I wrote this post last year. I could have written parts of it yesterday:
Today is September 11 – obviously. Six years since what we have just started calling “The Attacks”. For some reason I was thinking about this last night, and wondering if anyone was going to do some big commemorative type posts. Apparently that’s only done on years that can evenly be divided by 5.
Anyway, I was thinking last night about the fact that it has been six years. Six freaking years. And yet… we’re still in Iraq. We’re still being told that this decision and that decision is all done because “we better not forget 9/11!”
Sadly, I found myself thinking last night about how horribly things have gone wrong in the last six years. I found myself thinking that maybe, despite all the flag waving and vigils and really great songs about standing together… “the terrorists” have in fact won. In some ways.
Do you remember after 9/11 when the president stood up and said that if we let them change us, change who we were, change our way of life… that “they” would win?
I do. And I remembering being afraid at the thought of how quickly people would toss away their civil liberties in the name of fear.
I look around now and realize that those attacks have changed this country, in many, many ways. In ways I am not proud of.
Do you remember a time when there was no such thing as a color coded terrorist alert system? Do you remember when “The Terrorists” made you think of that time at the Olympics when masked men held people hostage… and not of some ominous army that was “out there” waiting to “strike” at any moment? Do you remember when people joined the military for college money, and no one begged them not to go? Do you remember when people were open about what a horrible job Bush was doing, and no one said it made them weak or unpatriotic – and no one in a million years would have believed that we’d elect him AGAIN?
Do you remember when the Constitution meant something? When we fought over things like Health Care and Social Security and the future of OUR country – and no one was a freedom hating Nazi if they disagreed with you?
I remember. I remember when we were not afraid. I remember when I was slightly embarrassed by our arrogant tourists, rather than ashamed of our arrogant politics. I remember when we felt like we had a say in our government… when the government was BY the people and FOR the people – or at least a hell of a lot better at maintaining that illusion.
I remember that. And while I cannot forget the images from September 11, 2001 – I also cannot forget how we all promised one another that we would not let this beat us. How we as a nation were better than that, as a people we were stronger than that.
And yet, it seems, we were wrong. I don’t know that I’ll go so far as to say that “they” won – or are winning. But I do think we’ve gone a hell of a long ways towards beating ourselves. I don’t even know if we ever really fought. We’ve surrendered, as a whole – to a tyrannical government, to fear, to brow beating “patriotism”.
I can’t help but think that six years after Pearl Harbor this country would have had a lot more to be proud of – a lot more worth “remembering”.
As I reread this post last night, I realized that while there are parts that still need to be said today, there are also things that we HAVE moved beyond.
And not because of our government or our leaders. But because we, the people, have decided to start changing the dialogue.
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Posted in Serious Discussions - Politics, Religion, Society Tagged: 9/11, politics, September 11, terrorist attacks
You fucker. You stole my idea! And, of course, I agree with you completely.
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:clap: :clap:
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I was busy being pregnant last year, and didn’t write a 9/11 post, so I wrote one tonight, that’ll be recycled next year. :yawn:
Great Post. Heading to stumble ya!
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I am possibly the most left-wing liberal on the planet. I believe, however, that the events of September 11th 2001 have helped to demonstrate why we are the greatest nation history has ever known. Our President is pathetic, our legislature is politically pussy-whipped, our rights are being raped and denied, our economy is retching in defeat, and yet from the smoldering ashes of 9/11/2001 our nation is doing what it does best: we are defiantly rising up, out of the shit, and redefining, recreating, and reasserting our dominance of thought, and philosophical independence. Yes, some shit has gone wrong since that date. Yes, our leadership has stumbled. Yes, there have been many travesties perpetrated at our own hands since that fateful day, but we are cleansing ourselves of those mistakes, and hopefully the dignity of the presidency will be restored in November. September 11th, 2001 should be marked as a milepost in our history, as a turning point where we veered from our path, and eventually steered back to the greatness of who we are and can be.
Sorry for writing a post in your comments.
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Britt, Nice post. You may already know about this quote. It was said by Hermann Goering a leading Nazi in world war II. It still seems to work now.
“Naturally the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
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I think fear does have a way of blindsiding people momentarily. My sister lives in North Carolina and I remember how terrified she was after the attacks. She would have signed up for anything if it meant strengthening homeland security. She was not a Bush supporter before the attacks but she was afterwards. She still supports the war in Iraq as a way of ensuring ‘freedom.’ It freaks me out to see this in print because she was completely left-wing prior to 9/11. I still can’t believe how much she’s changed. An unfortunate legacy of such a tragic event.
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All the pretty memorials in the world mean nothing if we, the people, do not do the actual remembering. I tire of fat politicians using 9/11 for their own gain, and long for when we would pull together and remember what freedom really meant for us and to us.
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Since I am new to your site, this was not a re-run. Thank you for repeating it. I appreciated reading it.
The world is different than it was seven years ago. In some ways better, in some ways worse; in some ways safer, in some ways more dangerous. But, though it isn’t perfect, it continues to change, to adapt, to evolve and develop an understanding about the nature of the situation (“the situation” being the existence of an anti-western group that is willing to go beyond traditional war tactics to defeat its enemy). Eventually, I believe, the world will figure this out. I have no idea how, but I believe it will.
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Well said sugar. Well said.
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:rock:
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How long were we in Germany after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor?
