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'Tis the season when retrospectives and commemorations of the events of Sept. 9, 2001 will be upon us. I tried to think of something cleaver, insightful, interesting, unique and entertaining to say – something emotionally laden to bring comfort and solace to those who lost a loved one, something grand about America so we can get out there and wave the flag, something profound that all the critics would love. That was the goal, anyway. But I couldn't seem to focus on any one idea.
One beautiful fall day when all seemed right and normal in the world, out of the blue came three aircraft that left death and destruction in their wake. So many lives lost, lives of ordinary Americans and fellow citizens of the world who were just going about their daily business and lives of the heroes who put their own lives on the line to save the lives of others?
Should we remember and celebrate the outpouring of charity that Americans offered to the survivors of the attack?
Should we recall the high regard in which civil servants -- public health workers, policemen, firemen, and others -- were held for the briefest time before America once again turned its back on the people who are the strength that enables America to endure and once again turned to the rich and powerful for understanding and guidance.
Should we remember the vigils and impromptu memorials held around the world? Vigils that served to let American's know that our tragedy and our sorrows were felt in other places, too. Vigils that served to remind Americans of the many times that Americans were there when other peoples needed assistance in time of calamity. Memorials that served to remind Americans that not only were the lives of Americans lost that day, but the lives of people from dozens of countries around the globe.
Should we remember how people of so many diverse faiths, and no faith at all, came together in solemn ceremonies to pay tribute to the too-young dead and to the heroic living?
Should we remember the TV commentators and talking heads that spent much of the first three days after the attacks sending the message around the world over and over again that we should "nuke 'em," just as soon as we figure out who " 'em" is?
Should we remember the talk radios blaring incessantly that we should "bomb Afghanistan back into the Stone Age," even though that had been done long ago by others?
Should we remember the flags and the prayers that so many so publicly displayed, all the while talking about how "now that we are at war, we will have to give up some of our liberties," meaning someone else will have to give up his liberties so that I can be reassured?
Should we remember the unelected President who vowed to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, that the unelected President himself defined success for his mission has the capture or killing of Osama bin Laden?
Should we remember the unelected US President declaring war on terror, a war without end? How do you declare war on a method of fighting?
Should we remember the targeting of "Arab looking" and Muslim Americans for harassment by other Americans?
Should we remember the unelected US President declaring that "those who are not with us are against us", that no one can remain neutral in this war?
Should we recall the insistent calls for assassinations of any foreign leaders the US doesn't like? Do the people making such demands also believe that other governments have the right to assassinate our political leadership if our leadership is not to their liking?
Should we remember that the first pigs to the government trough were the airline companies asking for a bailout?
Should we remember what the government did to ameliorate the situation of those who were unemployed due to the disaster? It is easy to remember what the common people received: Nothing or maybe, better, the back of the hand.
Should we remember the USA PATRIOT Act, passed by both houses of Congress before it was even read by most members? A law that, upon deeper reflection, Senate Majority Tom Daschle himself claims gives the President dictatorial powers.
Should we remember how in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, the unelected President abrogated 25 years worth of nuclear weapons treaties so that he could pressure Congress into appropriating money to develop a Star Wars anti-missile system? The consensus of leading anti-terrorism experts is that a nuclear weapon will not come to America on a missile, but in the cargo area of a ship or on a truck or a train.
Should we remember that the current resident of the White House has "unsigned" international treaties dealing with Biological and Chemical Weapons?
Should we remember how Congress was railroaded into appropriating funds to develop a miniature nuclear weapon, to help the American people get over their squeamishness in using nuclear weapons?
Should we remember that there are less people safe-guarding nuclear power plants today than there were a year ago?
Should we remember the US Attorney General, in sworn testimony to Congress, asserting that anyone who speaks against this Administration's policies is giving aid and comfort to the enemy?
Should we remember how death rained from the sky for so many Afghans who had already survived 25 years of war?
Should we remember that Al Queda is a "blowback" from foreign intrigues initiated during the Reagan and Bush I years?
Should we remember the American soldiers who died in Afghanistan, killed by many of the same people our government supported in their fight against the Soviets a decade ago?
