United We Stood

It is late in the evening on September 11th, 2008. I committed myself earlier in the day to watching some TV programs at night on the History Channel documenting the events of September 11th, 2001. Before leaving for work, I set up my DVR to record 2 or 3 different programs that were going to be aired throughout the day, and then I scrambled to work.

I remembered to put my flag up on the front of the house before I left. I've tried to do so every September 11th since the terrorist attacks. I decided on my way through my subdivision to count how many of my neighbors remembered to do the same. I looked up and down my block, and only saw flags flying at homes that have permanent flagpoles in their yards, which number around two or three along my street. No other houses anywhere were flying flags. Not a one.

I turned a few corners and hit the main street through my subdivision. Again, I looked up and down the street as I drove, and again I only saw flags flying on homes with flagpoles. I eventually found ONE single other house that had a flag on the front of the house like mine. Only one.

The impact of what this means should be quite apparent. I was absolutely outraged.

For all the talk back in 2001 about how we "...would never forget," it's clear to me that most of us have. I have not. And I never will. But it's clear that much of this country has already forgotten what happened to it in 2001. And it is shameful.

Even the morning radio show I usually listen to in the car while driving to work seemed to have a fading memory of that fateful day. Yes, the radio hosts did bring it up and talk about it for a few minutes when the time on the clock approached the same time that the terrorists originally struck back in '01. They shared some thoughts and a few brief memories. Then they moved on to the comedy bits that had been prepared for the morning's broadcast. I remember in years past, these same radio hosts spent a good portion of the morning every subsequent September 11th reflecting on the events of 2001. They had also observed a moment of silence at the tragic moment. No such moment of silence today -- just a live ad for cell phones from a major carrier.

Now, I'm not suggesting that every September 11th for the rest of our lives that we sit and wallow in misery all day and relive the horror. Certainly, we must move on. But there's a difference between moving on and putting something completely out of our minds simply because it's too painful to revisit. Shame on all of you who have forgotten, or have chosen to shut that day out of your minds because it's too inconvenient. It happened, and while it killed nearly 3000 people and affected countless others, just because it may not have directly affected you does not mean that you have the right to ignore it. In my mind, you have a responsibility to remember it. Because if you do not, you've done a disservice to all of those who perished that day. You've dishonored them.

I read an article/blog on CNN.com today authored by an American Muslim who claims that for the last seven years, he's been fighting to reclaim his religion from those who hijacked it in 2001. He has been chastised by people both inside and outside of his religion. He's been trying to spread a message of peace among his Muslim brethren, and has been trying to spread the word to outsiders that Islam is a religion of peace. He vigorously denounces terrorism to everyone. He considers himself a peacemonger.

I guess I would almost respect the guy if: A) I actually believed him, B) what he was preaching held any merit, or C) he had not spent so much time in his article whining about how much heat he's taken for his efforts. Deep down, I want to be heartened by his message. It would be nice to believe that Islam truly was a religion of peace. But he's gonna have to do better than to tell me that the word Islam itself means "peace". Sorry, not good enough. Not when messages of hatred and intolerance for Western culture are being delivered in mosques and madrassas everywhere. And yes, that means here at home too. The wise know that there are likely countless mosques across this nation denouncing it and its "evil" ways. I have news for those folks: I'm still proud to be an infidel.

I went about my work day today, and then settled in at home to watch some of the programs about 9/11. I began to watch a recorded program that was essentially a lot of re-enactments about various personal stories that were shared by survivors. It was interesting and powerful. But I wanted especially to tune in to a program aired at 8:00 called "102 Minutes That Changed The World". This program was a collection of video and audio recordings from many different people and sources around New York, and they were assembled in such a way that they followed the events in "real" time. The show had no narration whatsoever. It was simply the events of 9/11 as viewed from real people, and viewed in real time. No re-enactments -- everything you saw and/or heard was real. I watched this program as intently as I watched 9/11 on the news the day it happened. And it had the same profound effect -- I was crying all night. It was a gut-wrenching program. Everyone should watch it.

