Saturday, September 11, 2010

Remember That Time Terrorists Crashed Into Us?

It seems like just nine years ago I was waking up to a phone call about planes crashing in New York. It was 7am for me but already an hour or so into the nightmare for New Yorkers. My family sat in amazement in front of the tv as I explained to my three young boys that America was undoubtedly on the verge of war. I drove to work that morning in a daze and immediately brought Yahoo up on my computer when I got settled at my desk. At the time I worked with one other person in my office and we were glued to the internet and unproductive all day long. Stories of death, destruction, fear and terrorism filtered in on my screen all day long.
The Pentagon was on fire, a plane in Pittsburgh nosedived and every flying vehicle in America was grounded. President Bush was in transit after he finished his kids book and no one knew where he was for safety reasons. VP Cheney was in deep cover at the White House and the rest of us wondered what was next.
Later the towers fell and terror gripped New York as well as the rest of the country. Our symbols of finance and success were no more. Another nearby building fell and the stories of “Ground Zero” began to dominate every news station on tv. New Yorkers covered in drywall dust walked the streets like ghosts in limbo, unsure of what had become of their city.
We heard stories of heroism in the air and on the ground. Answering machine messages of lost loved ones were played over the news. Pictures of people jumping from the towers were aired and then pulled because they were too disturbing for the public to see. As a side note, don’t you think we’ve kept ourselves from reality in the news for too long. We can watch teenagers sleeping around with everyone and it is a pop culture phenomenon, but don’t let us see our true enemies and how awful they are.
On the evening of September eleventh 2001, lawmakers both Republican and Democrat stood together in Washington DC and sang together with American spirit, unified. President Bush vowed to bring out a can of whoop a** on any nation that supported terrorism. Families in New York searched for missing loved ones as those of us on the other end of the country bit our lower lip knowing that those people were most likely gone forever.
As I sit writing this blog entry I remember those awful feelings I felt for those lost that day. I remember the hopelessness I felt for those murdered in the planes and in the buildings. I remember feeling for the wives and husbands who played those messages of their loved ones saying, “I love you honey, I won’t be coming home” or “I don’t know what’s happening here but I love you”. I guess what I don’t understand is why people so much closer to New York and the Pentagon don’t remember those things. Specifically I am referring to politicians. Do you realize that the man responsible for all of this pain is still free?
In a time of national crisis such as 9/11 and even a local tragedy like Columbine, national leaders stand up and talk about how important life is compared to anything else. They talk about America’s resolve and our spirit to keep going. Why then does nothing change?
Nine years after we were bombed with our own human projectiles, half the can of Whoop A** is still on the shelf, Osama is at large, thousands of our troops are dead and gone, people are out of work and losing their homes, criminals in disguise as bankers are prospering with our tax money after robbing us blind, and Republicans and Democrats are still bickering like kids over party lines regardless of what is best for the country. Thank God though that we took out Sadaam who had nothing to do with 911 that we know of for sure. We have installed major security protocols in airports yet illegals are being allowed across the border and being PAID to do it in the form of free medical and welfare. I kind of wish I had come over the border and wasn’t born here because the illegals have it better than I do. When someone like Arizona tries to do something about it they are condemned.
I didn’t go to college but in my opinion the other team is winning.