A piece of steel brought here from New York serves as a local reminder.
Thousands of lost lives — to say nothing of lost liberties. As Ronald Bailey puts it:
…the costs of 9/11 to our liberties are incalculable. Instead of calming and urging us to defend our values, our leaders opted to instill fear and ultimately have given the terrorists their greatest victory: The ongoing of corrosion of our individual freedoms and constitutional rights.
As we solemnly remember those who died 15 years ago of those despicable atrocities, let us renounce fear and vow to defend our liberties against all enemies foreign and domestic.
Absolutely true. Reminds me of what I said in 2002:
As an admirer of Ayn Rand for most of my life, I share her view of the American skyscraper as more than just a building. Each one is a monument to individuality, to the American “can-do” spirit, and, most of all, to freedom. The Twin Towers stood as gigantically strong, seemingly indestructible, twin pillars of freedom. I will never be able to shake that awful memory of how, in the instant these giants came crashing down, they were suddenly not strong at all, and certainly not to be taken for granted. Instead, they appeared very frail and delicate.
And now, I know that American freedom is frail and delicate. It cannot and must not ever be taken for granted.
Bad as it was to see our enemies bring down such a symbol of freedom as the World Trade Center, it was even worse to see ordinary Americans being told that it was their fault. Unbelievably, this message did not come solely from Osama bin Laden and his supporters. People here, on the left as well as the right, told us that we were to blame. Next, a chorus of voices declared that because our enemies had destroyed the Twin Towers, that we had too much freedom, and that some of it must now be taken away. That was too much for me. It has taken me some time to realize the connection, but I now see that our freedom is like the Twin Towers: seemingly strong and indestructible, but at the same time frail and delicate — and quite mortal in the face of an evil threat.
Nothing new to say that hasn’t been said many times, yet not enough times.
Which is why September 11 must never be forgotten.
Comments
5 responses to “Why bother to remember?”
It will be forgotten by some. It has been forgotten by some.
I’m not one of the some.
At this late date, 15 years into an endless war, I also remember what life was like ante 9/11. Here’s a few what ifs:
What if we just bombed the fsck out of Afghanistan, made sure al Qaueda, Mulah Omar et al achieved room temperature and left?
What if we’d declared total war against Iran instead of Jimmuh’s half-assed rescue attempt? Bomb them to rubble, and make the rubble dance and so on. “Rubble doesn’t cause trouble”
What if they just tossed in a grenade when they found Saddam in that spider hole, and we left the Iraqis to work out their own fate?
What if we had a foreign policy that was consistent, made sense and worked on behalf of the American People?
the costs of 9/11 to our liberties are incalculable. Instead of calming and urging us to defend our values, our leaders opted to instill fear and ultimately have given the terrorists their greatest victory: The ongoing of corrosion of our individual freedoms and constitutional rights.
Wouldn’t that be a reason we should ‘get over it’?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating that, it’s just a philosophical question.
remember this. when bush was given intelligence briefing in aug. 2001 entitled bin ladin determined to attack in america with airplanes. he told cia “alright you have covered your ass now I am off to the ranch!
Captain,
A general warning is not very helpful.