Perhaps this belongs in Debate and Discussion, but I wrote this for another of my blogs, what I thought was a pretty neutral position what I hoped would be agreeable to most.

Why We Can't Forget September 11, 2001

Forget about the Patriot Act, legislation comes and goes.
Forget about the terrorists, they don't deserve to be remembered.
Forget about labels like “liberal” and “conservative”, “Democrat” and “Republican”.
Everyone was affected by that terrible day.

Forget about conspiracy theories. They ultimately accomplish nothing.
Forget about the Iraq war for now. It is important and it may be related but it is still separate from the events of that day.
Forget about me and this blog's normal content.
Forget about yourself and your opinions for a moment.

Remember the people of September 11, 2001:
The ones who died, yes, because they had lives and potential.
People of all walks of life, all ages, all races, all political persuasions, all religions.
People who had spouses and children and family and friends.
Some were heroes, like the firefighters and police, decorated military and civilians. Some were heroes for their parenting or volunteer work. Some were heroes just for the way they lived their lives.
Everything they aspired to be was cut short that day.
And they deserve to be honored for their lives, not their deaths.

So we can't forget September 11, we can't pay enough tribute.
We can't give their families and friends their loved ones back.
But we can take one day to explore the memories of their lives.
And be grateful we still have ours and our spouses and our children.
And try to make the most of these lives we still have.

We can't go back to September 10, no matter how much some of us may want to.
It will never come again. We can just do our best today.
And try to make a better tomorrow.

Thanks for reading this.

my thought…where's osama?
i mean we hanged the scapegoat, but where is the real perpetrator?

6 years of unrequited revenge. i still can't watch movies or docs about 9/11

It's my parents anniversary.

My thoughts,

I miss my friends that the government sent to their deaths.
I sympathize for the families and friends of the 3764 other dead soldiers
I wish to have ~3000 people to have not died on 9-11 all those years ago.
I feel denied justice for these deaths.

I want somebody's head on the end of a pike,
I'm getting to a point where I don't really care whose.
Just as long as it brings an end to the madness and despair.
One that will last long enough for my children to grow in tranquility and safety.

I know that no matter what is going to happen politics as usual will continue.
Real things that happen to you or I don't matter. The same decisions will be made regardless of what justification will be used. That sickens me to no end.

I want my family back, the ones who were taken away.
I want my vote to count for something again.

I just came from a friend's birthday party who, unfortunately, now has to share her birthday with that horrible tragedy. It feels weird to go out and celebrate with folks on this day, even though I know life can and should go on.

When I think about that day 6 years ago, I remember the strange feeling of numbness, of uncertainty, and I had no idea what was going to happen next. It makes me sad to think of the 3,000 people who died at the hands of some hateful terrorists. And it makes me sad to think of all the people who have died since then at the hands of our country, intentional and not. And I grow even sadder thinking of the senseless war on a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, and the chaos of violence we unwittingly unleashed there. And the one who orchestrated 9/11 is still out there, untouched and still walking free.

There are people out there who hate us and want to kill us. We should remind ourselves of that. We should also remind ourselves that this fact does not give anyone the right to use that fear against us, nor does it give those in charge the justification to do what they want when they want.

That was a horrible day.

dueeast
Forget about conspiracy theories. They ultimately accomplish nothing.

Apologies, but *Cough*Watergate*Cough*.

This, unfortunately, is the moment that will define our generation. The last one got the first lunar landing, we get some buildings blowing up.

Heartless as they are, my dad and stepmother tend to to go Disney World on Sept. 11 for lesser crowds. I am never invited for some reason…

As for Osama, he just put out a video basically saying: “Hey guys, forget somebody?”

dueeast
Forget about the Patriot Act, legislation comes and goes.
Forget about the terrorists, they don't deserve to be remembered.
Forget about labels like “liberal” and “conservative”, “Democrat” and “Republican”.
Everyone was affected by that terrible day.

Forget about conspiracy theories. They ultimately accomplish nothing.
Forget about the Iraq war for now. It is important and it may be related but it is still separate from the events of that day.
Forget about me and this blog's normal content.
Forget about yourself and your opinions for a moment.

what ???
why?
i can't forget ! My country is fucked because of this event and the way We responded to it !!!
how can you say to forget about it?
i'm still Mad as hell at all these Maniacs, on Both sides !!!!!!!

nobody should forget until this mess is fixed

Our response was mixed. At the ground level, people provided support, pulled together and helped.

