angelus
09-11-2003, 06:23 AM
Remember September
It’s that time of year once again. Funny, but usually when that phrase is uttered, it is a good thing. “It’s that time of year. You know, buying presents, decorating a tree.” Or, “It’s that time of year again. You know, sending the kids back to school.” (I threw in that last one for you parents out there.) But, this is the time of year when “that time of year” is not a good thing for us to remember. Well, the fact we remember is good, but the thing we are remembering is not. In fact, it is one of our darkest days, if not the darkest day, in our history.
Yes, my friends, I refer you to September 11, 2001. That day of infamy that is rivaled only by the events of Pearl Harbor. There was no way to know that something was coming on that day. There was no way to see what lied in our lives, both on a micro and macro level.
Yet, as this is easily the darkest day in recent history, it is also one of our finest. Now, this in no way is meant to glorify the attacks. It is meant, however, to glorify the spirit of the American people. America, on that day, proved to be immune to nothing, despite our status as the world’s last remaining superpower. We proved that we are as vulnerable to attack as any country.
And we also proved that one attack would not do us in.
On that day in 2001, the twin towers fell, as did the lives of many people. Many of us lost someone near to our hearts. Either a spouse, or relative, or friend. Some of us lost more than that. Some of us lost many people. And some of us lost the will to live.
But that was a fleeting moment. For once the dust cleared, we stood tall. We declared, in unison, that we would not go quietly into that good night. We told the world, in no uncertain terms, that we were mourning, but we were also going to kick some serious tail. We vowed to get the evildoers. And then, when the time was right, President Bush took action.
Have we caught Osama? No. But that does not constitute a failure. Rather, it only constitutes an incomplete task. It only becomes failure if we stop trying. And that, we will never do.
Some people may still be grieving. I was fortunate enough to not have lost someone in the attacks. But I know people who have lost loved ones. There were Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, and Liberals in those towers and Pentagon, and those airplanes. And that’s something that we can’t seem to grasp.
Those terrorists saw us all as Americans. They see us all as one, and we are all worthy of death. There is no white American, black American, Hispanic American to them. No, we are all just Americans. To them, we are all one.
So when are we going to see ourselves that way? True, we declared ourselves as one immediately following the attack, making that one of our brightest moments. But the smoke has cleared, and petty bickering has set in once again. More race and class warfare is being conducted in the war that is politics.
Please, America. Show the world that we can be one again. And don’t wait until another attack for that to happen. We scared the crap out of them when we united before. If we unite now, without an attack, how much more effective will we be when it comes to protecting ourselves.
Remember September, America, so that the evil of that month never has to happen again. We learned to wake up then, please don’t make Osama teach us to wake up again.
Tony Lemaster
TLemaster@yconservat ives.com
Chief Contributor our of Ohio
Young Conservatives
It’s that time of year once again. Funny, but usually when that phrase is uttered, it is a good thing. “It’s that time of year. You know, buying presents, decorating a tree.” Or, “It’s that time of year again. You know, sending the kids back to school.” (I threw in that last one for you parents out there.) But, this is the time of year when “that time of year” is not a good thing for us to remember. Well, the fact we remember is good, but the thing we are remembering is not. In fact, it is one of our darkest days, if not the darkest day, in our history.
Yes, my friends, I refer you to September 11, 2001. That day of infamy that is rivaled only by the events of Pearl Harbor. There was no way to know that something was coming on that day. There was no way to see what lied in our lives, both on a micro and macro level.
Yet, as this is easily the darkest day in recent history, it is also one of our finest. Now, this in no way is meant to glorify the attacks. It is meant, however, to glorify the spirit of the American people. America, on that day, proved to be immune to nothing, despite our status as the world’s last remaining superpower. We proved that we are as vulnerable to attack as any country.
And we also proved that one attack would not do us in.
On that day in 2001, the twin towers fell, as did the lives of many people. Many of us lost someone near to our hearts. Either a spouse, or relative, or friend. Some of us lost more than that. Some of us lost many people. And some of us lost the will to live.
But that was a fleeting moment. For once the dust cleared, we stood tall. We declared, in unison, that we would not go quietly into that good night. We told the world, in no uncertain terms, that we were mourning, but we were also going to kick some serious tail. We vowed to get the evildoers. And then, when the time was right, President Bush took action.
Have we caught Osama? No. But that does not constitute a failure. Rather, it only constitutes an incomplete task. It only becomes failure if we stop trying. And that, we will never do.
Some people may still be grieving. I was fortunate enough to not have lost someone in the attacks. But I know people who have lost loved ones. There were Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, and Liberals in those towers and Pentagon, and those airplanes. And that’s something that we can’t seem to grasp.
Those terrorists saw us all as Americans. They see us all as one, and we are all worthy of death. There is no white American, black American, Hispanic American to them. No, we are all just Americans. To them, we are all one.
So when are we going to see ourselves that way? True, we declared ourselves as one immediately following the attack, making that one of our brightest moments. But the smoke has cleared, and petty bickering has set in once again. More race and class warfare is being conducted in the war that is politics.
Please, America. Show the world that we can be one again. And don’t wait until another attack for that to happen. We scared the crap out of them when we united before. If we unite now, without an attack, how much more effective will we be when it comes to protecting ourselves.
Remember September, America, so that the evil of that month never has to happen again. We learned to wake up then, please don’t make Osama teach us to wake up again.
Tony Lemaster
TLemaster@yconservat ives.com
Chief Contributor our of Ohio
Young Conservatives