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September
11, 2001
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Last updated: 02/16/2004
CARTOON CORNER
Can't
Cry Hard Enough 'This Beautiful site was sent to
me by my cousin Monique Bonjour. It reminds us of Life and
the sadness of death. Remember!! and God Bless America.
Love Bob' [Courtesy of Bob Beall] 10-15-01
Think It Over
- Beautiful. Reflections on your life and that you should live each day
10-15-01
Attack on
America - A reflection - [Courtesy of Tom Madigan] 10-19-01
Note:
click on icons above for further info and more web pages
 (click
on this icon)
The following article from the Seattle
Times is courtesy of Bob Beall and Tom
Madigan and Monique Bonjour.
From
the Seattle Times
By
Leonard Pitts Jr.
Syndicated
columnist
They
pay me to tease shades of meaning from social and cultural issues, to provide
words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But
in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only
thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to
the unknown author of this suffering.
You
monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard. What lesson did
you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our
Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was,
please know that you failed.
Did
you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.
Did
you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.
Did you want to tear
us apart? You just brought us together.
Let me tell you about
my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial,
cultural, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're
frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural
minutiae, a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse.
We're wealthy, too,
spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe
because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe
entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and
compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And
we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just
and loving God.
Some people -- you,
perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes us weak. You're mistaken.
We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be
measured by arsenals.
Yes, we're in pain
now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're still grappling
with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves
understand that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster,
isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel.
Both in terms of the awful scope of its ambition and the probable final death
toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the
history of the United States and, indeed, the history of the world. You've
bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before.
But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall.
This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time
anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and
monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in
our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any
suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.
I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I
think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to
tremble with dread of the future.
In days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers pointing to
determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent
it from happening again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk
of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this moment sobered,
chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined.
You see, there is steel beneath this velvet. That aspect of our character
is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this day, the
family's bickering is put on hold. As Americans we will weep, as Americans
we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.
Still, I keep wondering what it was you hoped to teach us. It occurs to me
that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred.
If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message
in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're about.
You don't know what you just started.
But you're about to learn.
Dear Friend,
Yesterday as you know our country suffered a horrible
and horrendous attack. We all are still shocked and
angered by what has happened, and feel nearly helpless at
this point.
However, our nation still stands strong and there is
indeed much we can do at this very moment. I ask
that we all fly our American flag, from our homes, from
our businesses, from our cars, from our mailboxes. If you
don't have one, go get one.
Let the pictures the world sees of our country over the
next few days be not that of a whimpering, wounded nation
licking its wounds, but that of a strong,
and powerful nation of people who stand shoulder to
shoulder with a single message... That I AM AN AMERICAN.................and
we will not be defeated by these actions........that we
will recover and recover quickly because we are a nation
of strong people, standing ready in
defense of our country.
Let the press photos over the next few days and weeks
show how the American people respond to these tragic events, not as
fearful and horrified, but as the strong backbone of our nation.............Let
a sea of American flags speak what our hearts now feel.
Words
of "We the People"
To whom ever it concerns,
Our nation has been damaged by your inhumane actions. You, who we don’t even
know! You have destroyed our property, you have destroyed our security, you have
destroyed the lives our husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, our sisters and
brothers. Yes, you have even destroyed our children. You, who we have never met.
So, let us introduce ourselves. We are a peaceful nation. We believe in a
respect of opinions of mankind. We believe in our creator. We believe that we
have certain unalienable rights… that among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. We believe…. in We the People… of the United States of
America.
We are the sleeping giant that you have awoken. It’s true you, who we have
never met, have destroyed a part of us! But, you haven’t destroyed our spirit.
Because we’re made in the U.S.A. Now you know who we are. Now you know what
we’re all about. But, you don’t know what you just started.
Signed,
We... the People of the United States of America!
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