Nineteen years ago we suffered a horrifying attack on our soil by terrorists whose goal was to target civilians and harm the economy. Make no mistake, this was pure terrorism; it was an attack against civilians and the economy. While the Pentagon was hit the goal was not to cause military casualties. The goal was to inflict psychological harm on the population.
The horror of that day lives on, but for many they never knew or have forgotten what occurred. We now see mobs in the streets rioting in the name of social justice. Criminals who assault law enforcement officers and who resist arrest on sexual assault charges are honored by the Democrat party and professional sports. Just like on that fateful day nineteen years ago we see a small minority who is willing to use any means necessary to impose their views on others without care for the harm they impose.
While the mentality of the terrorist from that fateful day is now firmly enrooted in the Black Lives Matter supporters and Antifa denizens, we also see that the opposite holds true. A small number of individuals who are dedicated to the proposition that people deserve to live in peace are achieving spectacular results.
It is fitting that today, of all days, a second peace agreement between Israel and a Middle East nation is announced. The people of Israel deserve to live in peace just as much as the people of Portland, Seattle, and Kenosha. Just like the terrorists nineteen years ago, terrorists routinely target the civilian population in Israel to achieve their political goals. However, in the midst of all the turmoil that is the Middle East, peace is taking root. In the past month the United Arab Eremites and now Bahrain have normalized relations with Israel. While neither country was an actual threat to Israel the peace deals with Israel show that goodness still exists, and that a small contingent willing to do good are capable of achieving results.
When we remember the horrible attack nineteen years ago, and see the same mindset instilled in the mobs rioting and celebrating criminals it’s easy to become angry and despondent. Remember, though, just as those of ill will are bent on causing chaos and harm we have the opportunity to achieve peace and goodness. Let us choose to reject those who celebrate lawlessness and foment hatred along the lines of class and race. If Kamala Harris is proud of Jacob Blake let us be equally proud of those who stand against the proposition that race and class divide us. Let us see the accomplishment of today, rather than the harm nineteen years ago, and choose to be the ones who unite seeking peace and the greater good for all.
Thanks for acknowledging the solemnity of the day. Lots of people are not acknowledging it, because the ugly truth of what occurred 19 years ago makes them look bad, so they just pretend nothing ever happened….and a whole generation of Americans is already here that won’t know what happened 19 years ago unless they are told, because they weren’t born yet, or were too young to understand what happened.
We should also take time to reflect on OUR failures. Since the day we vowed to “never forget,” our leaders flooded our country with people just like the ones who attacked us. We have actual jihadis in Congress. and in other positions of power, like the Michigan A.G. . We need to learn from our own failures. Trump is doing his best to keep further invaders out, but they are like the Wu flu. It’s already here, in our own country.
Greg, thanks for posting this. It’s nice to know BJP hasn’t forgotten. I personally will NEVER FORGET.
Excellent post, Greg. For those who may be vague on 9/11, here is what happened:
19 Muslim terrorists hijacked four airliners. Two of them flew into and destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center in NYC. Another one flew into and damaged the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers kept it from flying into either Congress or the White House.
The coordinated attacks were the single deadliest terrorist attack in the history of mankind. 2,977 people were killed and more than 25,000 injured. And the attack caused at least $10 billion in in property damage.
Greg, you mentioned Jacob Blake, Biden and the Democrats have made much about Biden visiting the Blake family and Trump not visiting them. Here are a couple of paragraphs from a September 8 JNS article by Jonathan S. Tobin:
In the days since the shooting of their son, both of Blake’s parents had made many public appearances. His father, Jacob Blake Sr., spoke at the March on Washington on Aug. 28 at which Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1963 event was commemorated. In his remarks, he pronounced America “guilty” of racism and other crimes in a speech that was widely broadcast and published in leading newspapers. Indeed, as The Washington Post put it, the Blake family represented the feelings of all African-Americans.
As it turns out, Jacob Blake Sr. has been angry about a lot of things long before his son’s scuffle with the police led to tragedy. His Facebook page had been filled with hate for years. Most of Blake’s posts were violently anti-Semitic in which he reproduced traditional memes about “pink toe Jewish people” controlling the economy and the media. It was no surprise that a person who spewed anti-Semitism would say he was “with Farrakhan 100%.” As a Nation of Islam sympathizer, it’s also unsurprising that he posted a picture of Jesus in a toilet bowl to show his antipathy for Christianity.
You don’t hear Biden or the media acknowledging this. They don’t want us to know that Biden made nice with an avowed supporter of hatemonger Louis Farrakhan and they don’t want us to know that Biden made nice with a man who hates America, Jews and even Christians.
All true, I have no idea how any of that is worthy of a down vote. You didn’t even get started on the son who was shot by the police. What a winner he is. Biden didn’t meet with Blake’s victim or her family. He didn’t meet with them to apologize for his home boy sexually assaulting the girl, then going back to violate the restraining order they had against him. Why won’t Biden and Kamala apologize for that? Even if we say Blake is innocent of the original sexual assault allegation, he got caught violating the restraining order…..not something innocent people are prone to do. And then he fights with the cops when he is absolutely busted. Where are Joe and Kamala’s apologies to the victim, her family, and the responding cops who probably didn’t want to have to get in a fight that day.
And Saint George (Floyd), whose death started all this shit the country is going through, was an ex-con who was loaded with meth and fentanyl when he died.
It is amazing to witness the transformation the country has gone through in 19 years. The inaugural season of the Texans occurred 18 years ago. Sports took some time off and resumed when GW Bush threw out the first pitch at a Yankees game to break the ice.
I had season tickets in that first year and we played the Giants at home in November 2002. One of the highlites of that game was the welcoming of several of New York’s finest for their service during the 9/11 devastation. It was a moving half time ceremony and if you happened to walk around the concessions after halftime many of those NY Police were walking around, shaking hands and talking with us Texans fans. It was so nice.
All of that love had been vanquished by the time Bush left office and politics became toxic and has remained that way ever since.
I was also quite active as a civic club president in SW Houston and attended the PIPs (Houston Police Positive Interaction Program) meetings regularly. One of them had a guest that was a Houston forensics doctor that gave an impressive demonstration and discussion of the tremendous effort that was made to identify remains. His accounts were downright chilling and fascinating.
Houston, like so many communities donated tremendous resources to New York. My hunch is those days are forever behind us. But I do enjoy the memories of when we all pulled together as a nation following that fateful day.