I think it would be a little selfish
and arrogant for me to express how the tragedy of September 11th
affected me. However, I do want to comment on two things
I've been thinking about lately.
First of all, the swell of patriotism
that has engulfed the country has finally leveled off.
It's not gone, but it has settled in somewhat. And I think
it's about the right time for that to happen. All of us
are proud to be U.S. citizens, but the fact is that we had our heads
handed to us. That's no reason to fly a flag. What
we do need to be proud of is how we are reacting as a
nation. The seven-hour wait for blood donations. The kid
in Ohio collecting gloves for the rescue workers. The
truly ego-less telethon. The spontaneous candle-light vigils on every other
street corner. Those are the things that make me
proud and inspire
me to hang a flag in front of my home.
And second, although our leaders are
trying to coax us back into normalcy, the events of September
11th are on every news promo and on every talk show every
single day. How can we possibly even begin to
get back to some semblance of order and stability when we keep getting pounded--in
the name of "breaking news" and "must-see television"--with the obscene pictures and the
horrible stories of personal grief? It seems that the only people who have actually
returned to normalcy is the media. They're jackals.
Every one of them.
