Remembering

It was eerie here this morning, the way the sky was flawlessly blue, the temperature in the low 70’s, the air so clean and clear with the promise of a perfect day ahead. Exactly the same as that morning. A first hint of fall. A bit more bounce in everyone’s step as they walked to work, filed into their office buildings, joked with friends and co-workers at the company coffee machine.

Then, the unimaginable. Two airliners, a horrifying plume of smoke and dust, a world changed forever.

You know, I don’t like days like this anymore. Such glorious weather, which should fill us all with a sense of hope and optimism and “I can do anything” spirit, instead stirs in me a feeling of foreboding. There are too many memories that rush to the surface, triggered by the hint of a breeze on a crisp September morning.

I can’t help but think of the fear and confusion that overwhelmed us all at that time. The miles and miles of heart-wrenching fliers pasted to every square inch of Manhattan wall space, helpless cries for information about missing spouses and children and parents and lovers, all lost in the blink of an eye. Long trips on foot through National Guard checkpoints to bring water, food, encouragement to rescue and recovery volunteers, and residents whose neighborhoods no longer functioned. Placing flowers at the local firehouse, and crying openly with firefighters simply because there were no adequate words to say. The faces of my two friends, gone forever in a hell of flame and rubble. The smells of electrical fires and decaying flesh that lingered in the air until December.

So I wonder on this day, four long years later, if our leaders, our President, have really learned anything from the terrible lessons delivered to us that morning. If they’ve spent the past four years doing all they can to protect the American people from a repeat of that fateful moment. If they’ve sought out the best minds available to confront those issues that led to the attack. If they’ve put childish things aside, and grown beyond their limitations to do some serious work on our behalf, and, more importantly, on behalf of creating a more tolerant, peaceful world.

Sadly, the answer seems to be a resounding “no”.

As we watch the Bush Administration's bastardization of this solemn anniversary, its continuing exploitation of 9/11 to justify the unjustifiable slaughter of innocents half a world away, its persistence in rewarding the inept while making the world a more dangerous place than ever before, we must vow to channel our anger and indignation into forcing a change in Washington. We have to get actively involved in whatever ways we can to demand intelligence and accountability from those who hold the power. We should join in the chorus of voices that will descend on D.C. September 24th, and insist on an end to the inexcusable folly this President contends is the right course of action. We must rise up and say, “NO MORE”.

To do any less is to allow this Administration to perpetually dishonor the memories of the many who lost everything that clear, blue fall morning. And that we simply can’t abide.