Mad Mad Monica on September 12, 2009 at 6:01 AM

Wow. I’d be mad, too.
I guess I was lucky; I was surrounded by folks who, like me, had worked for the Navy for years. I’m sure we have our share of lefties – there are some 3000 employees in our facility alone – but we generally don’t engage in political shouting matches. And, on 9/11, even the most vehemently left among them were as shocked and stunned and angry. If we have any “troofers” among us, they keep it to themselves.

By that evening I had heard at least two people in the office say, while putting on a face that was supposed to be regretful and serious, “I don’t want to say it, but… You know this would be a perfect way for Bush to get people’s minds off the economy…”

Within a month I’d heard over and over again how America had always been committing terrorist actions itself and how wrong it was for us to be going after anyone for doing “what we’ve done all along.”

And on the commencement of the attack on Afghanistan the main terror apologist in the office, a woman who is in the U.S. on a green card, told me “I’m so ashamed of this country. This is just so wrong.”

I spent many of those months angry and attempting to keep my mouth shut. Not long after, however, I wrote a series of opinion pieces for the newspaper here and became the whipping gal. And when I made the mistake of putting my support behind the president when we went into Iraq, I was seen as even worse.

I had members of the public coming into the office shoving copies of A Soldier’s Prayer into my hands, telling me how dare I support a president who wasn’t even elected sending our troops into harm’s way for “no good reason.” They wrote me letters informing me that I “obviously” had no one in MY life who would put their life on the line for war because I couldn’t believe in it were that the case. Of course none of them realized that my husband was to retire that fall after 20 years service in the USAF. And they knew NOTHING of the sacrifice and tears I and my children had made so that my husband could keep aircraft flying to help keep us all safe.

9/11 was a wake up call for everyone. For those of us who value freedom, it told us our own was in danger and we must wake up and protect ourselves. It also gave us the chance to see what sort of folks reside in our neighborhoods and communities. It has given us a chance to really SEE these people and to learn just who they are and what they believe. And I believe THAT was a huge wake up call in and of itself.

Their ignorance and unwillingness to stand up for freedom and their vicious desire to keep anyone else from doing so either has become VERY apparent. Thank God for our military and all our first responders. And thank God for President Bush, VP Cheney and all those who worked so hard to keep us safe over the last eight years. Too bad BO Boy and the Chicago Thugs have undone all that hard work.

Colorado State: Obama: ‘Witch hunt‘ is necessary

When the United States started using Guantanamo Bay to indefinitely detain individuals without change, and later to torture them, the villains who authorized the malicious program became war criminals… If we want to “prevent another 9/11,” as Bush so frequently reiterated, the strategy should not include shaming America with further moral, constitutional and illegal degeneration.

We need to take responsibility by holding our CIA, our President and most especially ourselves accountable for failing to uphold the prized moral scruples that should set us apart from the rest of the world.

/comments thread open

On the bus to campus, it was eerily quiet. No one spoke until the South tower collapsed and those listening to the radio told the rest of us. I think everyone cursed softly under their breath. I remember that I started to cry a little… I spent the rest of the day huddled around a radio with some friends, trying desperately to understand.

My experience that day was undoubtedly nowhere near as visceral as any American’s reaction, but I still felt shocked, numb, and angry. I knew that this had changed everything, and would likely by the defining moment in my life for years to come.

We are all the richer for your blogging Ed, but I wish it had been under different circumstances. I’m still searching for MY outlet, but each year I find it easier to talk about it, to understand it, and to mourn it.

May the dead rest in peace, their families know solace, and their murderers be brought to justice.

Kent State: Remember through actions

…It’s important to remember the thousands of innocent people who lost their lives in the Twin Towers, in the Pentagon and aboard the four hijacked planes – and the bravery and sacrifice made by firefighters and emergency crew workers.

But [But BUT!] “never forget” is a hollow phrase if it exists without any action behind it. Sept. 11 illustrated our country’s willingness to band together, but it also manifested a greater division between our country and the Islamic faith, resulting in racial profiling at airports, mosque attacks and other deplorable acts based on fear.

/comments thread open

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlFwVjaP8Zg

She got up early to call her mom from the outside deck. Her mom told her of the first plane hitting the WTC. She came running down to our cabin in near hysterics. We watched TV from our cabin and watched the second plane hit Tower 2. At that point, I said, ‘This changes everything’.

Many passengers were from NYC area. The Captain came on the speakers to advise all what instructions he was getting. As all airline traffic was stopped, he said they could not see making provisions for an early deboarding, as wherever they let us off, you would be stranded. So, on we sailed for the next few days.

The Alaskan politicians got a waiver to allow the bush planes to start flying again, earlier than other US aviation. The hunting season had just started up in Alaska, and many hunters were out in the bush. Not knowing anything of the events, when their scheduled bush plane pickup date came and went for several days, the fear was the hunters would start to walk out however many miles they would have to. Smart move by the government on that one.

There were fears and rumors that a 747 was overdue coming into Anchorage, and that it was being hijacked, and would crash into the Anchorage petroleum storage tanks. I’m sure every city had their own version of the hell that was about to hit them.

