Raising the Issue, Raising Our Voices
It’s taken me four years, but I am no longer afraid to admit that the onset of the month of September seems to turn me into a different person. I don’t know if it’s the images of that fateful September day in 2001 in my hometown that will be forever burned into my memory, or if it’s the fact that as we move farther away from the event itself, people talk about it less. I don’t know. I only know when September falls—and I mean falls—the ground seems to rumble under me all over again. That and that unpopular yet burning desire to “talk about it” rears its persistent head.
When I first moved here in late 2001, I didn’t mind the onslaught of questions I endured about 9/11. I chalked it up to human nature, curiosity, fear and genuine concern. After all, I was there—right there—when the tragedy took place. In my mind, the questions were preferable to the deafening silence I feared we as a nation would someday slip into like a comfortable pair of slippers. Indeed, it’s a harsh and hard thing to talk about, but for an eye witness, there is a darker, more daunting alternative: letting the event fade from our collective memory. I’m not about to do that, if just in honor of those co-workers, friends and peers I watched, clinging to a window frame 102 floors above the ground, on the cusp of a life-and-death decision they never bargained for when they boarded a subway to go to work that shining, clear September day.
Unpopular, uncomfortable and politically incorrect as it is in more left-leaning circles, I have found great comfort in raising the topic of 9/11 each September, particularly among Liberals. It’s never a pleasant experience, and usually amounts to an emotional jihad launched at my very being. But I’d rather endure the visceral responses, the hatred, and the attempts to silence me; because the day we stop talking about it is the day we slip further into complacency. And we all know what that can mean.
Not that this is any secret to any of my Republican compatriots, but Liberals don’t like anyone to disagree with them. I rather like to consider Liberals latter-day apostles of Mussolini and Stalin, evangelically spreading the fascist message to all. Even so, worse than that, Liberals do not like to talk about 9/11. If they say anything at all about it, it’s usually some offhand comment about how relentlessly imperialistic U.S. foreign policy “led to” 9/11, or how our consistent and systematic mistreatment of developing nations “contributed to a pervasive world attitude of hatred for the U.S.,” as I was told recently at a dinner party. To be fair, the speaker played her part well, sporting the red face and bulging veins you’re apt to see upon challenging a Liberal’s view of the world. And you have to give them credit: they are pithy indeed in their attempts to redesign and repackage what amounts to a clear-cut message: America deserved it.
When I hear those words, I no longer snap back with an angry or disgusted retort. I have abandoned reason in the face of anyone who is capable of believing we Americans called this tragedy upon ourselves. I think of my old friend Tim O’Brien. Tim and I went to the same high school in a somewhat upscale suburb of New York City. We considered ourselves fortunate – both of our families had spared us from the innards of the New York City public school system for what they hoped would be a better life. I remember Tim’s basketball games, his sense of humor, and his smile. When he made partner at Cantor Fitzgerald, it was about the time we had all lost touch. I thought it would be temporary. We were in the throes of pursuing high-powered careers on Wall Street. He was 40 years old, already heading up one of the leading firms in world finance. I remember hearing about his success and vowing to call him one day to meet for lunch. I wanted to tell him I was about to have my second child. I wanted to congratulate him on his achievements. Instead, on that brilliantly sunny morning in September 2001, I prayed he was not one of the people who had to contemplate taking his own life.
As we walk through another September, it is a good time to do a great deal of remembering. In addition to remembering the immeasurable loss we suffered on so many levels on September 11, there are other important things we must remember—the Democrat- and Liberal-sponsored and supported events and conditions that led up to that fateful day.
Let us remember that the 1990s, under the tutelage of President Bill Clinton, was the decade in which Osama bin Laden ratcheted up his war against us. It was under Bill Clinton’s anemic impersonation of a Commander in Chief that bin Laden waged a steady campaign of murder against Americans. According to author Rich Lowry, who detailed the truth behind the Clinton presidency in his book, Legacy, “Even then, [bin Laden] encountered a country, within bounds, willing to tolerate terrorist operatives on its own shores and the murder of its nationals, even the crippling of its great war ships.” I don’t know about you, but to me, the link between the weak, undisciplined and corrupt regime of censorship and distraction led by Mr. Clinton, and the events of September 11, is indisputable, direct, and inextricable. Instead of putting the military and intelligence pedal to the metal, Clinton was exhausting his resources and attention putting out the many fires he had smoldering around him, centered on his impropriety. Far better to promote “political correctness”—so prominent a part of the Clinton culture—than to have to make hard-line decisions regarding terrorism.
Let us not forget, too, how vehemently Bill Clinton needed to be liked. Clinton’s fear of risk, fear of decisions and most of all, his fear of offending other countries, accompanied his moral shallowness nicely in avoiding dealing with what amounted to the greatest foreign policy crisis of his presidency.
The first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 should have changed everything in American policy, and should have turned the then-current administration on its heels about what we formerly knew and believed about terrorism. Instead, it was shrugged off. Let us remember that President Clinton—who worked tirelessly with the press to be regarded as a leader who possessed great sympathy for disaster victims—never once showed his face in New York at the time of the first bombing. Let us remember that Bill Clinton—the Liberals’ and Democrats’ messiah—instead admonished his fellow Americans against “overreacting.”
I hope we also remember the decimation that occurred on September 11 was eerily preceded by the Clinton administration’s decimation of our intelligence network. This translated into fewer resources, both human and non-human, worldwide, to fight what was clearly, evidently, an “in our face” problem. If a deliberate bombing in the financial center of the world didn’t convince the Clinton Democrats we needed to inject life into our intelligence network, what could?
This leads to what is perhaps most important for us to remember: that the liberal ideology that pervades the Democratic Party today has not weakened, and has not been doused by the sobering effects of 9/11. The political left in our country sees things much more clearly now. In many of their eyes, we deserved what happened, and any attempts to prevent and pre-empt another 9/11 are labeled “evil,” “infringements of civil liberties” or “profiling.”
We Republicans have a charge to keep, to use the words of President Bush. I happen to think ol’ GWB was referring to more than just his role as Commander in Chief when he crafted that phrase. I believe we each own a part in keeping America free from terrorism. It’s as if we’re symbolically walking alongside each and every defense, intelligence and military worker in our nation, every day, whether with our vote or our voice. I suppose our vote is the highest volume our voices can reach. Either way, let us enter 2006 and especially, 2008—crucial election years—with a refresher course in what it means today to be a Democrat or Liberal. Every time you step into the voting booth, stuff an envelope or just do one more “lit drop,” (with which we volunteers are so intimately familiar) step back and remember. Remember what most Liberals and Democrats really believe about 9/11. Remember their knee-jerk reaction was to blame George Bush, but remain conspicuously silent on the lead role Bill Clinton played in paving the way for 9/11 to happen.
Remember to overlook the differences within our Party and emphasize what we have in common. Remember to hold steadfast to the belief that America is, and remains, the greatest nation on Earth for a reason. Remember that your efforts—each and every one of them, big and small—are steps toward supporting the Party that has promised never to forget.
Karen Hazel
Delegate, Senate District 41
Edina
