A song and a few thoughts

Five years ago, after September 11, 2001, the first time I left the house, this is the song I put in my tape deck. Of course, the lyric can't give you the full effect. Especially as it's missing the recitation of "The Lord's Prayer" that runs throughought the song, ending with the haunting repitition of "God deliver us from evil."

But this gives you a rough idea.

I stand alone and watch the clock
I only wait for it to stop
And in the room locked up inside me
The cutout magazines remind me
I sit and wait alone in my room

And in my room against the wall
There is a picture very small
A photograph I took some years ago
It shows a picture of the room I know
I sit and wait alone in my room

The walls are white and in the night
The room is lit by electric light

I stand alone and watch the clock
I only wait for it to stop
The doors are shut and all the windows lock
The only sound is from the clock
I sit and wait alone in my room

The walls are white and in the night
The room is lit by electric light

--Yaz, "In My Room"

The more I am reminded of the pain of that day, the more I resent the folks who've tried to manipulate its memory. No event in my lifetime (I'm 54) brought Americans together the way our shared suffering brought us together that day. It is appalling not only that this unity has been lost but that the emotions of 9/11 have been reconfigured to demonize one another. The worst kind of partisans have claimed 9/11 as a club to use against the other side. The same thing has happened with the Iraq War: If you don't see things my way and vote for my side, you must be objectively pro-terrorist, plus you hate America and pray for our troops to be killed.

--Mark Evanier.

Roughly 3,000 people died on September 11 for no good, human reason. Countless others were injured and/or had their lives forever harmed in a myriad of ways...physically, emotionally, financially, etc. (I think there's an unfortunate tendency to talk about the number of dead as if that's the sole measure of damage that occurred.) I don't think we should look back at it all in a way that just makes us afraid it'll happen again. We usually do the wrong thing when we operate out of fear. But there's got to be a more constructive thing we can do with that memory than exploit it for short-term benefits.

--Mark Evanier (again)

Frankly, I don't see how 9/11 can be venerated in any legitimate collective way as long as George Bush is leading that process. Above all, BushCo's manipulation of the survivors and victims on the anniversary of this abhorrent tragedy shows the blasphemy of someone whose actions consistently demonstrate duplicity and a pure political motive.

--BAGnewsnotes.

There's a feeling by some bloggers today that it would "creepy" to blog about other, non-9/11 topics. Right or wrong, I do not share this feeling. Obviously I wanted to acknowledge the day, but I do not see how there is anything constructive in adopting a hushed, faux-reverent tone to my writings here.

As if showing that I have not "forgotten" the events of that day made one damn bit of difference. The quote from BAGnews above is quite correct: As long as George W. Bush remains in office, we-none of us-are doing anything to actually bring those responsible to justice.

And in a way it seems just as disrespectful a spit in the face of those who were lost, and their loved ones, to pretend otherwise.