I write this because it's September 11th, now some sort of weird celebratory memorial of something horrendous that happened 10 years ago. I "do" remember it vividly - I was mildly traumatized by the events having been a new Mom with a kiddo at daycare and seeing jets fly over my house in Western PA like Armageddon had begun. To this day, I believe I witnessed Flight 93 flying over our home then in Sharon, PA. It truly was a horrific for people everywhere - our illusion of security was brought to the ground - literally.
But what is more memorable to me is the events that followed. When we watched the Presidential addresses that would follow, it became clear the attacks were being used [abused] as a smokescreen to wage war. This sticks out in my mind more vividly than anything else that happened. Rather than secure our borders and make our nation safe, we would wage more pain and suffering on what was now "the enemy" (defined as anyone who didn't support our war mongering). But in effort to suppress our insecurity, the president would create a puppet cabinet from which the director, Tom Ridge, would eventually resign when the incumbent asked him to raise the nation's terror alert right before the elections, presumably to help secure a second presidential term. The Department of Homeland Security became laughable as our "Terror Threat" remained "yellow" with no real measure of reason.
When Iraq was formally brought up as a source of Al Qaeda, it became crystal clear that our nation's leadership was no longer concerned with "we the people."
Today, thousands more have died and are still are dying. This to me, is what we should never forget. One day's tragedy has turned into a lifetime of suffering and loss for people all over the world. I will never forget September 11 because today, the horror of its aftermath still continues.
