September 13, 2019

Forgetting September 11th

Reflections from a Vietnam vet on how quickly some folks lose site of important lessons.

I know it’s been 18 years since the terrorist attacks took place on 9/11. It may be because I’m old(er) or my brain was scrambled when I was blown up in Vietnam, but I vaguely remember a sense of patriotism that swept the country after nearly 3,000 fellow citizens were murdered by Muslim terrorists. We were horrified as we watched people throw themselves out of the World Trade Center’s windows, plunging to their deaths. We watched spellbound as the towers collapsed, covering everything in ash.

Then we saw 150 members of our legislature, Republicans and Democrats, express unity as they sang “God Bless America” together on the steps of the Capitol. We were a nation united against the threat of Islamic terrorism. How long would it last? About as long as the Left could convince the public they cared about American citizens; or until they understood they could attack the president they had just rallied behind for political gain.

Then it became “Bush lied, people died!” It seems they forgot who the enemy was. And their seeming hatred of this country has not abated. There were many times I wished President George W. Bush would address the lies that were being spewed forth, but he felt that was beneath the dignity of the office of the president. The next president had no such respect for the office. Whether it was our policemen around the country or our military, lack of respect for both from the Oval Office was obvious. For law enforcement, respect was not just absent, it was anti-police vitriol.

Fast forward to the 2018 midterm elections where voters sent two anti-American Muslim women to Congress. Now we begin to change what actually happened on 9/11 to “Some people did something” (Congresswomen Omar) to “Airplanes Took Aim at the Twin Towers on 9/11” (New York Times). How quickly we forget.

For those who have been paying attention, this has not happened in a vacuum. I’m surprised those on the far Left could keep quiet as long as they did. From the moment our troops went into Iraq, President Bush and our troops were vilified by people like John Kerry (who served in Vietnam, don’t ya know!). Kerry “botched” a joke: “If you don’t [make the most of an education], you get stuck in Iraq.” This was interesting because our military at that time, and still today, was among the most educated group of warriors to ever serve.

So many politicians were for the war in Iraq and the War on Terror until they were against it. They replaced patriotism with political gain. Any lie they could spread against our president and our troops who were putting their lives on the line was acceptable. They have not stopped putting politics before country to this day.

President Bush would not speak up against his critics. President Trump has no problem responding to his critics, hitting twice as hard as they hit him. And the media and the Left (but I repeat myself) hate him for it. But to us regular Americans, we know that while you may hate Trump’s style, you can’t deny his love for this country.

Something to think about?

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