"Tuesday, September 11, 2001 began as a nice crisp summer day. People were preparing for yet another hard day at work. They rushed to get to their offices on time to begin the work week, for another day. Others rushed to get to the important meetings they were running late for. Men and women alike boarded planes, trains and busses to travel a far distance for meetings or conventions that were going on in other states, while other people were leaving town to see their loved ones' wedding ceremonies, or just to get away from the pressures of their daily lives for a few days.
It stated as a normal day in New York City, as people walked a few blocks to their jobs, and other people were lucky enough to get a ride in a taxi, bus or use the subway system. In Washington, D.C., it looked like it would be a nice day to enjoy a picnic on the Mall near the Washington Monument.
Even President Bush had some great plans for the day. Raising awareness and encourage young students to read. He was planning to read to a classroom full of children. He soon learned along with every American, today was not a normal day. Today would be a day that will not soon be forgotten..." - An excerpt of a high school project book I did for my American Government class.
Today is a black day in American history. A day I wish we could skip over so the emotions of that day do not come flooding back. Today marks the seven year anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on American soil. As I reflect on that fateful day, September 11, 2001, I think of the moment I found out...
I was a senior in high school. September 11, 2001 was already an unusual day for my school district. We had a half day for teacher enrichment programs. In my first class, we had a guest speaker that was a JAG in the United States military. The first of the attacks happened during my first hour class. My second hour class was a law class and so we listened to the JAG speak again during that class. By this time, I am still unaware of the attacks occurring. I first heard the news during my fourth hour Geometry class when we were preparing to take the first part of a test. A girl walked in the room and asked if we could turn the radio on. At the time, it seemed strange that she would ask such a question. We had never had the radio on during class before, and why would we do it on a test day? Surprisingly, our teacher turned the radio on and passed out the tests. I couldn't hear the actual words, but I could hear a man speaking somberly on the radio. I leaned over to the girl sitting next to me and asked her what was going on. She was very surprised I had not yet heard the news. She told me the World Trade Center was on fire and the top floors had collapsed. Moments later, our principal came over the intercom and said there was a national tragedy. She handed it over to a history teacher that could hardly hold back the tears. He stated the World Trade Center had been attacked and the Pentagon had a plane crash into it.
During my fifth hour class, we listened to the radio and discussed what was going on in. As we all sat around talking, I jotted down a quick note to myself so I could remember my emotions for the future.
"I am sitting in my 5th hour class. It's a half day, so I am in here early. The time is about 9:45AM. The details are very sketchy, so I'm not really sure what is going on. Two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center collapsing the top two floors, or something like that. Another plane has crashed into the Pentagon. That's all I know right now. I am so scared, I don't know what is going on. Are these mad terrorists trying to overthrow our government? Are they trying to kill us?
It's about 20 minutes later now, I'm in my 6th hour class and we are now listening to the radio. All flights throughout the U.S. have been grounded, although tere are some planes that are unaccounted for. I also have figured out that both Trade Centers have collapsed, trapping up to 50,000 people. I just want to go home."
My 7th hour class was my final class of the day, and it gave me the chance to see the first glimpses of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the field in Shanksville, PA where the fourth plane crashed. Chills poured throughout my body as there was smoke billowing from the New York City skyline. I can still picture that moment in time as though it just happened. Quickly, images turned to the Middle East, showing people running through the streets celebrating the tragedy of the American people. My teacher grabbed a desk next to mine and simply announced to the class, "Bomb those bastards!" a quote that continues to ring in my mind when I think back to that day.
In an attempt to forget about the events of the day, a group of friends went over the my friend Jody's house to watch a movie. As our minds wandered to what was going on, we all slowly migrated to another room to watch the news feeds. President Bush was about to speak, and made one of the most infamous quotes of the entire ordeal; "America was attacked by a faceless coward..." A sentiment would begin brewing across America, and President Bush would receive the highest approval rating of any president during a time when we needed a strong leader, soaring above 80%.