Our leadership at the highest levels, failed. Too much privilege, too many calories, too much money. Instead of owning their failures, they used 9/11 for their own political gain, and even now, its used as a dog whistle to make sure people are afraid and hate “the other”.

mapaghimagsik
Our leadership at the highest levels, failed. Too much privilege, too many calories, too much money. Instead of owning their failures, they used 9/11 for their own political gain, and even now, its used as a dog whistle to make sure people are afraid and hate “the other”.

I think there should be a extra hot burning hell for this administration for using the tragic deaths of 3000 people, including my good freind Evan, to justify there cynical and greedy oil grab in Iraq.

It's like the old joke where you look for something in a different room because the light is betterin this room.

Only these villians are warring in Iraq, instead of Afghanistan because the oil is better in this room.

When will America wake up from it's narcotic slumber and see these politicians for the scum that they are.

RIP Evan, I miss you buddy.

I don't want my point to be misunderstood, so let me clarify:

I didn't (and don't) mean forget permanently, that's impossible.

The whole point of my prose was to put aside all these different political opinions on all sides of the aisle, so to speak, and remember the people, remember the good they did, who they were.

There's room for everything else today but September 11 should be about remembeing the positive aspects of THEM (the ones who died), not US (the ones sharing our thoughts here).

My apologies if that wasn't clear. I respect everyone's feelings here, especially the ones who lost loved ones in that day or since.

lothar

dueeast
Forget about the Patriot Act, legislation comes and goes.
Forget about the terrorists, they don't deserve to be remembered.
Forget about labels like “liberal” and “conservative”, “Democrat” and “Republican”.
Everyone was affected by that terrible day.

Forget about conspiracy theories. They ultimately accomplish nothing.
Forget about the Iraq war for now. It is important and it may be related but it is still separate from the events of that day.
Forget about me and this blog's normal content.
Forget about yourself and your opinions for a moment.

what ???
why?
i can't forget ! My country is fucked because of this event and the way We responded to it !!!
how can you say to forget about it?
i'm still Mad as hell at all these Maniacs, on Both sides !!!!!!!

nobody should forget until this mess is fixed

how hard is it to get those bastards anyways?

i mean is it as hard as taking over a small country? hell, we even found saddam in his lil hole in the ground.

WTF?! i'm pretty sure the administration didn't put shit on trying to find osama.
prolly put one guy going around the desert asking “hey, man. seen osama? huh?”

If the administration wanted to find him, they would. But having him come on occasionally and scare/antagonize the public is just what they need to justify their actions.

Also, I was talking to my brother the other day, and neither of us are for the name "Patriot's Day" for September 11th. There were heroes. There were victims. Whether or not the people that died were patriots is inconsequential. You can argue the point, but I believe that the friendship and compassion that was shown AROUND THE WORLD for America was more than patriotism. It was a shining example of what humanity could be.

But the administration (it always comes back to these guys) decided to use it as a “If you aint fer us, yer agin us” line of thinking, and completely polarize us from other countries. They used it (and used it, and used it… and STILL use it) to cash in on their own political agenda.

SpANG
If the administration wanted to find him, they would. But having him come on occasionally and scare/antagonize the public is just what they need to justify their actions.

Also, I was talking to my brother the other day, and neither of us are for the name "Patriot's Day" for September 11th. There were heroes. There were victims. Whether or not the people that died were patriots is inconsequential. You can argue the point, but I believe that the friendship and compassion that was shown AROUND THE WORLD for America was more than patriotism. It was a shining example of what humanity could be.

But the administration (it always comes back to these guys) decided to use it as a “If you aint fer us, yer agin us” line of thinking, and completely polarize us from other countries. They used it (and used it, and used it… and STILL use it) to cash in on their own political agenda.

You know, as long as we hang it on the Bush Administration alone, we'll never really get it.

There were *lots* of enablers. My racist neighbors are a couple of them. They didn't know anyone who were killed, but they sure wanted revenge, and they'd get it, and it didn't matter who, just as long as they were brown and didn't live in the US.

Bless their little hearts.

