Remembering 9/11 Eight Years Later...

There are still empty chairs at the breakfast and dinner tables.

There is still a gaping hole in Manhattan, and in so many hearts and souls in America.

We are still healing.

In our healing, we have become divided. We have let the power-hungry manipulate us into buying their snake oils and their magic youth formulas. We have let the government group us into small categories and let the opposing side rip us to shreds for our beliefs.

We are a divided nation. The more divided we become, the more hatred and vitriol we share for our own people, the more the murderous bastards have won. They are winning the psychological battle against America because we let politics and personal agendas take over. We let them win because we refused to tell the people we elected to, "Shut the hell up!," and kick them out of office. We let our own government divide us.

On September 11, 2001, we stood in horror...in anger...in shock. On September 12, 2001, we got down on our knees as a nation and asked God for the strength and wisdom to deliver justice. That same day, we, as a nation, got off our knees, dusted ourselves off, and got to work. We united as a country to do everything we could to prevent this attack from repeating itself. We were the UNITED States of America, a nation determined to right the wrongs of the immoral attacks inflicted on innocent civilians.

For six weeks, Old Glory flew high on every home, on every street, in every city, town, or suburb in America. We weren't straight or gay, black or white, rich or poor, left or right...We were AMERICANS. For six weeks we were the greatest nation on Earth, full of angry, hurt, and fortified Americans. For those six weeks, the terrorists had lost the psychological battle though they had won the physical battle at that point.

Here we are, eight years later. Gaping holes still within the hearts of so many people who lost so much in 100 minutes on a gorgeous September Tuesday morning. The hole in Manhattan is still open, like a nagging injury that still hasn't healed. And there is a gaping hole in the hearts, minds, and souls of Americans.

For six weeks, we were unified, together, and we were brothers with one creed and one loyalty. What happened? Why did we stop caring about the nation and the future? Why did we decide that our needs here and now were most important?

Now, we are 600 million strangers with our own agendas. We let the mouthpieces in Washington divide us on a daily basis. It is a sad way to pay tribute to the people on Flight 93, the men and women in the Twin Towers and The Pentagon, and the brave firefighters and police officers who perished on that terrible morning. We have disgraced them. Their sacrifice has gone in vain...

But it doesn't have to be that way.

If you will take a pledge to read the US Constitution, then read the Declaration of Independence, then read Thomas Paine's Common Sense, and then look with pride at the red, white, and blue American flag, and then look at the people on your left and your right, and look at them as your brothers and sisters in the struggle of being American...if you will do all those things, then remember how you felt on 9/11/01 at around 11am, then we will be better off. If we will remember what it is that makes America great, and remember that despite her faults, America IS a great nation, we can turn it around.

America IS a great nation. If you don't believe that, France is wide open. Buy a one-way ticket. Enjoy the riots. It is time we started remembering that we are in a great nation. We are free people. We need to appreciate the freedoms we have, and, more importantly, remember and thank the people who protect those freedoms and rights. It is time to cut out the petty garbage and grow the hell up. It is time to appreciate what we have.

Today, on 9-11-09, it is time to remember. Remember everything. Remember Todd Beamer. Remember the firemen who ran up the stairwells of the Twin Towers, but never came out. Remember the empty chairs that so many families will witness at dinner tonight. Remember what America stands for and forget the garbage and politics. There is one thing we can do to honor the men and women who suffered and died on 9-11. We must re-unite and become a strong nation. Stop pointing fingers and stop blaming Bush or Obama or whomever. Do your part.

Honor and remember the freedom fighters who died eight years ago today. Let's unite as Americans PERMANENTLY.