First time visitor? Learn more.

The Lessons of September 11, 2001 Applied To Today

by Flyovercountry ( 129 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Progressives at September 12th, 2013 - 7:00 am

Political Cartoons by Lisa Benson

Demagogue – a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power.

Tuesday September 11, 2001 was a beautiful sunny morning that we in North East Ohio are accustomed to seeing during the waning days of summer and waxing days of fall. Wonderful blue skies and warmth during the day, cool crisp nights complete with night skies filled with many stars. That particular Tuesday started as did every other Tuesday that I have memories for from that part of my life. I got up at about 5:30, showered, got my kids up, got them fed and off to school, and began my work day at 7:00. I opened my store at 8:00, and my first employee was scheduled to arrive by 9:00. Usually, and on Tuesdays in particular, when I opened up at 8:00, there was a crowd of about 20 people of Arabic descent awaiting my store’s opening. They would come in and purchase the things that they wished to take down to their little stores and sell for the upcoming week. I sold cases of cleaning supplies, clothing items, health and beauty products, all in bulk. On this particular Tuesday morning, there was no crowd awaiting the opening of my store at 8:00. I thought it slightly strange at the time, (the more astute of you may recall that the first plane did not strike WTC 1 until 8:46,) but since I had plenty of other work to keep me busy, I did not give it another thought. The hour passed quickly, and as 9:00 came and went, I grew angry at my 9:00 cashier, Paula, who was not only late, but had not called to say that she’d be late. It was at about 15 minutes past 9 when I began to seriously worry about the Universe in general, for not only had Paula failed to report to work, but it suddenly dawned on me that I had been open for 75 minutes, and had not done a nickles worth of business yet. In about 20 years of retail management, I had never seen that before. I decided to peek outside, and surreal was the only feeling of that scene that comes to mind today. Not a soul was on the Lorain Avenue Corridor, which for those who know the Cleveland area, is in itself bizarre. At 9:30, my assistant, Matt, called me, just as Paula was walking in the door, and before I could dress her down, he asked me if we were still open for business that day. Paula looked me square in the eye and said, “you don’t know what’s happening do you.” As the day went on, and by the way, I had to be the only person left in America by 5:00 that evening who’s news was strictly dependent on word of mouth, which means that it was just as accurate as anyone who was tuned into CNN, people did eventually make it into my store, and all of them had the same look of utter shock pasted to their faces. That glazed look lasted for at least three days.

Patrons of the Gas USA store on West 117th Street were treated to the Palestinian owners throwing each other high fives and passing out candy to small children, for the first day. On Wednesday they had American Flags flying everywhere and were selling hot dogs for a quarter. The sight of them celebrating on that Tuesday however, that is something that I’ll never forget. Which brings me to this, the whole never forget thing, that we as a nation, in its entirety, promised ourselves twelve years ago. I do not know of a single individual from the generation that preceded my own, who is unable to recall with perfect clarity, the exact circumstances of their world at the moment that JFK was assassinated. Our generation, until September 11, 2001, had been mercifully spared of such a crushing event. I believe that there is not an American alive today who would fail to recall with similar clarity what they were doing on that beautiful Tuesday morning twelve years ago, when they were made aware of what was happening.

I did not just throw in the bit about Gas USA for gratuitous fun. I did it to point out a poignant fact, and it is this. There is a connection between Terrorism and Islam. Gallup’s very own polling data, (and by the way Gallup as of 1993 is owned entirely by the Royal House of Saud,) tells us that fully half of all Muslims either participate in, agree with, or are willing to excuse outright, terrorist activities as part of their religious expression. Since that Tuesday Morning exactly Twelve years ago, our government and all of the various law enforcement, defense, and intelligence gathering agencies who are tasked with our safe keeping, have officially banned acknowledgement of any connection between Islam and terrorist acts. The Fort Hood Shooting has been officially termed as an episode of, “workplace violence.” Immediately after the Marathon Bombings in Boston this year, Wolf Blitzer, that gem of a journalist that he is, immediately pointed the finger at anyone who might associate with the Tea Party. I still by the way am awaiting with baited breath for his apology after the Chechen Muslims responsible for the attack were found and caught. The bottom line is that this purposeful disconnection through language has had an effect upon the memories of many of our citizens in regards to that day. We went from never forgetting to not really remembering. The result of this is having a very real effect upon our national security in a very real and consequential sense. As long as we refuse to even take the step of identifying our enemy, we will forever be in a weak position while attempting to take the basic steps necessary to defend ourselves against their attacks. This will always be true, no matter how much of our personal lives the government is willing to spy on in order to complete their purported mission. (Once again, I must point out that such spying techniques failed to prevent the Boston Bombings, even though a foreign government screamed the Tsarneav’s names to us on multiple occasions, pleading that we take the smallest of steps to take a peek into their lives specifically.)

Last night, our President gave a speech that was explained by Peggy Noonan thusly:

a White House address in which a president argues for an endeavor he is abandoning. It will be a president appealing for public support for an action he intends not to take.

It was the first time in history that an American President proposed to cap off his foreign policy of projecting American Weakness by campaigning for support of embarking on a completely ineffectual waste of military force, with not so much as a hint of any type of objective to be accomplished. Yes it is terrible that small children are being subjected to Sarin Nerve Gas, but is is just as terrible when children die by other methods of warfare as well. More to the point however, his proposed projection of military might will do nothing to put an end to said terrible conditions faced by the children of Syria. This was an emotional plea to allow him to use the military as his personal credibility and gravitas building machine, and that is reprehensible.

Now, I realize that there is no solid connection that ties these two events together, and that each deserves its own consideration. But, there is one connection, and I do consider it to be important, and I believe you should also. Al Queda, that group of gents who flew those planes into our buildings Twelve years ago, are part of a larger group of Jihadists. They are one of the military arms of the Muslim Brotherhood. Other Muslim Brotherhood groups includ CAIR, ISNA, MSA, Hamas, Fatah, and the Taliban. Al Queda in fact is the exact group of rebels that Barack Obama wishes to aid in their quest to overthrow the Assad regime in Syria. Now, I have no illusions as to what kind of a guy Bashar Assad happens to be, and believe me, I will not shed a single tear with the news of his demise. I just can’t see the logic behind our involvement in his struggles against a group of thugs every bit as bad as he is, if not worse. While he may or may not have used Sarin Gas this time, he certainly has in the past. It’s just that, does anyone believe that the same group who has committed the atrocities that Al Queda is responsible for will refrain from using those very same chemical weapons once their hands are on them.

Then, there’s this. Would anyone truly remembering that morning Twelve years ago be in favor of taking up arms with those same thugs as comrades? Don’t forget, that while he didn’t ask for support for this last night, regime change is still the stated strategic end for Syria supported by the President and his brain trust. Remembering 911 should include who did it to us, and why.

Cross Posted from Musings of a Mad Conservative.

Tags:

Comments

Comments and respectful debate are both welcome and encouraged.

Comments are the sole opinion of the comment writer, just as each thread posted is the sole opinion or post idea of the administrator that posted it or of the readers that have written guest posts for the Blogmocracy.

Obscene, abusive, or annoying remarks may be deleted or moved to spam for admin review, but the fact that particular comments remain on the site in no way constitutes an endorsement of their content by any other commenter or the admins of this Blogmocracy.

We're not easily offended and don't want people to think they have to walk on eggshells around here (like at another place that shall remain nameless) but of course, there is a limit to everything.

Play nice!

Comments are closed.

Back to the Top

The Blogmocracy

website design was Built By All of Us