Why? Because it puts you right in the middle of the event. You experience it as it was experienced by people on the streets and in the buildings of New York on 9/11/01. It's unbelievable how many cameras were rolling that day in different parts of the city. And you experience the events as they did. People from all walks of life, doing different things, but all brought together by one common collection of thousands of tragedies. Everyone shared the same shock, horror, confusion, and sadness.

Now I'm not suggesting that it was "fun" to watch this and put yourself in the middle of what is arguably the worst tragedy this nation has ever faced. It was anything but fun. The show was graphic, for the most part uncut, and was very real. I've often pondered what a horrific scene New York must have been that day, and have never been able to get my mind around the magnitude of it all. Even having seen this program, it's probably only a fraction of the impact of the actual event, but it still brought me to tears. One of the most disturbing things to see were the video captures of people jumping from the towers to their deaths. The other image that really hit me was when someone with a camera wandered into one of the buildings near ground zero just after the towers had collapsed. The camera panned across the deserted building's lobby (filled with dust and debris), and there was what looked like a marble planter along a wall that was smeared with streaks and smears of blood. It was apparent that people in the building trying to evacuate had been injured, and were trying to feel their way along the planter to the exit doors. They left a trail of blood smears along the way, and likely didn't even realize it. The image was disturbing. Frankly, ALL the images were disturbing.

I remember in September 2001, and the months that followed, there was such a sense of unity in this country, and everyone was on the same page regarding what should happen going forward. Even people on the streets of New York in the video were calling for war and payback for this attack on our country, only minutes after the planes first hit. There were numerous citizens clamoring for war even before the towers fell.

Here we are, seven years later. We've been at war with terrorism all that time, except that now there is no longer that same unity of purpose. That commonality amongst all Americans seen in 2001 is completely gone. So many people in this nation don't remember WHY we are at war. Those people make me extremely mad. Those people should watch this TV program for a little "refresher course" on how we ended up at war in Afghanistan and Iraq. A little time spent witnessing the events of 9/11 should help put everything back in perspective.

Peacemongering is everyone's right, and it's a noble cause in itself. But there's a time for peace, and there's a time for war. The post 9/11 world is a time for war. Peace would be nice, and peace would be wonderful. But you must understand that there will never BE peace in the world with Muslim extremism running rampant. It must be stopped. We can be as nice as possible to Muslims world wide, and they will still hate us and want to kill us. You must remember that we are infidels to them, and infidels cannot be allowed to exist in their perfect world. Infidels are not to be tolerated in Islam, and like it or not, most Americans will always be viewed as infidels in the eyes of Muslims. Western culture is not welcome in Islam -- it is an affront to it.

America, it is vital that you never forget September 11th, 2001. We must learn from it and respond to it. This is why we are at war. Put down all of your "No Blood For Oil" signs, because it only shows that you were robbed of the education that you should have gotten. Or it shows that you have chosen to forget.

This week, I cracked open a new book. It is the 9/11 Commission Report. I have wanted to read it for some time, because I want to educate myself a little more about the events of 9/11. The book is a collection of facts all about 9/11, and recommendations on how to prevent another such attack going forward. I'm only a few pages into the book at this point, but I look forward to learning more about that day. And just as importantly, I want to see what their recommendations were. I'm willing to bet at least ONE of them involves stamping out extremism wherever we can find it. That entails warfare, whether you like it or not.

Shortly after 9/11, the phrase "United We Stand" could be found on banners, T-shirts, and signs everywhere. Nearly every house in every neighborhood proudly flew American flags as a show of solidarity. It's so disappointing to me now that we're nowhere close to being united in purpose in this country. I guess the trendy signs of today should read, "United We Stood". Our days of standing united are clearly over.

Meanwhile, my flag still waves alone....

Information Overload

Lately, I've been so immersed in the information overload coming from the world that I can't even organize my thoughts into blogs anymore. I have so much to get off my chest, but I don't even know where to start. I've spent more of my time lately becoming a vegetable in front of the TV set. I still catch up on news every day by reading CNN.com during my lunch break at work, and every day at lunch I get motivated to write about something or other later. Then I get home, exhausted as hell and completely brain-fried from all the chaos at work, and I can't even motivate to check e-mails anymore. Motivation has always been something I've struggled with in my life. I don't even know what to strive for in life anymore. I'm just kinda coasting. That being said, I don't have much to complain about regarding my life. I've got a roof over my head, my bills are getting paid, I've got a fabulous girlfriend, and I have my health (for the most part).

