I don't mean to dishonor a national day of mourning by jumping the gun, but I am a saturday sabbath observer and will not be able to properly honor the day by posting on the 11th....  So here goes my personal tribute.

Over and above the prayers we have all sent out to those who were lost, and those who lost, on that day...

And in addition to the continuing moral, spiritual, emotional and financial support we give to those whose families were shattered on that day...

And together with our ROCK SOLID, UNWAVERING and CONCRETE support of  our god-fearing and morally-grounded President, George W. Bush, on whose shoulders the fate of a nation rest, since that day...

I would like to offer how 9/11 affected me.  

For while I hesitate to intrude upon such a sacred day with my miniscule and unimportant thoughts, I feel that a greater disservice would be done by pretending that I was NOT personally affected.

With the events of 9/11, there was no drastic change in the opinions I held, the facts that I knew, or how firmly I believed in my convictions.  I grew up with the truth that terrorists were modern evil, the present-day figures replacing the likes of Hitler, Stalin, Chmelnicki, etc.  I knew from day one that there was no difference between Arafat, Zwahiri, Bin Laden, Abdul Rahman, or between the muslim bortherhood, the beider meinhof gang or black september.  I knew then and I know now that evil is evil.  Terrorists seek not to prove a point but to kill innocents, they seek no political ends - they seek to inflict terror.  Terms like asymetrical warfare and islamofascists were familiar to me both before and after that day.  I learned nothing I had not known from the time of the first WTC bombings, the shootings on the Brooklyn Bridge and the pillage of Kuwait.

Rather, what changed in me was what I did with that knowledge.  We all know evil when we see it.  Whether its the Aryan Nations, HAMAS, Chechen islamofascists, Afghan islamofascists, Iranian islamofascists, Indonesian islamofascists, French Anti-Semites, Chinese Cultural police, etc.  While others in the left have sought to find the ==causes== of these groups' violence, all those with a clear concsence and mind realize that placating terror is surrendering to it.  However, Until Spetember 11th, I was content in the knowledge that I knew the truth and those who didn't were simply worse off than myself.

No longer.

I realized that silence and inactivity could affect - and possibly cost others' - lives.  The only way to prevent more attacks is to stay on teh offensive, both in military terms and on teh domestic front.  We have to keep supporting alternative media hosts, such as rush and sean, that speak facts and truths,  We have to explain to others that conservatives are not the only ones who watch fox news - for a REASON.  We have to support our president, write letters to our elected representatives.

I myself can no longer sit through a class on terrorism and stay silent while we discuss EXTREMISTS in Israel and Iraq.  If the teacher quotes a daily show segment as fact, I can no longer sit on my hands and grin, inwardly laughing at the dolts in my class.  IT was not enough for me to cancel my subscription to the NYTIMES.  I wrote them why i did so, and contiunue to write them, along with many in my community.  I subscribed to the sun unstead, and let them know why as well.  

No longer is it enough for us all to KNOW the truth, to KNOW what has to be done - rather we need to ACT on our convictions, we need to ACTIVATE ourselves as a community to counter the growing youth bulge in the appeasement movement.

If the left can mobilize hundreds of thousands of half naked lesbians and clowns during the RNC, then it is not enough for us to sit back and make fun of them!  Imagine if that number of serious respectable, well dressed and peaceful protestors had come together in NY.  Would W be ahead as he is now???

We need to REACT:
react to the terrorists,
react to the appeasers,
react to the gungrabbers,
react to those seeking to besmirch the holy insitution of marraige,
react to those who think pro-choice refers to the mother and not the child.
react against those who would raise the white flag up on top of the white house

I do not need to go into details regarding Missyour (sic) Kerry -  we all know that everything he stands for runs counter to the american way of life.

We need to awaken the silent majority; talk to those we shoot with, work with, live with, pray with.

We need to once again give President Bush a Reagan-like mandate to fight this war on their turf and on our terms.

There are other things we can do as well, such as replace those elected officials who seek to weaken our country through a weaker foriegn policy, a weaker border and a weaker citizenry.  OR you could set up your own hometown adopt a family charity to provide for a surviving family of 9/11.  Or you could simply plant flags in your gardens, or send care packages to our troops overseas.

these are VERY important causes, all righteous and meritorious.

But we are in September of an election year, and priorities must be prioritized.

So that is what I learned from 9/11.  

We cannot be a reactive nation and we cannot be reactive citizens.  

We must be fervently pro-active in our governance,

we must never allow our armed forces to sit fallow, shrinking due to budget cuts from pork-barrel legislation,

we must all be actively supporting our troops abroad with our packages, letters and prayers,

BUT MOST OF ALL we must ensure that never again shall we place weak individuals in the Oval Office.  Never again shall we allow our national security to be threatened by golf games and interns.  Never again shall we present a weak target for terrorists to pray on.  

In conclusion, I offer my personal prayer to those lost on 9/11.
May your souls be conforted by the Almighty.  And may He bestow upon you everlasting peace with the knowledge that through your sacrifice, we were able to prevent later attacks from occuring.  Through your sacrifice, millions of Afghani women were freed from their theocratic chains.  Through your sacrifice, millions of Iraqis were spared death, torture and rape.  Through your sacrifice, the world - for one all too brief moment - became as one in its determination to face evil where it stood.  And though much of the world has since shrunk from its lofty goal, there remain a precious few who, along with our own country, stand with us on our mighty perch, ever vigilant and ever watchful.  May we be strengthened by your sacrifice, and may you plead that the Almighty support us in our fight against evil.  May we have the strength to fight through our tears, to go on with our lives, yielding no surrender and blinking no eye in the face of evil.  IT is our fondest hope and prayer that He bestows upon your wives, husbands and children the peace that they so grieviously deserve and that they find in their hearts the strength to persevere during these troubled times.




One more thing: whenever I need to cry, or be reminded of how these attacks touched home - literally - for the families of almost 3000, I read this: www.nynewsday.com/ny-pow142365555sep14,0,5622088,print.column