Monday, September 11, 2006 10:00 PM
by
plitwin
Where I Was 5 Years Ago
I remember getting up with the baby (Anna) and letting in the nanny around 8:00 PST. The nanny says something along the lines "Did you hear that they flew a plane into the Word Trade Center and bought it down?" At the time Suzanne and I had a 10 month old daughter and were working out of the home. Earlier that year, in February, we have braved the major Seattle earthquake and now on this day in September, 2001, the world was going nuts. I quickly turned the TV on, and with tears in my eyes watched as the first tower came tumbling down (replayed) and the second tower come tumbling down (live, at least that's my recollection). I just couldn't understand how people could do this sort of thing. Other human beings. People. Members of my species. What had it come to and how did they get to this point that they could do such a thing. Suzanne, the nanny, and I spent most of the day glued to the TV as did most Americans (and many non-Americans).
My thoughts turned to the people who died. I grew up in NYC and visited the WTC many times. We were speechless. What could one say?
And then as now, the current administration is trying again to use the tradegy to their advantage to re-elect their crooked selves and use it as an excuse to take away the rights of anyone they feel like persecuting. As I mentioned to my friend, John R, yesterday, we shouldn't lower oursleves to their (the terrorists) level to battle them. Secret prisons, tribunals, and torture are the WORST possible reaction to the events. IMHO, they are more anti-American then the acts of terrorsim themselves because they are perpetrated BY AMERICANS! Americans looking for excuses to impose their selfish will on others. What a sad state we live in. Don't get me started. I have a hard time stopping.
I offer a prayer today for all. The victims of violent acts like 9/11, the terrorists, the innocent victims of the war in Iraq, the combatants in Iraq, the people starving and being persecuted around the world. For all of my fellow human beings. If we could only listen to the gods we claim to be children of (including the Christian God that I workship) and stop the violence, the hurt. Of course, as I know in my own personal struggles, it's easier said than done. It's so easy to lash out at, when being lashed out at. To mock, when we are being mocked. To hate, when we feel hatred.
When will we learn? Probably never. But that doesn't stop me from caring. From trying. From praying for a better world. Peace.
Paul
11-September-2006