Anniversaries

     Anniversaries pile up on us as we get older. Birthdays, wedding anniversaries, the days of our beloveds’ passings, other significant events accumulate until the calendar seems to hold nothing else. We’re chided about forgetting them, sometimes very harshly. We’re asked what we’ll do to commemorate the ones we remember.

     This whole year has been treated as an anniversary: the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which the late Gene Burns called the birth document of our nation. In truth, it announced our political separation from the Crown of England and proclaimed the thirteen original colonies to be “free and independent states,” but that’s mostly word-mincing. George Washington led a unified army against the British, and there was little doubt that the liberated colonies would unite politically after the Revolution was won.

     But today, specifically, is an anniversary of another sort.

     I have no fresh fountain of words to spew about Black Tuesday, September 11, 2001. I’ve emitted enough verbiage on that subject over the years behind us. If you’d like to pick at some leftovers, nibble on these. I have nothing new to say about it.

     The date remains vivid in my recollection for both historical and personal reasons. I’m sure it will remain so for as long as I live.

     I lost friends on that day twenty-five years ago. Of course, many other Americans could say the same. I have no idea whether the day remains as vivid for them as it does for me. It’s a subject I’m reluctant to broach.

     Today, in this Year of Our Lord 2026, we’re not the nation we were back then. We were united, animated, energized. We were ready to put forth our power to take vengeance, to slay and spare not. We could have taught the whole would the unwisdom of striking the United States of America. We could have made it a lesson that would ring down the centuries.

     Needless to say, we didn’t. We restrained ourselves. President George W. Bush, a good man if a so-so president, limited our counterstrike to the nation that harbored the architect of the atrocity. No doubt he felt that wholesale slaughter would be morally and geopolitically wrong. I haven’t got it in me to argue with his decisions.

     But from where I sit this morning, it looks like those who struck us are winning.

     A memorial event has been scheduled for later today, at the World Trade Center site. I can’t be there, and in truth I wouldn’t attend even if I were capable. Perhaps some of my Gentle Readers will go. If so, please let me know about the mood of those that gather there. Bloodthirsty? Weary? Defeated? What and who are we today, anyway?

     And however you choose to spend the twenty-fifth anniversary of the greatest atrocity ever inflicted upon these United States of America, the day nearly three thousand American lives were ended by murderous Muslim savages in service to the most violent and primitive creed ever foisted upon men, the day that Muslims here and elsewhere were seen celebrating the deaths of our countrymen and the destruction of New York City’s proudest edifice… well, do have a nice day.

Kinda says it all when it takes a lawsuit to get the Truth

Like the proverbial junkyard dog, I can't seem to let go of anything "1st Amendment" these days.

Here's the link to the cartoon on my site where you can find the related news links plus an earlier post containing the other cartoon I did today.

Lack of Love or "Let's Roll"

For the past week, I had only one cable “news” option -- CNN.  Jane Fonda would be proud of her ex-husband’s creation.  The big story for CNN that week: Rudy Giuliani said that he didn’t think Obama liked America.  The only “proof” CNN offered was that Obama said he did.  Almost unbelievably, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, like Giuliani, most Americans don’t think Obama loves America either.  Can you imagine that is being said about a sitting US president?  Less than half (47%) of the Americans polled think Obama loves America.  An astonishing 69% of Republicans say he doesn’t.

Although it may not be regarded as “history” yet, there was an event that took place on September 11, 2001 or 9/11 as it’s commonly known, that is well worth remembering. On that eventful September morning, Todd Morgan Beamer found himself the unelected leader of a   group of Americans aboard United Airlines Flight 93.  Coincidentally, Giuliani’s leadership surrounding that same event earned him the title of “America’s Mayor.”  

The parable of that plane has been on my mind for months now.  There are two aspects to that flight that are pertinent.  First, the plane had been taken over by those who don’t like America.  Secondly, there was a point in time where the passengers’ actions could, and could not, prevent the plane from plowing into that Pennsylvania field.  

For whatever reasons, my mind views Obama and his cronies at the controls of the levers of power in Washington, as dangerous to America as those terrorists were at the controls in the cockpit of that Boeing 757.   If not for the intervention of Todd Beamer and some of his fellow passengers, the airliner would likely have smashed into the Capitol of the United States.  If Obama and his ilk continue on their current flight path, it’s my conviction that investigators will soon be looking for the America’s Black Box to ascertain what caused our destruction.

Beamer and the boys of Flight 93 had some insight into their likely fate if they failed to act.  Their flight departed 42 minutes late due to runway delays. Six minutes after their takeoff, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower. Fifteen minutes after that, United Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower.  Flight 93 was over Ohio when the pilot radioed Cleveland to ask about an alert to "beware of cockpit intrusion."  Three minutes later, Cleveland controllers heard screams from the cockpit's open microphone. The radical Islamist hijackers had taken over the plane's controls and were overheard telling passengers, "Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board."

Beamer tried to make a call using the GTE airphone but ended up connected to GTE supervisor Lisa Jefferson. As FBI agents listened in, Beamer told Jefferson that hijackers had taken over and the pilots and one passenger were dead.  Based on cell phone accounts, Beamer and three others developed a plan to take back control of the plane from the hijackers.

 

Beamer told Jefferson that they were going to "jump on" the hijackers to thwart their plan. Beamer, a Christian college graduate, Sunday School teacher, husband, father of two young sons and with a daughter on the way, recited the Lord's Prayer and the 23rd Psalm with Jefferson as others joined in. Beamer told Jefferson, "If I don't make it, please call my family and let them know how much I love them." She then heard Beamer say, "Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll." 

According to Flight 93's voice data recorder, there was pounding and crashing sounds against the cockpit door.  A passenger screams in English. "Let's get them!"  A hijacker shouts, "Allahu Akbar!"   Minutes later a hijacker orders, "Pull it down! Pull it down!" The plane turned hard to the right, rolled on to its back, and plowed into an empty Shanksville, Pennsylvania field at 580 miles an hour, killing everyone on board. 

There were two points where this all might well have been prevented.  Thorough intelligence of the radical Islamists training and intentions could have prevented them from boarding, making Beamer’s actions unnecessary.  The second point was after they realized the hijackers had seized control. 

Barrack Obama is now in control of the cockpit.  Most Americans have concluded he really doesn’t care for his country or its passengers.   His unwillingness to obey, abide by, preserve and protect our Constitution has caused a lot of concern in the cabin.

Wondering whether it’ll be impact or “Let’s Roll” that happens next.