I had never really thought about 9/11 before. When it happened, I was an 7 year old Wisconsinite who had just entered 2nd grade at a new school only a couple weeks prior. When the principal came on and told us what happened, I just kinda ignored it. Then that night my dad brought my mom, my brothers, and I to the funeralhome he worked at, where he had loads of candles spelling out the word “FREEDOM”. We were out there until 11 at night keeping those candles lit.

Every year there'd be something at school in honour of 9/11, whether it be hanging paper stars on a tree, a group prayer service, or just 5 minutes of scilence. Still I never really took the time to think about it.

But yesterday, in History class, our teacher showed us footage of the bombing. And finally I saw the planes, the people running in fear, those standing out side waiting for their loved ones to come out, the fire, the police and firemen who-even though they knew there was a chance that they wouldn't come back-marched into that building. And when that chunk of the building fell, and crushed the floors beneath it, all I could think about was the people who were crushed, and those who lost their way out. I remembered little Fostina, who was in Kindergarden at the time, who lost her dad (3 years later her mom died in a car accident, and she's living with her grandparents now).

It's taken me 6 years to figure out that there were people in there. People with families and friends, husbands and wives, children and grandchildren. What if one of those people could have been the next president, or the person who finally found a cure for cancer. And what about those people's families? Over the summer I lost 2 people who were very dear to me, and I can only imagine how the families of those victems felt; to know that those precious to them had died in pain, or the hate they must feel that there were people who were saved, but their loved ones weren't among them.

I was 7 at the time, and now at 13, I finally understand…

bobhhh
to justify there cynical and greedy oil grab in Iraq.

It's like the old joke where you look for something in a different room because the light is betterin this room.

Only these villians are warring in Iraq, instead of Afghanistan because the oil is better in this room.

If it were about oil, why didn't we just take over Saudi Arabia? We were already there and they have more of it.

subcultured
how hard is it to get those bastards anyways?

i mean is it as hard as taking over a small country? hell, we even found saddam in his lil hole in the ground.

WTF?! i'm pretty sure the administration didn't put shit on trying to find osama.
prolly put one guy going around the desert asking “hey, man. seen osama? huh?”

I am sorry but it is just a little more complicated than that. He is in Pakistan and Pakistan has a leadership that is friendly with the U.S. but the population is not and they are supportive of bin Laden because of religious opinions. We can't just go in there and bomb everything like Obama would like to do. You also might like to know that Pakistan has nuclear weaponry, so another radical Islamic state with nuclear weapons and a government sympathetic to bin Laden is not acceptable, no matter how much you think we should march in there and kill whoever gets in our way.

Oh I really doubt he's in Pakistan still.

Actually, alot of the people who examine these stuff think he might even be in the Philippines for all we know by now.

Vindibudd

bobhhh
to justify there cynical and greedy oil grab in Iraq.

It's like the old joke where you look for something in a different room because the light is betterin this room.

Only these villians are warring in Iraq, instead of Afghanistan because the oil is better in this room.

If it were about oil, why didn't we just take over Saudi Arabia? We were already there and they have more of it.

Are you kidding??? Attack the Saudis??? They're the ones in charge. They're the ones who got us into this mess in the first place. If we hadnt gone in guns blazing into Kuwait in the first gulf war to save the Saudis' cousins, Hussein would have still been on the CIA payroll and continued gassing the Kurds with our financial support.

We take our marching orders from the Saudis, if they sneeze they can destabilize our economy. That's because these bloodsuckers in the oil industry have set things up to totally rely on oil. Why do you think we turn a blind eye to the fact that the Saudis fund terrorists? Because the neocons don't care about terrorists except in how it keeps us inline as a conveient boogeyman.

Hussein's big mistake was in thinking he was important. He should have just sucked up the failure of the first gulf war, but instead he made noise, so we wacked him like a bunch of mafia capos and took over his operation.

Bin Laden was never the point, in fact Cheney and Wolfowitz probably lit a candle to thank Satan for their good fortune when the towers fell. There was no way after 911 that a frightened American public would quarrel with any form of payback, even though Hussein had nothing to do with 911.

Unfortunately to a large section of our lazy and ignorant public, one towelhead is as good as another.

bobhhh
We take our marching orders from the Saudis, if they sneeze they can destabilize our economy. That's because these bloodsuckers in the oil industry have set things up to totally rely on oil. Why do you think we turn a blind eye to the fact that the Saudis fund terrorists? Because the neocons don't care about terrorists except in how it keeps us inline as a conveient boogeyman.

