Selective Memory

On Remembering 9/11

So let me get this straight.

On this day for the past 18 years, we take time to remember the 2,977 people who were murdered in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Those Saudi terrorists really pissed us off, right?

So much so that we went to war with a related group of terrorists in Afghanistan over it, sacrificing an additional 4,000 American lives.

Trump invited the Taliban to Camp David.

— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) September 11, 2020

Eventually, we killed the money man and much of the operational leadership behind those attacks.

We didn’t make anything better, but it does give us somebody to hate. Somebody to blame, Somebody to target, and our very own “Pearl Harbor”.

Useful branding tools for American politicians.

Last week we lost 5,000 Americans to COVID-19.

Prior to last week we lost 185,000.

And the same people posting on Facebook about how we must never forget 9/11 refuse to take COVID-19 seriously.

They whine about wearing a mask, they whine about the hodgepodge of fifty different strategies being used by state governors attempting to protect their citizens (often from themselves), and they whine about the liberal media focusing on our government’s daily failure to take a leadership role in protecting the American people.

Trump’s Negligent Malpractice Could Have Killed My Parents

Maybe he killed yours.

Because now we know Trump wasn’t just being stupid when he said “The virus will just disappear in April…”, he was purposely withholding information from the people he is charged to protect.

Information that undoubtedly would have saved lives.

And yet, somehow, Trump remains a viable candidate for a second term as president.

How do Trump supporters get all misty-eyed and patriotic on 9/11 and yet, they remain stubbornly oblivious to the supersized tragedy unfolding all around us every day?

In killing 2,977 people (not all Americans), the 9/11 terrorists managed to mobilize our entire military and unite all Americans against a common foe.

Yet Trump is responsible for killing many, many more Americans just this week due to his abject incompetence and narcissism, and we can’t even get everyone to agree that the pandemic is real.

Why would anybody blame the Chinese government who has NEVER demonstrated anything but contempt for truth and freedom of speech?

Are Americans so uninformed that we somehow think China plays by the same rules as the free world?

Is it simply more convenient to blame anybody but their Dear Leader?

Over 20,000 lies and counting, fleecing the American people every day with his self-dealing, incompetent management of our country’s affairs from day one, and now this.

I am baffled, saddened, and scared by this side of America, and would love it if someone could explain what I am missing here.

On Really Remembering 9/11

I have never felt compelled to share my own 9/11 story, except in the occasional swapping of 9/11 stories with friends.

There are billions of 9/11 stories and every one of them is important.

All of us had very personal experiences that day.

Many of us shared our 9/11 experiences with unlikely people.

People with whom we have become bonded forever, even though some of those ties are starting to break with the passing of time.

Consequently, in the 19 years that have passed, it’s always been my feeling that the stories of the people most directly impacted by the events of 9/11 are the core of this national memory.

My heart hurts today remembering the murdered victims, the fallen patriots, and the broken-hearted friends, loved ones, families, and all those who still carry the daily pain of the events of 9/11.