Remembering 9/11

He is right, and a big part of that is responsibility to see that our civil liberties and Constitutional rights are not taken away in the name of "Patriotism".



The cool thing about the United States of America and being a citizen here, or even a person visiting this country, is that we all have the right, opportunity and responsibility to actually speak our minds, regardless of race, religious belief, political affiliation, gender identity, sexual preference, hair color, bad breath, whatever.

A part of that is that a few of us have served and still serve in forces where we are willing to both kill and possibly die for those principles that give you the right to yell at people you disagree with. But you also must give them a voice too or your honor is thrown away and we're left with nothing but blind, ill-educated "patriotism."

Phil Forrest
 
I am a lifelong New Yorker and I miss the Twin Towers as much as anyone else.

I was also standing right at the base of the WTC during the attacks.

For kids who were not born at that time, yes, it is ancient history, as much as WWII was ancient history to kids born in the 1950's, even though for vets it was as frightening and real as the days it happened.

There's a time for mourning and a time to move on. We don't need all this endless media regurgitation and false sentimentality forever.

And what "honor"? We were caught flat-footed, completely gobsmacked by people we allowed in this country, even permitted the attackers to go to flight school. (there are still thousands of Saudis attending sensitive schools)

And in response, Bush invaded a country which had nothing to do with the attacks. They claimed the "oil" would pay for the war. We spend trillions and got nothing. They were so incompetent, that even if the war was for "oil", we didn't get any.

Not to mention the daily announcements of surveillance on our own citizens, breaches of the Constitution, invasion of privacy, war on photographers, the rise of the police state, you name it, it's happening. And how about the theft of all the money from and the destruction of the middle class?

Yeah, it was a big day of "national honor".

You can yell and scream from Ohio. I'm a New Yorker, and I feel the loss more than anyone else. I'm also not blind.

Thank you.
 
I see from your Flickr pages that you spent a lot of time in Iraq.

Seriously, in your own words, what do you think was the point of invading Iraq? What was accomplished there in the American National interest?

Did all the money spent, and the lives lost increase our national security or somehow was "pay back" for the 9/11 attacks?

First off, "And what "honor?" I'm sorry but what about all those who DID rise to this awful event. We HONOR all of those police officers, firemen and civilians who became heros in so many ways to help others, some sacrificing their lives. I'm about to get real nasty but don't EVER question me about honor!

Not too sure about your rant on Iraq… What does ANY of this have to do of honoring 9/11? And how many Iraqis do you know? Ever been there? How about Afghanistan? How about them Saudis you speak of?

And you're damned right I'll yell and scream from Ohio. You may be a New Yorker with a sense that your suffering is oh so worse than anyone else's, but it makes you quite un American doing so because a real American doesn't stay a victim forever.
 
I went to the 10th anniversary. Can only find this one shot right now.
It was actually my first time going down to that area of New York.

img927.jpg
 
Alright… I wasn't taking anyone's voice away. If anything I was exercising my First Amendment against, "Enough is enough, Time to give it a rest" or poking at someone for flying 3,000 flags that may or may not be made in China. And I understand, many of us have gone through horrible things, but the fact is WE ALL went through 9/11 in different ways. Some of us still do. To no surprise there are many Americans so aloof to what happened on that day.

Personally, 9/11 transformed my life that I couldn't imagine it any other way. I participated in the following wars because I felt "who else was going to do it." There is a sense of being part of the problem or choosing to be part of the solution and that can be as simple as adding a positive dialogue here on RFF.

I did come off as nasty but is no different if I was sitting next to someone in a bar. I apologize for the tone. When I get back to NYC, I'd offer "I Love Film" a beer and wholeheartedly offer my experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. And this applies to anyone!

We were part of history and it should be told.
 
I am a lifelong New Yorker and I miss the Twin Towers as much as anyone else.

I was also standing right at the base of the WTC during the attacks.

For kids who were not born at that time, yes, it is ancient history, as much as WWII was ancient history to kids born in the 1950's, even though for vets it was as frightening and real as the days it happened.

There's a time for mourning and a time to move on. We don't need all this endless media regurgitation and false sentimentality forever.

And what "honor"? We were caught flat-footed, completely gobsmacked by people we allowed in this country, even permitted the attackers to go to flight school. (there are still thousands of Saudis attending sensitive schools)

And in response, Bush invaded a country which had nothing to do with the attacks. They claimed the "oil" would pay for the war. We spend trillions and got nothing. They were so incompetent, that even if the war was for "oil", we didn't get any.

Not to mention the daily announcements of surveillance on our own citizens, breaches of the Constitution, invasion of privacy, war on photographers, the rise of the police state, you name it, it's happening. And how about the theft of all the money from and the destruction of the middle class?

Yeah, it was a big day of "national honor".

You can yell and scream from Ohio. I'm a New Yorker, and I feel the loss more than anyone else. I'm also not blind.

It's blow back principle from the CIA. We kept funding people like Bin Laden and at the end they fought against us , we put bases up in middle east where they called it their holy land and for 10 years we bombed them. If only if we did not try to police the world and built a stronger defense here rather than nation building in all those countries..
 
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