When I began this blog in 2001, I was appalled by President Bush's headlong rush to an illegal war (we were not in fact under attack). As time wore on and Bush began his assault on the Constitution and any people bold enough to criticize, I believed that "the republic is endangered more by actions of our own government than by those of any terrorist." With the election of a high-minded, compassionate, intelligent man like Barack Obama, my fears have ceased.
"Honor them with peace, not war"
United for Peace
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
OK, tomorrow is the day known as 9/11, a convenient shorthand for something that happened a little bit to Washington DC and a lot to New York and immediate environs.
In southern Connecticut the Probate Courts were busy for the next several months trying to process estates where there was no death certificate (I know because I work in a Probate Court in eastern Connecticut, and saw the memo from Probate Admdinistration in Hartford.)
To the Administration it's the perfect emoto-generator to build support for a war that makes little sense and is contrary to our principles.
Around the country, it's an abstraction, not too different from an earthquake in Peru, a riot in Spain, a flood of the Yangtze River. To the networks, its a made-for-tv event. Below is a bit of borrowed comment from the pages of Tom Tomorrow :
My heart goes out to all those who lived through it first hand. I won't be watching TV either on the anniversary.
Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
9-11 ... what it means
OK, tomorrow is the day known as 9/11, a convenient shorthand for something that happened a little bit to Washington DC and a lot to New York and immediate environs.
In southern Connecticut the Probate Courts were busy for the next several months trying to process estates where there was no death certificate (I know because I work in a Probate Court in eastern Connecticut, and saw the memo from Probate Admdinistration in Hartford.)
To the Administration it's the perfect emoto-generator to build support for a war that makes little sense and is contrary to our principles.
Around the country, it's an abstraction, not too different from an earthquake in Peru, a riot in Spain, a flood of the Yangtze River. To the networks, its a made-for-tv event. Below is a bit of borrowed comment from the pages of Tom Tomorrow :
If I express a certain reluctance to spend the next week wallowing in the emotions of that day--well, unless you were here, you have no idea. This wasn't something I watched on television. I experienced it all in glorious surround-sound three dimensional smell-o-vision, kiddos, and I don't need to buy the souvenir DVD--I've already got the damn memories to last a lifetime. Am I a shockingly callous leftist, putting it all behind me, pretending it never happened, so that I can get on with the important work of denouncing American imperialism? Well, no. I'm a New Yorker, and like every other New Yorker, I've had to live with this one every minute of every day for the past year--choking on the stench of that terrible funeral pyre for weeks; cringing at the sound of low-flying planes for months; and wondering what happens next for...well, for the indeterminate future, that's for damn sure. So I'll be dealing with this in my own way, thank you very much, and you'll just have to forgive me if that includes taking a pass on the Great Vicarious Day of National Grief Hosted By Bryant Gumbel and Sponsored by the Refreshing New Taste of Pepsi Light.
My heart goes out to all those who lived through it first hand. I won't be watching TV either on the anniversary.
Palema
6:14 AM
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Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
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