I've heard it said that "satisfied needs do not motivate." I think that about hits it right on the head. When everything's okay, it's easy to fall into a lull of comfort.

But enough about my life -- nobody wants to read that crap anyway. Allow me to make some brief comments about the world since I've last checked in here.

Joe Biden. Yeah, that dipshit Obama picked the king dipshit Democrat to be his running mate, Joseph Biden. He couldn't have chosen more perfectly to round out that fucked up ticket. Speaking of motivation, I can honestly say that the Obama/Biden ticket HAS truly motivated me to get to the voting booth in November and vote for the other party's ticket. At least there's some common sense over there. I have no clue where vascillating Obama is coming from, or where he think's he's going. I keep hearing him talk about change, but haven't heard much of a plan. Hope is not a plan.

Pervez Musharraf. Mr. Mush has finally decided to step down as Pakistan's president. It's about damn time. I've never liked or trusted that guy, and even though he's often portrayed as America's best ally in the war on terror, I feel that he's been everything BUT helpful in that struggle. He's been more than happy, however, to accept all of the billions of dollars in aid from the U.S. to help in that big struggle. Too bad there's nothing to show for it. I'm heartened to have heard that the U.S. has recently been conducting some raids and/or airstrikes on Taliban and/or Al Qaeda positions inside Pakistan's border. Sure, the Paks are pissed off about it, and claim we're "violating their sovereignty". I say, "fuck 'em" -- they'd better get used to it, because that's the only way we're gonna kick any ass in this war. We can't fight this war with one hand tied behind our backs all the time. Sooner or later, we're gonna have to wipe out all the assholes in Pakistan, since that's where all of our troubles are coming from. I don't recall seeing so much concern for the U.S.A.'s "sovereignty" when we were attacked on 9/11 by Islamic assholes from the Middle East. They had no trouble violating OUR sovereignty. Fuck 'em. Bomb the fuckers to dust. They'd have no trouble doing that here if given the opportunity. Just ask 'em.

Hillary Clinton. Yep, she lost the nomination. Who the fuck cares? She and Bill will now have time to work on their marital issues. Or not....

Sarah Palin. I LIKE THIS GIRL. She's got my vote.

John McCain. Johnny Mac's okay in my book. I'll have no trouble making him Commander-in-Chief. At least he's got a clue as to what that entails.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran. Yeah, I'm sure Iran means no harm whatsoever with their nuclear toys. Maybe all of you liberal peacemongers can convince me that Iran is a friendly and benevolent nation with nothing but the best of intentions for the world. Maybe all of you liberal peacemongers need to be the first to die within the blast radius of Iran's harmless nuclear toys. We should be so lucky. When Iran's president hints that Israel should be "wiped off the map," I don't think he meant taking an eraser to the world map hanging in his office, people. He was talking about nuclear annihilation. Wake up, dipshits.

Russia. So the Russkies got cocky in Georgia and reclaimed some lost turf. This is a dangerous situation that could get worse before it gets better. I hope cooler heads prevail in Russia here -- they're still a superpower in my eyes, since they still have the military infrastructure left over from the Soviet Union and the cold war era. That's a lot of muscle and hardware to be discounting. I understand our nation's stance on supporting Georgia's democratic goals, but I hope we don't do that at the expense of instigating another war -- this one, we aren't ready for. It would be a big and ugly one, making Iraq and Afghanistan look like cakewalks (which they're clearly NOT). I distrust Putin and his new croney, and I just don't understand what they're so afraid of from the U.S.A. We clearly don't want conflict with them, but they seem to be unable to grasp that. Some habits die hard, I guess. I suspect we're in for a new cold war going forward. Let's just hope it stays cold....

