Day: September 11, 2010

Flight 93 And Shanksville, Pennsylvania Heroism And Unity: Why Can’t We Emulate Them Nine Years Later?

Today, September 11, is not only the 9th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but also the heroic action of strangers who united together in courage and conviction to overcome terrorists on Flight 93, who intended to crash into the White House or Capitol Hill!

These people–heroes and heroines–came from different parts of the nation, different backgrounds, different traditions–but they all united in a cause they knew they would not survive, the overcoming of the terrorists on board!

Their plane smashed into the ground at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all aboard, but saving the country from an even worse tragedy, and an appropriate memorial is being planned to honor these decent people who sacrificed themselves for the betterment of their nation!

Why, oh why, can we not today, as a nation, show the same level of sacrifice and commitment to our nation, that these courageous passengers on Flight 93 demonstrated nine years ago today? ๐Ÿ™

A true honoring of these courageous, brave citizens would be to rededicate ourselves to emulate their behavior, as that would be for the benefit of ALL of us, rather than the self serving, selfish, narrow minded exploitation of September 11, that has become endemic as the years have gone by! ๐Ÿ™

We owe it to them to reconsider whether making September 11 something to politicize is moral and ethical, and rather to see it as something to be respected and honored and to unite us!

A Fitting Tribute To September 11 Victims: Finally, Congress Must Pass First Responders Health Coverage Legislation!

As a fitting tribute to the victims of September 11, and because it is the right thing to do in addition, it is the appropriate moment for the Congress to stop the politics, and claims that we cannot afford to come to the aid of first responders, while cutting taxes for two percent of the population that already has much of the total income of the nation! It is time to pass into law the First Responders Health Coverage legislation that the Republican party has been blocking in the House of Representatives and the Senate! ๐Ÿ™

No matter what, it is time to hold accountable every last Republican and conservative Democrat who refuses to support appropriate government coverage of all of the first responders of September 11 who have suffered from the effects of the toxic air, who have become victims of cancer and other maladies, and compensate the families of those who have died from the effects of their first responder heroism!

No one should be elected or re-elected who is willing to use the issue of deficits and national debt to deny our heroes and heroines their just due, as they sacrificed their lives and health to help those in need on that tragic day!

No more delays, no more propaganda, no more bull–PASS THE LEGISLATION TO HONOR FIRST RESPONDERS, and find other ways to cut the budget, including NOT continuing to give the rich more wealth at the expense of the rest of the nation! ๐Ÿ™

Ted Koppel On How September 11 Has Divided, Rather Than United Us! :(

Former ABC News Night Line host Ted Koppel is now an analyst for BBC World News America, but his 25 years on Night Line set his sterling reputation for clear, incisive evaluation of events!

In an Op Ed article for the Washington Post to be published tomorrow to commemorate the 9th anniversary of September 11, he makes it clear that we have given Osama Bin Laden a tremendous victory beyond even his expectations, as this nation has become bitterly divided over how to react to the Islamic faith, and how to deal with the issue of national security! ๐Ÿ™

Instead of uniting and cooperating, the two political parties have badly broken the sense of one nation after the tragic events nine years ago, and the whole issue of dealing with a religion of one billion people in many nations around the world has been manipulated in such a way that, instead of weakening Islamic radicalism, it is actually helping to spread hate and fear among young Muslims in America and around the world to our detriment! ๐Ÿ™

The result is political chaos and opportunism in America, which leads to rejoicing for Bin Laden and his ilk! The reality is that Bin Laden continues to triumph over this nation and the Western world nearly a decade after his dastardly deed! ๐Ÿ™

When, oh when, will our political and religious leaders see what is occurring, and unite to promote tolerance and diversity? Instead of fighting each other, when will we unify around a common purpose to overcome the terrorism that has poisoned us? ๐Ÿ™