Today is the 10th anniversary of the day America changed forever. Future generations may well note that this day in 2001 marked both the end of America as we knew it, and the beginning of the New America, with DHS and TSA and a host of other new alphabet soup agencies. It was the spark that created the Patriot Act, a swift and certain plan to “temporarily” curtail our liberties that was supposed to last but four years. And yet, it remains in force. Like many people, my perception of the world changed that day. No longer was America secure in the fact that no one would dare come after us on our own soil. Too, that day I realized how quickly the world could devolve into anarchy, and how woefully unprepared I was to defend my family, should panic break out, and the police be unable to stop looting, assaults, and other activities that seem to breed in times of emergency. But today, I’d like to focus not on self-defense, but in looking back.
Much has changed since that fateful day in September, ten years ago. For an all-too brief time, our nation was united in spirit and in purpose. We faced a common enemy, together. We believed in our nation. We came together as a people. That was then. This is now. Under two Presidents, one a Republican, the other a Democrat, America has seen a mixed bag of changes. Personal liberties have been threatened. Traveling by plane is now akin to being herded into an abattoir. But our 2nd Amendment rights have been resoundingly reaffirmed by the Supreme Court, and more Americans are buying handguns for self-defense than ever before.
But as we look back today at 9/11, the cancers of muddled thinking, misplaced guilt, and lack of purpose have reared their heads. New York City Mayor Bloomberg banned participation by both Clergy and Firemen, from the commemorative ceremonies at Ground Zero. He said there were too many faiths and clergy that wanted to participate, and the only way to be fair was to exclude them all. I’ve not learned his rationale for excluding the first responders. Funny. There was plenty of room for both clergy and firemen on September 11, 2001. Odd that there’s no room for them now.
But if you take a closer look at the 9/11 memorials, we find ourselves hamstrung by political correctness run amok. The proposed memorial at Shanksville, PA looks from the air like a Muslim crescent. A radical Imam wants to build a Mosque just a couple of blocks from Ground Zero, yet a church that was destroyed that day can’t get a building permit to rebuild. We hear words like “understanding” and “peace” and even “the importance of respect.” In New Jersey, a special 9/11 Middle School curriculum will “analyze diversity and prejudice in U.S. history.”
Bullshit.
We need to look back at 9/11, especially on this tenth anniversary of the attack on innocent Americans. We need to look at how vicious animals took control over civilian aircraft and turned planes into missiles, flying them into buildings filled with thousands of innocent people. We need to look at how brave first-responders sacrificed their own lives to try to save as many people as they could. We need to look at how people acting in the name of the “religion of peace” attacked us, and how Muslims in America and across the globe have refused to stand up and disavow these actions. We need to look at those who willingly signed up to fight for our country, and how so many of them have willingly given their futures, their bodies, and some even their lives to keep us free. And we need to look at what makes America great – what makes our land worth fighting for.
What we do NOT need to do is to apologize. Nothing that America has done, is doing, or will do can ever justify what those terrorists did to us that day. We do not need to second guess ourselves. We made mistakes, keeping what intelligence we had from being used to thwart the attack. What happened was inconceivable. We need to acknowledge that, stop blamestorming, and fix things to prevent another attack. We need to analyze what we can to stop terrorists, but acknowledge that the only things that will ultimately stop terror will also put an end to the very freedoms that make America great. And most of all, we need to stop deluding ourselves that a “kinder and gentler” America will make our enemies love us.
I’ve figured out what bugs me so much about multiculturalism. On the face it sounds great – celebrating all cultures and religions, giving each of them value and reverence. When you dig down deeper, you’ll find that multiculturalism is a smokescreen for religious affirmative action. It’s a way for some to penalize, prosecute and persecute Christians in some vain, ill-informed, misbegotten scheme to level the playing field for other religions and beliefs.
And speaking of cancers, lets lay bare the fraud that is political correctness. We are increasingly hamstrung by our own language, by the PC Police. It’s not a war, it’s an “Overseas Contingency Operation.” It’s not terrorist attacks, it is a “man-caused disaster.” (Of course, all Hell would break loose if we called it a “woman-caused disaster.”)
When we traffic in euphemisms we miss the point. Lemme spell it out for you in the kind of plain English that is out of favor inside the Beltway.
A band of Islamic fundamentalists trained by the radical, Saudi Arabian-based/funded Wahabi sect of the Muslim faith attacked us on 9/11 by hijacking four planes and turning them into missiles. Around 3,000 innocent men, women and children died that day, because these animals wanted to prove a point. They were emboldened to do this because they thought we were a paper tiger, after “Blackhawk Down.” They were only partially right.
As long as many American Muslims do not stand up and vocally, vociferously renounce terror and the actions of these radicals, we must look at the ones who do not, and understand that though they are Americans, their allegiances may – MAY – lie first with their religion and not their country. We must never sink to persecuting anyone because of their faith. That is un-American. But neither should we blindly ignore those here at home that believe terror is an acceptable tactic.
As long as there are people anywhere in the world that think it’s okay to kill anybody (including their own people) to get their point across, we are in danger. But it’s far better to take the fight to them, than allow them to attack us here again. But we must be willing to fight to win – not fight to a draw. We have to play by the rules, but the rules say, when they are willing to stop at nothing, we must be willing to do what it takes to win. By definition, that means acting decisively, and using and projecting force to overwhelm our enemies. And we must be willing to accept that war is a messy, ugly thing. Innocent people get hurt. Sometimes theirs. Sometimes ours. This fact is regrettable, but inescapable. When we fret over this, our enemies see this as weakness.
We do ourselves no favors by looking away from that footage of the planes hitting the towers. We hurt ourselves when we use euphemisms, and try block out those memories. We give our enemies strength when we tolerate and celebrate those who would apologize for America. And we should always show our kids the truth, unvarnished and accurate, of what happened that day. For if we try to protect them from the truth, they will never learn from it. And this will happen again.
Please take a few minutes today to think about 9/11. Not the smarmy crap you’ll hear on TV. Not the puffery and quackery you’ll hear from the pundits. Think about where you were that day, and how life has changed. Think about what you want for your kids – the kind of world you want for them. And when you hear someone complain about 9/11 and opine that we should all just forget about it, think about what that will mean for our country.
Never forget. Never apologize. Never quit.