Remember and Come Together
By: Kevin Roberts
It was fitting that on the five-year anniversary of September 11, some members of Congress faced the building while others faced the cameras. Into this partisan black hole that has plagued this country comes the anniversary of the worst attacks on the United States in its history. It was not surprising to see some members of Congress facing opposite directions. What they should have done is face the same direction for once.
The New York Times put it well in its editorial simply entitled “9/11/06.” The editorial read what everyone knew what would happen. The President would defend his policies since the attacks and his critics would blast him. The editorial summarized what should be done to perfection:
“It would be miraculous if the best of our leaders did something larger – expressed grief and responsibility for the bad path down which we’ve gone, and promised to work together to turn us in a better direction…
“Over the last week, the White House has been vigorously warning the country that awful things would happen in Iraq if American troops left, while his critics have pointed out how impossible the current situation is. They are almost certainly both right. But unless people on both sides are willing to come up with a plan that acknowledges both truths and accepts the risk of making real-world proposals, we will be stuck in the same place forever.”
In a fight to win elections and save face, all of our country’s lawmakers have forgotten how the despicable acts of September 11 brought the country together and how powerful the initial response was when the United States overthrew the Taliban. Our togetherness could have annihilated the terrorism threat and secured Afghanistan, but instead our divisiveness drove us apart.
Richard Clarke put it perfectly when he said that WE all failed. Everyone failed. The best thing to do is to work together and cut out the political and bureaucratic nonsense.
For once, the remembrance of September 11 should bring us together and focus on what we lost and what we can do together to make us safer, not what we can do to advance our own agendas. All Americans lost something on 9/11, and all Americans should work together to make sure that it never happens again.
SOURCE
“9/11/06.” New York Times editorial, September 11, 2006.
Kevin D. Roberts
2006 Graduate - University of Connecticut - B.A. Journalism/Political Science
Torrington, CT 06790