It's like it happened yesterday.

Like most of you I remember exactly where I was that day, and what I was doing. I was at a child support conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and I was looking forward to playing hooky from the days events and playing a round of golf (yes this field Negro plays golf) with some colleagues. I don't know, maybe it's because of the events of that day, but weatherise, It was probably the most beautiful and perfect day that I can ever remember. And when those planes started hitting those buildings, right before our very eyes, live and in living color; everyone freaked the fuck out. I don't think too many of us can forget the images of the people jumping from buildings, the brave first responders, and the sheer panic and misery on the faces of those people who were right around ground zero.



I remember thinking: These sick mofos must really hate us. Some of the people around me couldn't even fathom it. "How can anyone hate us so much?" They asked. "Where did all this evil come from?" They pleaded to no one in particular. As I watched the events unfold from that Hotel lobby,, I felt like I knew. Unlike most of the people around me, I had traveled the world, I had lived and spent time outside of the United States, and I knew that a lot of people out there really really hated us. But I never knew this was how they would strike? I had to give it to them; it worked.

Now it couldn't have worked without real commitment and devotion. After all, you had to have been willing to sacrifice your life to complete the mission. And I guess the promise of seventy two virgins in paradise was enough to make these sick fanatics take the lives of over 3,000 of our fellow citizens.

Total strangers came up and hugged me, total strangers cried with me, I hugged strangers and told them that it would be alright. I tried to convince them-- and myself at the same time---, because deep down I knew that things would never be the same. Forget Don McLean, 911 was the real day the "music died" in this country.


And, of course, the moron we had as a leader, didn't help. The first problem with him of course, was that like the lunatics who shattered our peace, he was deeply religious and thought he was called by god to lead us. So instead of thinking it through and figuring out a way to go after the perpetrators who attacked us, he launched his own version of Jihad against the Arab world. Instead of trying to bring us closer together as a country, he became more partisan, and threw us farther a part. Instead of asking for a shared commitment to service, he told us to go shopping. And instead of trying to build good will with the rest of the world, he made them hate us even more.


So now, seven years later, the man who was responsible for committing this despicable act is still held up in a cave somewhere like Fred fucking Flinstone. And all our idiot of a leader can do is say that al-Qaeda is in retreat, and all the evil doers are on the run. Yeah right. I have a news flash for yo frat boy: al-Qaeda is stronger than ever (your war gave them a hell of a recruiting tool), and we are no closer to capturing the Arab with Santa Clauses beard and Wilt Chamberlain's height than we were seven years ago. And you are still using the fear that was created by those 19 hijackers to hijack the political process, and take away our civil liberties.






Now I am left wondering who did the most damage from that day? The 19 hijackers or the frat boy? My gut of course tells me it's the hijackers; all those poor families without their loved ones that they lost that day. But my head tells me that it's this administration and their minions. September 11, was a tragic day, but we have endured tragedies and dark times in our history before. It's how we come out of those times that determines what type if country this will ultimately be, and tells us who we are as a people.


911 was a deep cut to our nations psyche and to our way of life. But this administration did not try to heal it. Instead, they let the wounds fester, and they made it even worse. So now, as a result, we will forever be scarred. There were 19 hijackers on those planes that day, but there was one hijacker sitting in a school house in Florida that day too.