As revenge and anger began setting into the America people's minds the next day, I wrote another journal entry for my Senior Project Book which echoed the sentiment of the majority of people:
"I wish I was just dreaming. Experts expect up to 50,000 people could be trapped inside the rubble. Osama bin Laden has been named as the prime suspect in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. For another day, all flights throughout the U.S. have been cancelled, the stock market has been shutdown and all baseball games have been cancelled. The search and rescue mission is well underway. Dear God, I hope they find a lot of people alive in the rubble. 266 people are presumed dead in the four planes that crashed. We must hunt down and KILL Osama bin Laden."
Seven years later, the hunt for Osama bin Laden continues. The war in Afghanistan has continued since it began in October of 2001. Al-Qaeda has been broken up, and hard for them to organize into the huge organization it was before. The Taliban, the former government of Afghanistan has continued to fight for control over Afghanistan, but for the most part has been unsuccessful. The United States military and government along with other international organizations and governments have thwarted attacks on American soil and abroad.
Although Americans have gone back to the ways things had been before 9/11/01, we will never forget the victims or the unity we all had during those times. Tragedies are always bad things, but the resolve of the American people is and always will be strong. We triumph the most during tragedies as we embrace and unify to overcome the obstacles thrown at us.
As we mark the seventh anniversary of September 11, 2001, we are less than 60 days away from a presidential election that will change the last 8 years of America. We are in heated contest between the first black man and the oldest man running for a first term along with a female running mate. President Bush will be leaving the White House, and a new administration will be taking its place. Today is a day when we should put politics aside, put our differences aside and show we are still a unified front. Honor the victims and honor the dead. We will never forget September 11, 2001. God bless America.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
None of the Above
The presidential election season is in full swing now. The nominating processes for both the Democrats and Republicans are now behind us. As the candidates vie for the undecided voters and attempt to sway voters away from the opposing candidates attack ads, promises of change, and emotions growing high, I can't seem to find any ability to support either of the main tickets of the Republican party or the Democrat party.
I originally was a supporter of John McCain, a candidate I align most of my values with, but denounced that support months ago when I realized his anti-gay rights attitude. I briefly became a supporter of Barack Obama after he chose a man I admired since I originally heard him during the democrat presidential primary elections, Joe Biden for his vice presidential candidate. My only purpose for supporting Barack Obama would have bee because of his support for gay rights and the idea he was not President Bush. I quickly remembered Senator Obama wants to create a larger federal government, which is something I cannot support. Barack Obama believes in raising taxes on the wealthy, creating socialized medicine, creating other government entities that will only intrude into the lives of the American people. As a person with significant credit card debt, I was interested in Obama's plan to put regulations on the credit card industries to not be able to retroactively apply an increase in annual percentage rates, not be able to change the due dates of the bills without due notice, and not be able to charge extreme late fees. After realization that its the banks' money and it was my own fault for raising my debt so high, I knew I couldn't support Obama's plan.
I have started to seriously consider not exercising my vote for president. Although I believe voting is an important privilege we are all given and ought to exercise, I believe we should have the ability to vote for none of the above. Some states recognize a none of the above vote, but a vast majority do not. Because I cannot vote none of the above, I see no point in voting for me to vote for president. Many people tell me, "oh vote for the lesser of two evils!" Well, that's what I did in 2004 with my vote, but I cannot bring myself to vote for the lesser of two evils when I have fundamental differences with both candidates. What if I vote for one candidate that I felt was the lesser of the two evils and they become president and they end up being one of the worst presidents? Can I support the fact that I had the choice not to give them my vote in the first place, but I did simply because they were the lesser of two evils? I don't think so. I've looked into third party candidates, but I cannot vote for any of them as some are flip floppers on the issues that matter to me, such as the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr. Most of the third party candidates are either liberal, or their ideas are too extreme for my liking. I know they do not have a possibility of winning, but how can I support a third party candidate that I have fundamental differences with if I cannot support a Democrat or Republican for the same reasons.
