Posted on 10/10/2007 4:11:22 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
A nationally syndicated columnist has recently urged that Americans forget about 9/11, become adults, and "get back our groove." Thomas Friedman is the senior columnist at the New York Times and hence de facto the most important columnist in the United States. That he disapproves of the 9/11 cult makes it official. As America's uber wise man, he has certified that the national obsession with the World Trade Center attack is a sign of weakness and fear. Yet in the marvelous Yiddish phrase, "Already, all right, enough!"
The attack was a great evil, a terrible blow to the whole nation, a mass killing of innocents, a crime that calls to heaven for vengeance. It was an assault on American pride. It was perceived not only as a crime, but also as a grave personal insult to everyone in the country. It was also a serious attempt to demolish the morale and self-confidence of Americans. In all of these goals it succeeded beyond the expectations of the vile murderers who engineered and executed it. Every time we engage in a national commemoration, we stir up the weakness and fear again. We may wave flags, chant USA USA, and shout FREEDOM! FREEDOM! Such a response after six years may fill television time and newspaper space, but it is not a mature reaction from the people of the most powerful nation in the world. As Friedman says, it is immature and unworthy of us.
Unfortunately, our national leaders (not excluding Friedman in an earlier manifestation) have used the attack as an excuse for responding with chauvinistic fury. We heard promises of revenge -- we'd hunt the terrorists down and take them out. Arabs had killed some of our people. We would kill some of theirs (tens of thousands as it turns out). We must punish the terrorists by going to war against a nation that had nothing to do with the attack. To pursue this "war on terror" we would engage in kidnapping, torture and murder, and we would permit the president to use his power to, in effect, repeal the Bill of Rights. That's how a great nation responds. It flails around and strikes out in ways that diminish the clarity of its convictions and play into the hands of its enemies.
At least we finally put bulletproof doors on the cockpits of commercial aircraft, an act that would have prevented the original attack. Whether any of the other "security" measures have been sufficient is certainly open to question, despite all the tough talking from the White House. Are the ports, the railroads, the electricity grids of the country any more secure than they were on Sept. 10? Our leaders made us a weaker and more frightened people, but not a notably safer people.
So Friedman's call for recovering our "groove" is welcome. It must be said, however, that neither he nor his paper has done sufficient public penance for their fanning the flames of post 9/11 paranoia that swept the country and still permeate our culture. Nor has there been an effort to replace the hysterical metaphor of "war on terror" with the more precise "counterterrorism campaign." New York City has made very little progress toward filling that frightening empty hole in its skyline. Islamist fanatics still roam the world. There is still danger, but a firm, calm and intelligent response to it is more mature, more sophisticated and, most important, more effective than paranoiac hysteria. Moreover, a country that once was a light of freedom to the world (and to some extent still is) must regain its "groove" so the light will shine brightly again on the mountaintop.
The next president has his/her work cut out -- get our groove back!
agreel@aol.com
I can somewhat relate. I believe We should move forward......with great caution.
"Thomas Friedman is the senior columnist at the New York Times and hence de facto the most important columnist in the United States."
>>I can somewhat relate. I believe We should move forward......with great caution.<<
Yes but we don’t have to do it like the NY Times would like.
We did let 9/11 shut the economy down much more than we should have and its irritating to hear Guiliani say over and over that his behavior on 9/11 is the model for the whole country.
We would do well to look to the Israelis or the Brits who have a lot more experience with terrorism and their can do, keep your chin up, don’t let the bastards interfere with out way of life attitude.
The scumbags on the left just can’t allow 911 to stand because it reminds the lemmings that the left is as much an enemy as the Islamists. The left wants NO talk of 911 so they can continue to undermine America while the lemmings sleep.
Are we to forget all the attempted terrorists attacks against the US since 911 as well?
Are we also going to forget all those terrorist attacks around the world against freedom and Democracy since 911?
Al-Qaeda has attacked more countries than Germany or Japan attacked during WW2. I guess we should have ignored them as well.
I have a better idea....let’s forget about the NY Times so we can get back in the groove.....winning wars, killing the enemy and protecting America.
“Thomas Friedman is the senior columnist at the New York Times and hence de facto the most important columnist in the United States. . . As America’s uber wise man,”
I’d like to congratulate Greeley on removing Friedman from his mouth long enough to write this garbage.
Look, the guy is an avowed Communist, who cares what he says, other than the leftist liberal trash?
I urge that Americans forget about Thomas Friedman, become adults, and "get back our groove."
And we have not lost any "groove." Far from it.
Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.
BUMP
Greeley needs to stick to what he’s adept at - writing soft-core pornography, breaking his vows and being an embarrassment to the Society of Jesus.
“The attack was a great evil, a terrible blow to the whole nation...”
Yes, well it was ALSO, and MOST IMPORTANTLY one of a series of murderous suicide attacks by islamic extremists, a series which has gone on for decades and which continues today. As much as I worry about Mr. Greeley thinking me unsophisticated and immature, the truth is that our country, our culture, and our way of life are being threatened, year after year, by the people who brought you the Madrid train massacre, the London Underground and bus explosions, the Khobar Towers bombing, the USS Cole suicide attack, the WTC bombing in Feb. 1992, and on and on.
I wonder if Mr. Greeley thinks THEM unsophisticated and immature? He certainly seems to congratulate them on the success of their murderous efforts.
Greeley is a noted “progressive - socialist” and big Democrat contributor. See:
http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/Andrew_Greeley.php
This article written by a man named Greeley? Silly me, I thought the byline said Bill Clinton.
Andrew Greeley is still alive? Who knew?
NYT’s and Friedman’s prescription for America is not a “groove”, but a grave.
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