Some days I think the terrorist should win.
I know, I know... I don't relly want that.
But some days....
I hear you.
Between this story and the Washingtonienne story of last weekend, I feel totally lost and out-of-place.
I guess I am an old man at 44.
If we are blessed enough to defeat the terrorists, what will be left to hold and cherish, if we simply treat others as interchangable parts?
This weekend, it seems particular affecting, with the dedication of the World War Two memorial on the Mall.
Maybe WW2 was the last time we all as a nation really had to grow up?
With each passing decade since, growing up has become easier to avoid.
Now, those younger than I am prefer to "hook up," and life just rolls merrily along.
The "bridge to the 21st century" has brought us to perpetual adolescence.
Sorry to be so down, but only this story and the washingtonienne stories from last weekend have left me so emotionally hopeless and numb.
They aren't big stories.
But they seem to give nothing to fight.
It is like some sort of giant fog has come into the country, arrested all of our kids, and given us no enemy to combat, no foe except this inescapable fog.
When I see our kids living like this, it just saddens me. It is as if we have devolved into animals, and have become obsolete.
For example, compare the text messaging, cell phoning, and instant messaging which is referred to in this story, to the incredibly heartfelt letters written by the everyday soldiers on both sides of the Civil War (as shown in Ken Burns' recent documentary).
Compare now to then, and tell me which group holds life more precious?
I guess things will have to get worse before they get better.
I guess we, as a society, must face the sort of challenge that forces up to shake off the giant fog, bond together, and fight for our freedom and liberty.
Only such a crisis, one I hope never to see, will break the cycle of adolescence, and make us, once again, reclaim our uniqueness as humans, different from the animals, capable of so many greater things.
It is this sort of thing that makes we worry, that gives me cause for concern.
What do y'all think?