Ergh...

I have a lot of thoughts in light of yesterday's anniversary. Recommended reading is an essay by Sars. She was down the street from the WTC on 9/11/01. This is a great page in general, but Sars took a break from her usual hilarity on this date, for obvious reasons. For those of us who live far away from NYC, this is a real look in to what it was like that day for those who live there.

You know, I've had some hard knocks in my day. But I just can not fathom what it must have been like for people in those towers, in the Pentagon, etc. Like most Americans, I was struck dumb by the actions of those on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. When I first heard their story, I could see in my minds eye, plain as day, what they must have been doing. Gives a person the shivers.

While these terrorist activites reflected the absolute worst monstrosities that we as people are capable of, the aftermath of the events showed the absolute best. Tales of men carrying people in a wheelchairs down dozens of flights of stairs; of rescue workers working to their death to try and get people out of the towers; of course the heroics in the air over Pennsylvania; of people going to NY from all over the country to offer assistance and hand out food to rescue workers; of everbody raising funds, from George Clooney to little kids collecting change in front of the grocery. Even the cast of Everybody Loves Raymond were involved. I heard Ray Romano on the radio yesterday. Evidently, the cast was in NYC that day, doing interviews. After everything went down, they came across a businessman in Central Park. He was covered in soot. He lived in NJ and could not get home. They had him shower in one of their hotel rooms and Ray gave him some clean clothes. When it turned out he would be unable to get home at all that night, they all went to dinner and the man stayed with one of them in his hotel. They still keep in touch via e-mail today.

We tend to think that in times of crisis only our darkest traits will come up to the surface. I'm sure that happens sometimes and that for every man risking his life to save another from the fire there was a George Costanza, pushing people out of the way in order to run out of the door. As upsetting as the attacks themselves were, as heartbreaking as it is to think of all of those people who lost loves ones, it is heartening to find out that people are capable of huge acts of courage and selflessnes.

I think it wise to remember though, while we are keeping those people in our thoughts, that there are countries wherein this type of terrorist activity happens on a weekly and even a daily basis. Perhaps they don't lose thousands of their citizens on a single day, but they lose hundreds every month. They are afraid to leave their homes or even to stay in them. They live in fear every moment of their lives.

It's very easy to ignore this type of pain when it is happening in somebody else's back yard. It's difficult to deal with, difficult to get your mind around. It's just easier to ignore it all. But now that we have insight into what it's like to have bombs going off in your front room (or planes flying in to your most beloved buildlings, as the case may be), it is my hope that perhaps we can see the world in a different, more compassionate light. It is also my hope that we will think about this before we start acting like bullies, muscling our way in to someone else's country because we don't like who heads it up or because that leader isn't giving us the access to his oil fields that we so desire. I hope we will think of the thousands of innocent people who will be caught in the crossfire and the generations of people to come who will continue to pay for our oil-grubbing actions, as they continue to pay now for our actions in the Gulf War so many years ago.

I am in no way defending Saddam Hussein or Iraq in general. I am saying, though, that perhaps we should slow down and think of the moral consequences of our actions. Let the weapons inspectors in, let them do their jobs before we decide to drop the bombs.

And you know what? If Saddam wasn't eager to get his hands on nukes before, something tells me that in the face of more American air-strikes, he's REALLY desperate to get his hands on them now.

On a slightly different note: I find it disgusting that we sit here on our collective high horse, condemning terrorist activites and comparing Saddam to Hitler, all the while seeking immunity for our own personnel from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Hmmm...why might that be? Can you say Guantanomo Bay?

It is because I love my country that I speak out about these things. I don't want anybody messing with it - not externally OR internally. That includes our elected officials. I want America to live up to what it is supposed to stand for.

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