Remembering What Today Is...

Each of the past six years, on the anniversary of September 11, 2001, I have posted a blog, either on MySpace, Xanga, or have written a newspaper column. In those columns, I have posted my support of the troops, President George W. Bush, the families and friends of victims of the attacks, and I have taken to pointing out the shortcomings of those that opposed President Bush in fighting the War of Terror.

I sit here, 7 years and 12 hours after the attacks commenced, and wonder. I wonder how different the world would be had the attacks never occurred. Where would we be? Would we be better off? Would we be worse?

We will never know, and there is no way to answer those sorts of questions. All we can do is play the hand we are dealt and hope to be able to guess what the other players are holding, and hope for what is yet to be dealt.

The hand we were dealt included a brutal attack on America and Americans, as well as many others representing nearly 100 other nations. That hand included a few, brief shining months of unity and respect for our own country, only to be followed by more division and vitriol than this country has ever had, including during the time of the civil war.

So, tonight, I only wish that the memories of the fallen might not be tarnished by continued hatred and anger and despisement of each other. I wish we would stop letting the TV tell us how to think. I wish we would continue to work for a better America by doing what is right, and not what sounds good in a 5 second soundbite.

WE cannot do that, though, because we have, overall, forgotten what happened in New York, PEnnsylvania, and Washington, D.C., that day. We have such ADD and a short term memory in this country. We have already blocked out and or forgotten everything this day means.

I ask...no, I plead with you, do not forget this day. Do not let the memories of the fallen go to waste. Remember the day. Remember the freedoms that those creatures tried to take away. Remember the fear they inflicted, and then do what you need to do IN SPITE of the fear and in spite of them.

America is such a wonderful, great country. We should not hurt our nation by forgetting the depth of the attacks on our country on 9-11-01.

In closing, I want to say thank you to the George W. Bush administration for not forgetting what 9-11-01 tried to take away from us, and making sure it did not happen again. I want to thank the men and women of the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement who have worked tirelessly, and sacrificing everything, to keep our country safe from attacks. I want to thank the families and friends who lost so much on 9-11-01 for being strong, and for carrying on their lives, showing that America can be knocked down to one knee, but, by God, we will rise again.

God bless America.