Singer Darryl Worley asked Have you forgotten?
My fellow Americans and internet audience,
We are four years removed from the most deadly terror attack on our shores, the most dastardly deed since Pearl Harbor. We have fought two wars, liberated two nations from the firm grips of terror, reorganized many aspects of our government, and have been fortunate not to have been attacked since 9/11/01.
Remember what it was like after 9/11? The partisan bickering on Capitol Hill came to an end for a few days, even though the fever swamp continued to spew the hate of McChimperor ShrubbinBush. Hillary was arm in arm with Lott, Pelosi and Hastert both sang God Bless America and meant it. People beseeched the Lord for guidance, many churches saw surges in attendance as people asked for guidance.
Many postulated that this would set a new tone, that the politics of personal destruction were going to be wiped away, that there would be a new focus on issues and comity. Sweeping changes were made to our government, as hindering walls to communication were brought down, and we issued new directives aimed at getting terrorists before they got us, with the Patriot Act and other measures being approved by overwhelming majorities in both parties. It seemed that since the first time possibly since the start of the Korean War, we were going to be a unified nation.
Of course, that would not last. In the days and months that followed, the events were pushed from the airwaves to protect our sensibilities. We were told not to forget, but at the same time to get back to our lives. We were told that we should be vigilant, but to also not be paranoid. The media pushed images of islamofascists as simply revolutionaries, and did reports on how we were respnosible for their hatred. And soon, things began to have some semblance of normalcy.
The skies once again became full of airplanes, and the night was now lit up again with additional points besides the stars. Sitcoms went back on the air, the sports we love so much continued, as did the endless debates over which team was better. The pride we all felt in the firefighters, cops, and our military waned as the war went on. We soon were able once again to have that feeling of instant gratification.
Soon, with the images not there to remind us, and the media telling us how brutal the war is, and how our soldiers were brutalizers, we found ourselves desiring to have things return to a pre-9/11 mindset. Oh, sure, we remember the people who died and remember that there was a tragedy, but as far as keeping the fire of why we fight alive, that fire of wanting to protect ourselves and spread the blessings of liberty, well, we need to get that new copy of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. I would support the war, but killing is bad. I mean, like, so what if they hate us, why do we have to kill them?
There was no effort to educate Americans on why exactly we were fighting. There were no efforts made to encourage support of our troops. Grassroots organizatiosn sprung up, but they were quickly countered by the anti-military establishment with their deep pocketbooks. Instead of learning about America's virtue and heroes, we were taught about our enemies as victims of our oppression.
So, here we are four years later. Have we forgotten? Some have, to be sure. The HillRods, the Michael Moores those types, they forgot the day after. However, I think many Americans, quite simply, do not want to remember 9/11. They do not want to remember that we were attacked, and that the world changed forever. They want to blame inconveniences like security checks and the like on a paranoid administration, they still do not want to deal with the fact that there are those out there who want to kill us. Even as we say we do not forget, we still howl about hypothetical evils of the Patriot Act, when there have been no actual violations.
We have allowed people like Bill Maher and Al Franken and the MSM to dumb down this war to simply Osama bin Laden and terrorists. We do not want to remember that WE as a country after 9/11 wanted to go after Saddam at the same time as bin Laden, according to polls of the time. We don't want to remember what got us into this fight, that we became too aloof, too arrogant. We don't want to remember that we failed as a nation. We don't want to remember the sounds of the bodies.
However, the axiom remains. Those who fail to remember and learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. Here we are four years later, and has the tone changed? No, in fact it has gotten worse. The fever swamp stepped up with their pocketbooks and now hold a once venerable party hostage. They don't want to remember 9/11 because it represents a failure of the world they had forged. It was their philosophy that saw terror as merely an aberration, a problem caused by us EVIL Americans. It was their philosophy that gave aid to enemies of the country. So, they did not want us to remember that this terrible tragedy happened. Because, a unified America is dangerous to the fever swamp left.
A united America, like we had on 9/11, no longer saw us as black and white. A united America, like in the days after 9/11, did not hate each other due to income. A united America did not hate people because they believed more fervently or less fervently in a God. A united America did not believe the worst of its country, even though three have been dark spots in our history. All of these things are dangerous to the fever swamp extreme Left, like Mikey Moore, Dr. Dean, and the like.
No, we mustn't remember 9/11, unless we are saying it was Bush's fault, or in reference to saying we should never have gone to war in Iraq. We can not be allowed to remember 9/11 as a time when we banded together, a time when we realized we must call evil by its name.
To remember 9/11 as anything more than Bush's fault implies that we can grow, that we can indeed bring liberty, that we can have hope. Remembering those heroes for what they were, heroes, tells us that there is something great in the spirit of Americans and our freedom. And we cannot do that, because then the notion that we must be hampered by the bonds of obedience of liberalism do not hold so well. The self-deprecation and self -flagellation of modern liberalism will not work then.
We don't want to remember 9/11. It is hard to. It is difficult. It brings back painful thoughts, even hateful thoughts. It requires us to look at our moment of weakness, to see how far we were, how far we have come, and how far we have still to go. It requires us to remember that while battles have been won, the war goes on. We have to remember that we are not safe, not even tucked away here in Ohio. We have to remember that we cannot let someone else be responsible for us. And that takes lots of effort.
And that brings us to the big question: are we willing to remember 9/11 as we should? Are we willing to remember it as a day that we learned we are not safe, that we must be ever vigilant, or do we choose simply to look at it as we often do Memorial Day, another day off and a day to fly the flag and maybe have a get-together? Do we take responsibility for remembering this day and learning from it, of holding it in the proper regard, of striving to honor the memories of those who were murdered; or do we mire ourseleves in partisan hackery, violent video games, dividing tatics, on the politics of personal destruction?
Or, do we look to the hopefulness of September 12th and those first few months? A hopefulness, a pride in our ability to come together? A guiding pricniple of not letting ourselves be taken in...Which shall it be? And will it take another 9/11 to bring us back together? If we take what has gone on in the wake of katrina, signs are not good. However, there is still hope. It is not too late. WE can recapture that sense of togetherness. All we have to do is think about thsoe 349 first responders. Think about flight 93. Think about the heroes that day, and the words of our leaders. Think on the great principles that founded this nation. Of course, to do that, we must acknowlege our goodness, and step out of the box of self-loathing that we are taught in college and other places.
Never forget 9/11. Don't let those people have died in vain.