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Why is it that these pathetic organizations spend so much time denouncing the U.S.A., and never seem to harp on the atrocities being committed by Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and all their ilk? Heaven forbid they say anything bad about terrorists. They instead pick on the one nation that gives more aid to the world than any other. Yep, we're horrible people here. We pour water on someone's face to get some intel, but the enemy is busy torturing and beheading our soldiers, not to mention countless innocent civilians. It's amazing how neither of these supposed "do-gooder" organizations ever denounces those human rights violations. This is why I despise these organizations and give them no credit at all. I don't want these assholes looking out for MY human rights. Apparently, terrorists deserve more consideration and compassion than you or I do.

The Taliban. So it appears that Afghanistan is pissed off about recent coalition airstrikes having killed "scores" of civilians when trying to rout militants who have taken up hiding amongst these supposed "civilians". I wish I could say I felt bad, but frankly I don't. Insurgents wouldn't be able to move and sneak about so freely unless they had the help and blessing of the people around them. The people of Afghanistan have to choose a side. If they choose whichever side happens to be winning, or whichever side happens to be nearby, then they're not choosing at all. I know it's easy for me to say that from my cozy armchair -- I'm not the one who's got an AK-47 to my head. But I suspect these supposed "civilians" have more sympathy for their Muslim brethren than they do for American soldiers. And frankly, I find it astonishing that nobody is appalled by the fact that these insurgent assholes keeping employing this chicken-shit "human shield" tactic. They all talk so bravely about how unstoppable they are, and how Americans are cowards, but then they launch attacks from behind women and children. We can employ unreasonable tactics, too, like bombing the fuck out of you from thousands of feet in the air. Upset about that? Well, then come out and engage our troops like soldiers instead of panzies. Put up or shut up. If you want a fight, our soldiers would be happy to oblige. Come on out and fight. Won't do that? Then we'll bring death from above -- the fate you so readily deserve. Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out.

The Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN. Okay, so I read that to prepare for the RNC, the local government had to spend $50 million to beef up security and police presence around the convention. Why was this massive sum necessary? Because they knew that there would be a slew of supposed war protesters and peacemongers there. Wait a minute, these are people who oppose war and conflict, right? Then why is it that these assholes trashed the city of St. Paul with violence and fought like crazy with police? I thought these were peacemongers. I saw a picture of a bunch of these nimrods throwing up peace signs with their hands, while in the background their peers are destroying everything around them and lighting everything ablaze. I'm not seeing the logic here. Why don't all of these idiots direct their ire where it belongs? Direct it to our enemies abroad. Wanna vent? Join the military and pick up a rifle. Then you can get into the fray like REAL men and women, and do some good for the country while you're at it. I guess it makes more sense to shame your country by denouncing it and destroying it here at home. Too bad we can't just deport such assholes. Go ahead and burn our sacred flag. There's freedom of speech, and then there's abuse of it. There's a difference. It is unclear to me how a supposed peacemonger is illustrating his/her point when he/she is throwing a park bench through a storefront and lighting parked cars on fire, while throwing rocks and molatov cocktails at officers who are only trying to serve and protect. Seems to me like war protesters only protest conflict that they didn't get to participate in or instigate. Besides that, they seem to be perfectly amenable to inciting violence, conflict, and abuse of human rights. Keep throwing up your peace signs, but I know the truth: the "V" you're making with your fingers apparently stands for "violence". Hypocrits, one and all. You're all a sad lot, war protesters. So thanks to degenerates like that, our government had to waste $50 million on extra security and police. That money could have been used to fund our severely underfunded education system, or it could have been used for countless other good causes. Instead, anarchist peacemongers (yeah, I know that sounds stupid, but they are what they are) had to force the government to put that money into keeping them at bay. Pathetic. I flip off war protesters whenever I get the chance. There's a finger gesture that they should understand -- it's fairly universal in our culture.

Somalia. What a mess THAT place is. I hope our Navy vessels patrolling the waters off the coast manage to blast the shit out of all the little panzy pirates who keep wreaking havoc over there. I don't see a good solution for this region, let alone the continent upon which it sits. We've got our hands busy elsewhere in the region, and I hope we don't have to send troops back to that hell-hole again. At least not until we've cleaned up some other messes first.

Okay, so I think I've about petered out for this rant. And I know it was less than stellar in delivery, but please remember that I'm tired and unmotivated. It's a miracle I even got this much done. Maybe I'll be more inspired on the other side of the election. We'll just have to see.