The various September 11th things that I hear on the radio or see on the TV bug me. Not because I think it’s wrong to remember the dead; I don’t have a problem with the Oklahoma City bombing memorials. No, it’s because the government and the news media have managed, in seven short years, to assign a connotation to the event that does not represent the best values of this nation. We have become accustomed to a persistent reminder that “WE WERE ATTACKED!” rather than “We Mourn the Loss of our Fellow Citizens”.
This bugs me, as I mentioned. For one thing, I don’t think that America is about revenge or retribution. For another, what happens when we’ve “won” the war on terror?1 What happens to our 9-11 remembrances than? Will they fizzle out with a whimper because their raison d’etre has been eliminated?
Almost 3,000 people died and that is horrible. What would be more horrible is if we continue to use their deaths as a springboard to throw our freedoms and liberties out the door. Let’s take back the 9-11 from the fear mongers and opportunists. Let’s remember our fellow citizens as people who died for their country. As the bumper sticker says, “If you like your freedom, thank a Vet.” Let’s not change it to, “If support government control, thank 9-11.”
1Not that it’s possible to win the war on terror
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