Indelible

An entry's not for everyone

[originally posted in "An entry that's not for everyone" ]



Before I commence this entry, I think I ought to give fair warning about this entry. Heed the title. Heed the rating. Realize this is a journal, and I will not apologize for my opinions. This entry contains a lot of anger, bitterness, resentment and hatred. Much of this entry has content that many Americans might find offensive, even sacrilegious. If any of the following offends you

LEAVE NOW!

That said, on with the entry.

I think I was the only Floridian that woke up remembering today is/was 9/11. It disgusted me. It really did. However, it disgusts me for rather atypical reasons. As I stated in previous entries, I feel that 9/11 was inevitable and deserved. No, I do not approve of the attacks themselves; the mass homicide of thousands is certainly a crime worthy of the killer's slow, torturous death. However, I have felt for years that this nations has been too proud. 9/11, then, would've served as a bit of a humbling device. Did it work? It did but only to a certain extent. For a while, we as a nation were a little more humble and certainly more aware of those (people and things) around us. The call for unity, however, reignited the pride, the pride that has lead us to never let go of a tragedy that doesn't need to be rehashed on an annual basis. These memorials, "freedom fries", and the obsessive flag-bearing drives me mad. These superficial shows of patriotism and even the word patriot itself make me nauseous. I know there's a couple of you that hear me on that last one. What pisses me off the most is that we are treating 9/11 so differently than any other terrorist attack because it's the first with the most "credible" evidence of being the handiwork of non-US citizens. I put "credible" in quotation marks because I still think they pointed the finger too fast. Do I think that Al-Qaeda isn't responsible for the WTC and Pentagon attacks? I'm not so sure of anything anymore. However, there is the possibility that we are at war with Afghanistan even though we shouldn't be. Why do I say that? Let me point to another act that at least to my knowledge is classified as a terrorist act:

April 19, 1995
bombing of Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City, OK

Easily the best example of domestic terrorism. It was originally thought to have been committed by Middle Eastern citizens but was in fact committed by an American named Timothy McVeigh. As opposed to 9/11, 4/19 was actually investigated for a month before they realized that an American had in fact claimed over 300 lives, 300 lives that were spent serving the US
government. Note that until 9/11/2001, that event had claimed the most lives in an act of terror on American soil. While 4/19 is different from 9/11, I feel that 4/19 holds the key to handling terrorism. It was investigated properly, no war was waged within weeks after the attacks, and the criminal was rightly punished in due time. Do we still hold yearly memorials for that? No, although there will be one (better be one) next year, as it will be the tenth anniversary of the attack. Perhaps I should wait it out another few years, and maybe this perpetual cycle of 9/11 memorials will fade. It makes me wonder if the nation as a whole will ever be sane again. To me, 9/11 caused us to become even cockier than ever. It is up to change that cycle and to treat all days of terror acts equally. I will remember 9/11 as a catalyst that failed; I will remember 4/19 as a day of great importance, a day that taught us lessons we have unfortunately unlearned.

Of course, it is hard to remember these days of terrorist acts anniversaries when you're still trying to pick up the pieces from a phenomenal natural disaster that has altered everyone's state of mind. It is very real for the photo techs that process thousands of hurricane damage photos and those of us driving down the roads. Trees are bent, twisted and snapped. Boats once in the water were carried onto land. Signs are blown out, curved and sometimes severely bent. Sewage is backing up into people's homes. If the power hasn't been restored in an area, it's pitch black at night. Though traffic lights are now working, some are still missing, with maybe two or three lights controlling the main intersections, some of those roads (US1) having up to 8 lanes. Trees are uprooted and missing leaves everywhere you turn. It's unbelievable. The one thing that keeps me from speculating how much worse it could've been is the slowly increasing hope that Ivan will spare us. Ivan is nasty, but he's moving further west by the day. He'll bring us some rain (like we need rain), but I think he'll be far enough away to not wreak all hell on us. Recovery at least where I frequently can be found is moving along nicely. Hallelujah.

In a way, I'm glad Frances swept through. It gave us something to think about besides 9/11.