Today is 9/11/2011, 10 years to the day from the moment of national disaster, national loss, and national attack. 9/11/2001 was a day of defeat for the US, fully as bad as Pearl Harbor Day. I unite with those who remember this day.
I will never listen to another 9/11 memorial again.
We were attacked on 9/11 by a bunch of lucky lunatics. They were not a force that attacked our country. Rather, they launched a small attack using a very effective tool, the jetliner, filled with fuel. They converted a method of transportation into a method of attack, and this was a re-imagining of evil genius of Usama bin Laden, clearly a military leader of great talent and effectiveness. Never in the history of the world has a single small group, led by a single individual, had such an effect on another country. UbL cost the US probably $100 billion dollars, at a minimum.
This day of disaster was a moment that the US failed. We failed to listen to the warning bells of those who were knowledgable about bin Laden. We failed to listen to the increased escalation of attacks by al Qaeda. We failed to listen to CIA staff who followed al Qaeda.
So we were attacked, and lost many.
Now, it is time to move on. After today, we should NOT remember 9/11 again. We should LEARN from 9/11 but we should NOT overlearn. We should be vigilant for those who mean us harm, but we should not be consumed by the memory of the defeat of 9/11.
We need to leave 9/11 to those who lost loved ones. We lost as a nation, but now we must move on and regain the real loss of our nation.
We lost freedom, as the Republican Administration of GW Bush used the 9/11 event to take freedoms from us, and BH Obama has not restored those freedoms. It is time to restore freedoms.
We lost the rule of law, as the Republican Administration of GW Bush used the 9/11 event to take rights from our prisoners, holding many in Guantanemo without trial, and failing to follow the Constitution. He never declared war against Afghanistan, but invaded it anyway. He never declared war against Iraq, but invaded it anyway. These unconstitutional actions, which should have led to the impeachment of Bush, still persist today. BH Obama has not restored the rule of law. It is time to restore the rule of law.
We lost our direction as a country. We are not a country of fearful cowards, duct-taping our windows, and shaking in fear when camels in Afghanistan fart. We are a people who have a confident, brave view of the future. It is time to overcome our fears.
We truly have nothing to fear but fear itself.
