Posted on 04/06/2006 3:22:09 PM PDT by guinness4strength
United93: Too soon to remember? Remember that notion we all had after 9-11: "We will never forget." For about a year, 9-11 bound us together like glue. We were American, United We Stood, nothing else mattered. But the glue quickly softened, and we came undone. No new major atacks in nearly 5 years deludes us with false feelings of security, tempting any major superpower to forget ... to forget we were attacked. We were attacked before we invaded Iraq. The hikackers planned the attack while a progressive popular president reigned. The terrorists used our own freedom and openness against us. If we were still thinking like it was Sept. 12, 2001: Would we hit a guard trying to protect a government building? Would we make movies and statements that slander (in a vengeful manner) the Commander in Chief of our soldiers? Would we scoff at the need for a secure border? It is time to remember the ashen faces, or we are doomed to see them again. Better a movie than another attack to remind us, and that movie is here. Like The Passion was difficult for Christians, United93 is a movie that will be difficult for Americans, because it brings back that bright ordinary Tuesday so quickly eclipsed by terror. But the terror was quickly eclipsed by the old-fashioned heroism of ordinary Americans on United flight 93. Some audiences reacted in discomfort to the United93 trailers now showing: "It's too soon," some said. Too soon? This is not a past history we are talking about, this is reality, our present state. Burying our heads in the sand will help the terrorists plot their next attack. If a movie can bring back the vigilance and sacrifice necessary to continue catching the terrorists, how fortunate we are to awake from a movie and not an explosion. The sad part is, the movie did not come soon enough. Instead we see our own media telling more stories about terror suspects getting mistreated than the acheivements of our soldiers. Our soldiers have kept the terrorists so busy we've seen no major attack at home for more than 1600 days. The terrorists watch own media more carefully than we do, and they are heartened in their dark efforts by the media light shining on them in Iraq, Guantanamo and beyond. It's all in the focus, and our focus now supports our enemies more than our own warriors who fight to protect us and our freedom. At times, it seems downright political, to dampen the successes of our servicemen and women due to resentment of the current Commander in Chief. Remember: our president cannot be elected again, we don't need to attack him, but the terrorists can strike again, and again. Life Magazine in 1942 demonstrated the power of the media supporting our efforts. News reports focused on the bravery of our soldiers, and even the ads helped build moral. Like this one from Life's December 21, 1942 issue for Royal Crown Cola: "If you're a sub-machine gunner: forget the grim tenseness of the practice range. The target that looks so small. The gun sight you've been squinting through all morning. When you reach the camp canteen, take time out for a 'quick up' with a good soft drink. Relax for a moment. Then grin and get goin' again." What if todays advertisements found an angle to support our brave troops, and editors balanced media accounts of setbacks with accounts of success? What if every Tuesday, the day 9-11 occured, we held mass demonstrations chanting the self-defeating fallacies of terror and the beauty of freedom? What if our creative men and women wrote and produced more movies, songs and documentaries reflecting the shining cause of freedom, and the struggles and sacrifice necessary to fight terror? We could weaken the moral of the terrorists for the first time in 4 years, instead of firming their resolve. The United93 trailer concludes with a dire warning, and a call to action for us all: "We have to do it now, because we know what happens if we just sit here and do nothing."
by Joe Moody
Sure as heck is too sooon to be forgetting!
Possibly the most powerful line in a powerful piece.
For what it's worth, it's "morale" with an "e."
Bingo, Mr. S!
8 words
"Little Did She Know She'd Kissed A Hero"
I first heard the song on WPLJ in NY in the fall of 2001...It wasn't too soon then. It made me cry but I felt better. http://www.littledidsheknow.com
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