How long were we in Korea after the Korean War?
But you are right. They won. We gave away our freedoms in the name of security.
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Nobody, I didn’t realize that Osama bin Laden was a country! Thanks for the clarification.
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The saying above was from me. I am not anonymous,as far as I know….
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@avitable
I said NOTHING about Osama bin Laden. Britt was saying that we’ve been in Iraq too long. I’m saying that once we go to war we generally stick around for a LONG time.
Osama does not equal Iraq. But a lot of people want to believe that. Iraq was financing what Osama was doing, they were aiding terrorists. Saddam himself was a terrorist to his own people.
I’ll grant you this, we should have focused more on Osama and AlQaeda (however the fuck you spell it) before worrying about Iraq. Going into Iraq was probably not the best move. But lots of Dems in congress seemed to agree (and voted!) that we should go there, before they decided that we shouldn’t.
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Nobody, you are right. I think that our occupations of Germany was a bit more reasonable because they, as a country, attacked us. In Iraq, however, they didn’t do anything to us.
I agree, too, that everyone overreacted and decided to act without thinking when they agreed to this war.
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Avitable>, excellent point about Iraq, but I think that since we went in there and made a mess, we need to help them put the pieces back together again. I’m not sure if we are helping in that process or making things worse. It seems to depend on who you ask.
I also agree with you that we did overreact by attacking Iraq. I think what Bush wanted was to finish what Bush Sr should have done in the first Gulf War.
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He was just hoping that it would be over as quickly and painlessly as Bush Sr’s war was.
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It’s amazing how things have changed since that day. I still remember how people came together across the US at that time, people helped others they’ve never met, some risked their lives to do so. When I think about the changes that have happened since then, THAT’S the first one that comes to my mind.
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What’s up with the avatar by my name? That’s SO not me.;)
And I typed in my info wrong.
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I hate what some politicians are doing with the memory of that day. I was outraged when I saw the 9/11 video they played at the RNC. Reaching down and pulling my heart into my throat will not win you political points with me.
You’re right; any distance we’ve come in the past seven years is in spite of our leaders, not because of them.
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Here’s an interesting sidebar. My police officer husband went to work this morning with a “badge cover” over his badge. Basically a little black strip of mourning over his badge to show remembrance for those who died that day. It made my stomach turn. the fear and anger and grief came back. Powerful emotions that can be manipulated to do almost anything.
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“But because we, the people, have decided to start changing the dialogue.”
Scary, that we have to change of ourselves, and not with the assistance of leaders. ‘Wait, I have to catch up with them, for I am their leader!’
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:clap: well said Britt.
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I remember when we drove to Florida from Alberta, Canada, (for those of you who don’t know where that is, in Northern Alberta the Alaska Highway begins…..look at the map which shows Alaska in it’s rightful place on the continent (instead of showing it in a little box beside one of Hawaii superimposed on Mexico) ) It was two weeks after 9/11, and everywhere we went we encountered such welcome, with a feeling of coming together against the enemy. It was especially evident, when a man we met at Mount Rushmore thanked us as Canadians when we , during the Iran hostage crisis, rescued six American hostages by issuing them Canadian passports. (for which the official lost his job, by the way. He is a hero, far as I’m concerned!)
Anyway, I thought at the time “the terrorists have lost, because it only strengthened our bonds.” Now, we see how wrong that wonderful thought was.
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Look at the actual position of Alaska on the map of North America. Did I really hear Palin’s spokeswoman say, on CNN, when questioned about Palin’s position on polar bears being endangered, that in fact, it wasn’t the Alaskan polar bears, but the Canadian ones? Is there homeland security on the border of Alaska just for polar bears?
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From every terrible thing in life, hopefully something wonderful is born. I think that we, the people, are fully intended on making this our truth.
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I remember trying to walk downtown while each block was being barricaded, with nothing but helicopters, fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars going by. The first time I didn’t hear people and no one walked fast in downtown Manhattan.
I think September 11th was/is an excuse for many things: high oil prices, war, RFIDs, taking away civil liberties. It makes me angry just to think of it. And all of the people who hang out at “Ground Zero.” I understand you want to “connect,” but please go home. Many people have died on NYC streets and you don’t see memorials on every block. Sorry to sound insensitive but it’s the truth.
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I swear our society has some sick relationship with fear. It is so unbelievably pervasive in our society, and not just in regards to terrorist.
Here’s my dirty secret and I’ll say it because RAH! I shall not live in fear! I think part of this fear mentality is bleeding over into our children and this is why there is such a huge spike in the number of developmental disorders seen in children.
There. I said it. Crazy, I know, but it’s what I think. Raising a child who doesn’t fit the “norm”, I’ve seen, lived, and heard the fear. It’s hard to come to the other side of fear, but I’m doing it.
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I enjoyed the repost. I think you brought up some excellent points that are still true. We’ve been living in fear for too long. I think the elections have actually been a stimulus to get people talking & thinking critically about the effectiveness of the war.
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SciFi Dad has talked so much about you, I just had to come check your place out for myself!
What a beautiful post. Well said!
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:heartbeat:
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Good post. Just giving you comment love here. I’ve limited my controversial comments to Avitable’s blog today.
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I wrote a post yesterday with a similar bent.
sigh
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Really, really good post on this subject, Miss Britt.
Really good.
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