I remember telling her I think we’re safe from a terrorist threat. I doubt an Alskan cruise ship made it to the top ten terrorist targets for the day.

Every port call after that, our ship was inspected by underwater divers for bombs.

I must give Princess Cruises many kudos for being as professional, considerate, and caring as possible. They are a class outfit. We’ve taken many other cruises with them around the world, and never have been unsatisfied.

We were lucky on our trip ending. When we de-boarded in Seward, the airline stand down was still in force. We had planned an additional 7 days of ‘winging it’ with a Ford Explorer, and no itinerary, as we weren’t sure what the weather would be that late in the season (gorgeous, no bugs (all frosted out), clear skies at Denali, and the Northern Lights were out in force – Sept is the month to go to Alaska.

So, at the end of our additional 7 day land safari, we got back to Anchorage a day after they started flying again.

My girl still works in the Library Tower in LA, on the 21st floor. She says they continue to get threats in the building all the time from a variety of sources. We didn’t know at the time of the serious threat against that building in LA from KSM, but am forever grateful for George Bush, Dick Cheney, and all who stopped the second attack.

Too many people call what happened that day a “tragedy.” It was not. The tragedy was that too many people died. What happened that day was an act of mass murder, an act of war, for which there was no other recourse but to fight back, and no other way to assure no one that day lost their lives in vain but victory over those who killed them in cold blood because of their obedience to their infernal god. Those who ignore this fight do so at their peril.

Are you listening, Europe? Asia? Have you forgotten, America? Do you even care, Politically Correct Elites? Fortunately, those in the Heartland do care. Still.

RIP

newton on September 11, 2009 at 6:03 PM

Well said. Too many reports today failed to describe the terrorists. They weren’t Christian terrorists, or eco-terrorists, or right-wing terrorists, or Aryan terrorists. They were MUSLIM terrorists.

Reject this as a “day of service”!! This IS, and will be, a “DAY OF REMEMBRANCE”!

Don’t allow Obama to turn it into a different message!

hopefloats on September 11, 2009 at 6:03 PM

While we mourn the victims, the Obamas remember the perps on 9-11
What a shame
The heroes on Flight 93 died saving the ungrateful thankful morons in DC

I’ve long thought that it was a disservice to the victims that news organizations quickly moved to stop showing video of the Sept. 11 attacks. Working in Blacksburg, VA, I’m aware of the need to be sensitive to victim’s families (I still hear from some peopel who are angry that the “Cho Manifesto was shown on NBC news, though it wasn’t shown on the local NBC station). But that situation was different. The people ultimately responsible for 9/11 are still out there, and we need to be reminded daily of that fact.

After Pearl Harbor, did we hide images of the burning battleships, because it was “too graphic”? No, we used them as motivation to pursue the complete destruction of the group responsible for the attack.

newton on September 11, 2009 at 6:03 PM

Damn straight. Millions still care, and to hell with those who don’t.

Eight years. And there’s still a hole in the ground where great buildings once stood. Politicians and pettiness and political correctness, run amuck.
Sickens me almost as bad as what the terrorists did that day. No, maybe more.

I was in an office building in Falls Church, Virginia just a few miles from the Pentagon. The plane went right over our building.

When they evacuated our building that day, being single then, the only place I had to go was home, which was an apartment about a mile from the Pentagon.

Felt very lonely driving there and seeing the smoke and hearing the radio broadcasts regarding more planes flying down the Potomac.

I’ve never encountered a “truther” in real life, just on blogs. I think I would have to restrain myself from choking the life out them if I met one in person.

NoDonkey on September 11, 2009 at 3:21 PM

My cousin, who is a scientist working for the US Navy, was working in a building right near the Pentagon that morning. She was one of the first responders, setting up air-monitoring equipment, and saw all the pieces of the plane, including some pieces with the American Airlines livery clearly visible.

However, when I mentioned this anecdote on another forum, a Troofer confidently assured me that what she saw never happened. Because no plane hit the building.

BTW she was that day celebrating her second wedding anniversary. She married a JAG, and I was at their wedding on 9/11/99, which was held…just up the hill from the Pentagon.

PS, happy 10th anniversary, cuz!

A few years after I was watching a music channel and “New York, New York” by Ryan Adams came on. I froze, it had been filmed on September 7, 2001, and there perfectly framed in every shot of him singing were the twin towers.
I cried. It was so beautiful and so sad at the same time.

“Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears.”

God Bless all of those who lost their lives, God Bless all of those willing to give their lives, God Bless America.

Any chance we’re gonna get a special 9/12 thread as a place to channel reports and communiques from and to HA members attending the DC event and others throughout the land?
I know a number of requests have been made for same, but no one has heard back, far as I know.

Thanks.
TXUS on September 11, 2009 at 5:53 PM

Ditto that!

Reject this as a “day of service”!! This IS, and will be, a “DAY OF REMEMBRANCE”!

Don’t allow Obama to turn it into a different message!

hopefloats on September 11, 2009 at 6:03 PM

AMEN!