My friends and coworkers that I have told I am not voting for president have told me that if I do not vote I cannot complain about the next president. I categorically refuse to accept that idea. Firstly, I believe it is different for a person to stay home and not vote simply because they do not want to and a person not voting for someone because they do not support the candidates. In the first instance, the person is just being lazy and taking advantage of being an American. In the other instance, which is my instance, the person is saying none of the candidates are good enough to be the next president of the United States.
Secondly, the last I checked the United States has a Constitutional Amendment that does not hinder our right to freedom of speech. Now, I want to make it clear, I too share frustration in people that don't go out and vote because they don't want to vote. But I am not voting for president because I don't agree with either of the top two candidates. I have the right to free speech. For someone to say I don't have the right to complain about the president because I didn't vote "against" them, then that is hindering my Constitutional right to free speech. Now, I know the first amendment is only talking about the government not being able to pass a law to infringe on our to freedom of speech, but if a person believes we have to vote, then they should also hold the principle that we have the right to speak our minds.
Now, I have gotten completely off course from what I was originally going to post about, but I think I may just leave it at that and post about my original intent some other time.
I originally was a supporter of John McCain, a candidate I align most of my values with, but denounced that support months ago when I realized his anti-gay rights attitude. I briefly became a supporter of Barack Obama after he chose a man I admired since I originally heard him during the democrat presidential primary elections, Joe Biden for his vice presidential candidate. My only purpose for supporting Barack Obama would have bee because of his support for gay rights and the idea he was not President Bush. I quickly remembered Senator Obama wants to create a larger federal government, which is something I cannot support. Barack Obama believes in raising taxes on the wealthy, creating socialized medicine, creating other government entities that will only intrude into the lives of the American people. As a person with significant credit card debt, I was interested in Obama's plan to put regulations on the credit card industries to not be able to retroactively apply an increase in annual percentage rates, not be able to change the due dates of the bills without due notice, and not be able to charge extreme late fees. After realization that its the banks' money and it was my own fault for raising my debt so high, I knew I couldn't support Obama's plan.
I have started to seriously consider not exercising my vote for president. Although I believe voting is an important privilege we are all given and ought to exercise, I believe we should have the ability to vote for none of the above. Some states recognize a none of the above vote, but a vast majority do not. Because I cannot vote none of the above, I see no point in voting for me to vote for president. Many people tell me, "oh vote for the lesser of two evils!" Well, that's what I did in 2004 with my vote, but I cannot bring myself to vote for the lesser of two evils when I have fundamental differences with both candidates. What if I vote for one candidate that I felt was the lesser of the two evils and they become president and they end up being one of the worst presidents? Can I support the fact that I had the choice not to give them my vote in the first place, but I did simply because they were the lesser of two evils? I don't think so. I've looked into third party candidates, but I cannot vote for any of them as some are flip floppers on the issues that matter to me, such as the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr. Most of the third party candidates are either liberal, or their ideas are too extreme for my liking. I know they do not have a possibility of winning, but how can I support a third party candidate that I have fundamental differences with if I cannot support a Democrat or Republican for the same reasons.
My friends and coworkers that I have told I am not voting for president have told me that if I do not vote I cannot complain about the next president. I categorically refuse to accept that idea. Firstly, I believe it is different for a person to stay home and not vote simply because they do not want to and a person not voting for someone because they do not support the candidates. In the first instance, the person is just being lazy and taking advantage of being an American. In the other instance, which is my instance, the person is saying none of the candidates are good enough to be the next president of the United States.
Secondly, the last I checked the United States has a Constitutional Amendment that does not hinder our right to freedom of speech. Now, I want to make it clear, I too share frustration in people that don't go out and vote because they don't want to vote. But I am not voting for president because I don't agree with either of the top two candidates. I have the right to free speech. For someone to say I don't have the right to complain about the president because I didn't vote "against" them, then that is hindering my Constitutional right to free speech. Now, I know the first amendment is only talking about the government not being able to pass a law to infringe on our to freedom of speech, but if a person believes we have to vote, then they should also hold the principle that we have the right to speak our minds.
Now, I have gotten completely off course from what I was originally going to post about, but I think I may just leave it at that and post about my original intent some other time.
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