the Germans that bombed Pearl Harbor?

As to what day it is, why don't we consult Ted Koppel. He is the expert on such things.

Personally, I think the count should be how many days till inauguration day. Unless impeachment intercedes, that will be the day we will be free of the fundamental transformer.

The 'held hostage' countdown officially started on or around November the 6th, 2008 when then President-elect Obama addressed some 'folks' from a podium bearing a not-before-seen 'Office of the President-Elect' seal...regardless of a 'Presidential Transition Act of 1963' that apparently made that possible, I found it highly irritating and presumptuous. 754 days and counting.

@Deekaman:

Thanks,I'm glad we agree, but the problem I have with picking a specific date is that the rot set in earlier. We were being told the Ayatollah was a "simple religious leader" and a peaceful man during the long drumbeat campaign to allow him to be released from French arrest and return home. I remeber the wails about how awful the shah was and how peaceful it would be when the sober religious man returned home. We ignored the French who didn't want to release him and suggested something should "happen" to him on the way home (as I remember it). We were taken aback and stunned by the sheer mindless violence of Ayatollah and his pals (including Ahmanutjob himself...) and we failed to support a sworn ally (the shah) in any way, instead condemning him, blaming ourselves and coming within an ace of handing him over. I may be crazy but I seem to remember we wouldn't even supply ammunition to his army or gas to his air force. We did nothing except some idle talk while tens of thousands were massacred and tens of thousands more fled. Then we diddled a while longer and THEN it was Nov. 4. What, 30 days or so later and the Russkies were in Afghanistan. So put me down for 1/1/79

Held hostage by our own government and its agents since 12/23/13 - with enactment of the Federal Reserve Act.

June 2007 when President Bush tried to push through sweeping changes to our immigration law, aided and abetted by John McCain, against the wishes of the conservative base. This allowed the liberal main stream media to push John McCain as their "approved" conservative candidate, thereby guaranteeing enough true conservatives to depress the election results in 2009, allowing this country to elect a know-nothing president. June 2007 put the nail in the coffin, for sure.

Or, what about this:

Kidnapping of U.S. Embassy Official, March 16, 1984: The Islamic Jihad kidnapped and later murdered Political Officer William Buckley in Beirut, Lebanon. Other U.S. citizens not connected to the U.S. government were seized over a succeeding two-year period.
THE BUTCHER'S BILL:
http://www.nevilleawards.com/butchersbill.shtml

Or we could just say it was the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928...

Or we could just credit Lucifer as the inspiration just like Saul Alinsky did in Rules for Radicals.

So many choices, so little time...

Professor:
You got a strong plug from Mark Levin on his radio show today! GOOD FOR YOU!!!

Steve
common cents
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com

How about when Pelosi and Reid took over the Congress?

when we gave women the vote.....

/white smoke

Sept 24, 2008, the day that McCain became a nonviable candidate for president, effectively handing the election to Obama.

From September 25, 2008 WaPo:

The White House meeting was in part the result of McCain's stunning pronouncement Wednesday that he would stop campaigning to return to Washington, where he had urged Bush to convene a summit to address the crisis. But for most of the afternoon, McCain has not visibly been part of the action on the issue. He was not present when House and Senate negotiators emerged from a two-hour meeting to declare success.

Here's another vote for 23 Dec 1913. Since that date our economic system has been devalued 97% to create 2 major world wars, one cold war, unending conflict for American young men (and now women), and destroyed the concept of free-market capitalism.

Hand's down, this is when the hostage (the American ideal) was taken; Stockholm syndrome became evident in 1932 and continues...

Since 1801 when Tripoli declared war on the U.S.. Or maybe we should take it all the way back to the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli.