Don't Let The Terrorists Win

Each year I wonder what to write about on this day and in recent years I have just skipped it. Then an email arrived in my inbox from Michael Moore and I found inspiration:

I am opposed to the building of the "mosque" two blocks from Ground Zero. I want it built ON Ground Zero.

Why? Because I believe in an America that protects those who are the victims of hate and prejudice. I believe in an America that says you have the right to worship whatever God you have, wherever you want to worship. And I believe in an America that says to the world that we are a loving and generous people and if a bunch of murderers steal your religion from you and use it as their excuse to kill 3,000 souls, then I want to help you get your religion back. And I want to put it at the spot where it was stolen from you.

Words can not describe the turmoil that exists inside of me on this subject. PASSIONATE feelings compete convincingly - some fueled by hurt, anger and a sense of duty and others originating from the caring, accepting and protective parts of me. I don't think there is an issue for these modern times that equals how the world has changed since September 11th 2001. It has, and continues to, define us.

Michaels words hit me like a hammer to the forehead. Eloquent as always, he is right. Just because the people who enacted 9/11 considered themselves Muslims does not mean that Islam attacked "us" that day. Just because some terribly bad people are intent on using terrorism in the name of Islam does not make all Muslims terrorists. Terrorists are terrorists regardless of race or creed. I hate the terrorists with every fiber of my being and I want to do everything within my power to stop them. To end them even.

Many of "us" are Muslims - it is not a crime to be a Muslim - and more than anything I want to live in a world where it is both safe and ok for you to be Muslim if that's what you choose. This means we have to stand up for them, just as we would for any other religious belief, because allowing injustice to spread and divide us only hurts all of us further.

Some days it seems as if these two sets of feelings are such opposing values that they don't belong together, but in reality I feel both of them equally and know I desperately need both to produce a rational and tempered response. I have to make a clear choice as to which one wins and I choose FREEDOM.

If we don't rise up to protect freedom (for everyone) then the terrorists have already won.

The Awesome Responsibility of Citizenship

"To you from failing hands we throw The torch;
be yours to hold it high."

From Vimy To Kandahar, for everything you do...
Thank You.

Remembering the day the world cracked open

This little movie made in commemoration by a NY City citizen shows the raw face of what happened 5 years ago today. I remember - as I am sure everyone does - the images burned forever into my soul. I remember exactly how I felt as I watched the second tower fall.


I didn't need to cry and oddly I was not overcome by anger or rage. But the warrior inside of me was awakened, alerted to the new world that I was observing. In my mind I tiptoed to the edge of the world I had known, where a huge crack had just suddenly appeared, and I looked into it knowing that everything had changed. Obviously I was observing an Act of War, something I had been trained to respond to and this instinct felt strong. I thought I was going to have to re-enlist.

I was not a huge fan of the new President but when he said "Freedom was attacked today by a faceless coward," I knew he was right. And when he said "Freedom will be defended," I knew I was ready. I knew if this could happen so close to us that it could happen to us as well. I knew that I would protect whatever world my children, who stood watching the Towers fall with me, lived in.

As circumstances would have it Duncan talked me out of the re-enlistment and as time went by it was evident that would not be required of me. Actually as time went on a lot changed... and as Duncan so eloquently put it... actions taken by the President and his administration forced a change in my feelings and opinions. Enough so that and I must admit I have come to believe, especially with and since the onset of "Operation Iraqi Freedom," that my definition of "Freedom" is different than that of President Bush's.


Freedom. To the very core of my being it means everything. These past five years I have been unsure how to defend it.

Some things never get back to the way they were

Three Years Today.

"Every day is hard, but this day is a little bit harder," said Nancy Brandemarti, who was attending the ground zero remembrance for the first time. "This day is just a day to think about him."

Today, parents and grandparents read the list of the 2,749 people killed at the WTC on Sept 11th 2001. The recitation lasted more than two hours. It's odd how just a couple of hours can have such an impact on the world.

"We also remember our firm resolve that such hate should never again transform an ordinary day into a day of horror"

“September 11 will forever be a day that we stop and remember the moment terror changed our world... Two years later, we find that our wounds are deep and the pain of our losses remains. History will never forget the events of September 11. But neither will it forget the will of humankind to rise above hate and prevail over violence and extremism.” - Prime Minister Jean Chretien

Let's Roll

There is so much emotion. So many memories. So many reactions. It makes it hard for one to define exactly what September 11th means to her, two full years after the fact.

Only, it's not really after the fact. We live in a post 9/11 world - almost everything, it seems at times, is a result or a reaction to what happened to us during those few hours. 9/11 is everything and nothing all at the same time. Everyone remembers where they were and what they were thinking at that moment in time.

Well, not everyone. And this is a day to remember those people.

So much was lost. Was anything gained?

Remembering Sept 11
Flag of Rememberance
Flight 93

When the search for Peace becomes Perpetual War

Reading my Adbusters (July/August 2003) today reminds me that I should still be politically motivated in my blog posts, even though the worlds media seems to have calmed down, creating the allusion that there is nothing to scream about. Well, thats a farce. Shit happens everywhere, all the time, even here (I really have meant to post about same sex marriages - which I unequivocally support). I love Adbusters. It is my favourite magazine (Duncan gets credit for my subscription as it was a Christmas gift) and I am glad it comes to pierce my awareness every once in a while, wakes me up. I have a brain for a reason. I need to challenge my beliefs and my existence, and the beliefs I employ within that existence. I need to be uncomfortable and critical atleast once in a while. An oyster slowly forms a pearl from a single grain of sand that irritates it, as it gently mulls it around...

The theme of this latest Adbusters centres around the mixed messages we are consistently bombarded with, culturally and politically (I usually refer to them as "propaganda"). The cover(s) exhibit people screaming (reminiscent of "the Scream") and sport the words:

PREEMPTIVE WAR IS NECESSARY
PREEMPTIVE WAR IS TERRORISM

The issue contains a provocative article, written by James MacKinnon, who interviewed Richard Falk (Visiting Professor of Global Studies at the U of California and Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University) on the familiarilty of FASCISM in some of what we are hearing and expected to accept within our newest geopolitical climate. It's worth the read, but here is a taste to tantilize:

"Q. Can you tell us your definition of traditional fascism?

Yes: the convergence of military and economic power on behalf of an ultranationalist ideology that views its enemies - internally and externally - as evil and subject to extermination or extreme punishment."

Hmmm. Food for thought... Sound familiar? Irritated yet? Remember, the worst state of being a human can be in is the state of being "right". Wouldn't we rather have pearls? 

Then They Came for Me

First they came for the Muslims, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Muslim.

Then they came to detain immigrants indefinitely solely upon the certification of the Attorney General, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an immigrant.

Then they came to eavesdrop on suspects consulting with their attorneys, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a suspect.

Then they came to prosecute non-citizens before secret military commissions, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a non-citizen.

Then they came to enter homes and offices for unannounced "sneak and peek" searches, and I didn't speak up because I had nothing to hide.

Then they came to reinstate Cointelpro and resume the infiltration and surveillance of domestic religious and political groups, and I didn't speak up because I had stopped participating in any groups.

Then they came for anyone who objected to government policy because it aided the terrorists and gave ammunition to America's enemies, and I didn't speak up because...... I didn't speak up.

Then they came for me....... and by that time no one was left to speak up.

- Stephen Rohde, a constitutional lawyer and President of the ACLU of Southern California, is indebted to the inspiration of Rev. Martin Niemoller (1937).