Should we remember the anthrax attack on two Democratic Senators, Daschle and Leahy? Why were high-level White House personnel taking the drug Cipro, the drug of choice against anthrax, when the anthrax attack occured? When, if ever, will the FBI make an arrest in the case?
Should we remember how vulnerable to attack Americans felt -- almost vulnerable enough to come to understand that we will reap what we sow and if we sow injustice and death in the world, it will come back to haunt us?
Should we remember the unelected President and other Republicans stuck the labels "disloyal" and "unpatriotic" on any person who believes that it is necessary to have a complete investigation to determine what went wrong with America's trillion dollar intelligence agencies so that the problems could be fixed?
Should we remember the unelected President's claim that American citizens could be tried in secret military courts?
Should we remember the Attorney General's claim that he has the right to indefinitely detain any person who is suspected of terrorist sympathies, that such persons have no right to council, no right to know the evidence against them, no right to know what crime, if any, they are charged with, no right to a fair and speedy trial, no right to a face their accuser in court?
Should we remember the vociferous calls to "torture" suspects to "find out about" other potential terrorist activities?
Should we remember that the Bush Administration promised to bury the Taliban in a carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs, whichever it took to get the Taliban to sign an agreement for an oil pipeline through their country? Should we remember that one of the first acts of the government installed when the Tailban were driven from power was to sign an agreement for such an oil pipeline?
Should we remember the dreadful silence of the normally vociferous Religious Right when confronted with the above acts? – the same people who pray each week to God for God to "forgive my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me," the same people who claim Jesus of Nazareth as their guide, the same people who believe that the greatest law of God is to "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind and to love thy neighbor as himself."
Should we remember that the intelligence agencies had sufficient information and sufficient warnings that something big was going to happen that they should have been able to thwart the actions of the terrorists?
Should we remember how the Republican Congress fought tooth-and-nail to keep airline safety legislation from passing?
Should we remember that little or nothing has been done to make America less vulnerable to future attacks?
Should we remember the mini-scandal about big corporations relocating their headquarters, on paper at least, to offshore havens to escape paying income tax, leaving you and I to pick up the tab for defending their persons and property?
Should we remember the unelected President's call for American's to support the war effort by getting out there and shopping until they drop?
Should we remember the President's call for shared sacrifice in this war by asking for another tax cut for the wealthy, the one segment of the American people who stand to profit from this war?
So many of those ideas have been buried in the revelations of the past six months – revelations of massive corporate greed and political corruption, both at home and abroad. Enron, world.com, Arthur Anderson, Harken, Halliburton, the Texas Rangers, Cheney's Energy Commission's secrecy and ties to the oil industry, etc., etc.
How does our unelected President propose to commemorate Sept. 11, 2001? By invading a country that has not attacked us, had nothing to do with the events of 911, but sits on a whole heap of oil. Yet, statesmen the world over have warned Bush that to attack Iraq will "open the gates of hell." But, according to Bush, he has already made up his mind, it is not a matter of if we attack, it is a matter of when we attack.
I think of 911 and I weep.
I weep and a resolve comes over me.
I resolve to do all in my power to make these immortal words ring around the world, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . . ."
I resolve to make the US Bill of Rights and the UN Declaration of Human Rights mean something.
I resolve to demand that my government honor those human rights, not only in their dealing with the American people, but in their dealings with visitors to our shores, in their dealings with governments around the world, and in their dealings with the many diverse peoples who inhabit the globe.
I can think of no better tribute to offer to those who died, to the once-again-forgotten heroes of the day, and to those who opened their hearts in time of calamity.
In case you fail to understand where my concern comes from, here are some links to various stories about events in response to 911. These links were all accumulated in the last couple of weeks. I'm sure if I went back to old Headline News pages here at Sunshine for Women, I could find many, many more links.
sunshine@pinn.netCopyrighted, created and maintained by Sunshine, 2002. You have Sunshine's permission to copy and disseminate this document as long as it is attributed to Sunshine and Sunshine's URL appears on the document.
last updated Sept., 2002
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