Five Years Later, #2

Perhaps the most enduring legacy of the events of 9/11 is the place we now give to firefighters, EMTs, and police who serve in dangerous and life-threatening positions. A moving memorial now exists on the wall along the fire station across from Ground Zero. There will be two more pictures from the memorial over these next few days.

When we talk about some of the shifts these past five years, the current controversy raging with the ABC docu-drama and the seeming political need to place blame for what happened. I find that very sad. What did the Clinton know and when did they know it? Who goofed? Why didn't they stop it? If someone else had been in the White House, it wouldn't have happened. On and on it will go because it has to be more than just that we were out-foxed and surprised.

Blame is so important, it seems. All this did start before 9/11, of course. It may even be built into the political process. But something shifted at Ground Zero. It started to deeper. We were shocked and afraid and angry. But we had no war to start in the way we did after Pearl Harbor. We got even more polarized than we had been. Patriotism gets redefined as supporting the current administration. That can easily turn the opposition party into an unpatriotic party. We see that happen in many places in the world. Can it happen here?

Let us hope not. Let us hope that the comments of the graffiti below can hold true.




Our foundations are still here. They are not a hole in the ground. They have our whole life and nature as a nation built upon them. Only we can destroy those when we give in to the fear and anger and need to blame and label our fellow Americans.