Hussein's big mistake was in thinking he was important. He should have just sucked up the failure of the first gulf war, but instead he made noise, so we wacked him like a bunch of mafia capos and took over his operation.

Bin Laden was never the point, in fact Cheney and Wolfowitz probably lit a candle to thank Satan for their good fortune when the towers fell. There was no way after 911 that a frightened American public would quarrel with any form of payback, even though Hussein had nothing to do with 911.

Unfortunately to a large section of our lazy and ignorant public, one towelhead is as good as another.

Wow. I bet you are Art Bell's biggest fan.

Vindibudd
Wow. I bet you are Art Bell's biggest fan.

wtf is an “Art Bell”? everything Bohhh posted there is pretty common knowlege, if you take the time to look beyond the corporate controlled media

Vindibudd
I am sorry but it is just a little more complicated than that. He is in Pakistan and Pakistan has a leadership that is friendly with the U.S. but the population is not and they are supportive of bin Laden because of religious opinions. We can't just go in there and bomb everything like Obama would like to do. You also might like to know that Pakistan has nuclear weaponry, so another radical Islamic state with nuclear weapons and a government sympathetic to bin Laden is not acceptable, no matter how much you think we should march in there and kill whoever gets in our way.

Hrmm, isn't that why we supposedly went into Iraq? Iraq was a country with dangerous weapons and “an unsympathetic to U.S.” govt (that had no real connection to 9/11, mind you, but might in the future, wink wink), so we marched into and killed whoever got in our way. Invading Iraq, THAT makes sense? But going after the person who was *actually* behind 9/11, that seems crazy? Obama is unwise for saying that we should go after Bin Laden if we had actionable intelligence? That's a ridiculous idea?

Wow.

May justice be served to the real perpetrators.

God knows who really did this horrible act. :( Condolences to all those innocent people who died (during 9-11 and the conflict caused by this).

DrBob
Hrmm, isn't that why we supposedly went into Iraq? Iraq was a country with dangerous weapons and “an unsympathetic to U.S.” govt

Iraq was not a radical Islamic state with nuclear weapons. I guess you wouldn't mind such a thing?

DrBob
(that had no real connection to 9/11, mind you, but might in the future, wink wink),

The idea that 9/11 is the reason we invaded Iraq is a myth perpetrated by those who want to ignore 12 years of flaunted sanctions in violation of a ceasefire for their own political agenda.

DrBob
so we marched into and killed whoever got in our way. Invading Iraq, THAT makes sense?

You are not being coherent with history. And honestly, you're an adult, you can go read the terms of the Gulf War ceasefire and then determine if Saddam kept them.

DrBob
But going after the person who was *actually* behind 9/11, that seems crazy? Obama is unwise for saying that we should go after Bin Laden if we had actionable intelligence? That's a ridiculous idea?

Wow.

Obama is an abject moron who's policy would undoubtably result in a bunch of lunatics with nuclear weaponry. Again, that is something you would trade for one guy who is impotently stuck in a cave? Please get real.

Maybe we should take this to another thread, since someone started this thread to remember the dead and reflect a little on them as people.

mapaghimagsik
Maybe we should take this to another thread, since someone started this thread to remember the dead and reflect a little on them as people.

youre right, i just get a little mad when i think of my dead pal.

i formally disengage from politics in this thread.

my condoloences to everybody who lost a loved one.

mapaghimagsik
Maybe we should take this to another thread, since someone started this thread to remember the dead and reflect a little on them as people.

You're absolutely right, my apologies to everyone.

mapaghimagsik
Maybe we should take this to another thread, since someone started this thread to remember the dead and reflect a little on them as people.

well then , maybe this thread shouldn't be in “ Debate and Discussion”

lothar
well then , maybe this thread shouldn't be in “ Debate and Discussion”

Those were my thoughts right at the first…. I mean, what do we debate? I think I'll move this one to General Discussion.

i had put this in debate and discussion because this is more of a serious discussion and doesn't really belong on general discussion. the debate and discussion section isn't just for debate.

subcultured
i had put this in debate and discussion because this is more of a serious discussion and doesn't really belong on general discussion. the debate and discussion section isn't just for debate.

Yeah but as we all know, there are few “discussions” in that forum, lol.