Bush
congress.org/congressorg/bio/user...d=20004&letter_id=1426798096

America is not on a war footing. Most people don’t even seem to realize that we’re at war and that this war is critical to the survival of Western civilization.

The USA could use a shot of testosterone.

It struck me again because I had put a YouTube video on my journal. It was some sort of tribute video with various footage of the day. There were a lot of those going around, some well done, some cheesy. All done out of a good heart. We have a need for remembrances, for memorials, for tributes of various kinds. It’s just how we are as human beings.

But as I was about to shut down the computer for the night, I had a comment from a friend, asking me if I could put the video behind a cut because it upset her. She lives in the area, so I’m sure she saw and heard and felt things that I can only imagine. And this video - although you actually have to click it to see it - bothered her.

I really couldn’t believe it. For one thing, I only hear from her a few times a year. I assumed she wasn’t even reading my journal anymore, though I guess she has been, just not commenting. And I felt terrible. Normally, I would put a friendship over making a point. This is someone I love dearly. I know these anniversaries are difficult and I have no desire to add to her hurt. But I very well may have ended our friendship by what I did next.

I told her that I could not do accomodate her request. I simply could not participate in this ongoing attempt to erase these events from the collective memory. It wasn’t until this sad and painful exchange that I saw this issue in a way I hadn’t before.

No one wants to remember the horrors of that day. I don’t live in the area nor was I directly affected, and yet I sure don’t want to remember it. And I’m sure those who saw it up close would give anything to wipe it from their minds.

But this HAPPENED. And it happened for a REASON. And it’s still going on and could easily happen again. Six years on and people can’t bear to see a video? (Like I said, it wasn’t even playing, it’s one of those clickable things.)

If that’s the case, then what do we have left but victimhood? And that’s just not healthy. There’s a time and place for the mourning. In the regular events of life, there comes a time to move on. But this is not a regular event of life. It’s not something that happened one day and then ended, such as the events of Hurricane Katrina and even the tsunami of 2004 - something that unless we were personally affected we can say we wept for those lost, did what we could to help, and now it’s time to set it aside and get on with the rest of life.

This is ongoing. And because we absolutely refuse to look at the reasons why these people did this to us, we’re stuck. We can’t do anything. We hate to always be crying, but… we don’t know what else to do. I don’t think the human psyche can function in a state of constant mourning, so the only other option is to… not face it at all. To remove from ourselves any reminder of the events and feelings of that day.

And to silence anyone who dares to make us face it again.

***

I am sorry for babbling on. Your comments and my subsequent experience had me thinking in a way I had not before. I could be mistaken in this, I am still trying to work it out in my mind. But I keep trying to make sense of the way people continue to behave, and this explanation seems to make some sort of sense.

Thank you again for your courage in service to the United States. I just wish more WWII vets were around to slap heads and wake up this upcoming generation to reality and history.