Never forget

September 11, 2001 was my son's fourth birthday. It was supposed to be a great day. He wanted to have celebratory dinner at a Chinese restaurant that day. He couldn't wait for that night, so he could go out with his family. Granted, the munchkin only ate pizza at the Chinese buffet we usually patronized, but he still loved that restaurant!

That day our lives changed forever. All television stations ran incessant footage of planes flying into buildings, of our Pentagon under attack, of people falling out of windows to avoid being roasted to death...

We were a nation united by tragedy back then. I'd never seen such an outpouring of affection from Americans to their fellow man. I'd never seen perfect strangers holding hands and hugging on the streets through tears before. Politicians stood united for once. Everyone was frightened. And that fear generated something sick...

Something went horribly wrong. Opportunistic swine started using the tragedy to further their agendas. Politicians started using it to gain power. They fomented fear and panic and fooled gullible Americans into allowing them to shred their freedoms. Every power-hungry scumbag used 9-11 as a hammer to force their agendas upon the country. "National security" became the catch-all phrase for the authorities to abuse their power.

Remember Giuliani? He took opportunism to a new level, trying to use 9-11 as a stepladder to power.

Remember the USA PATRIOT Act? Foul, tricky piece of legislation that did put our rights in danger, regardless of its good points.

Remember Operation TIPS?

And then came the squishy "pacifists" who claimed there was "too much" coverage of 9-11. They wanted television stations to stop running stories about the attacks. They demanded an end to what appeared to be an endless parade of tragedy. They want us to forget.

That's why I've linked to the site in the title. It's a compilation of television stories about the September 11 attacks. It's a tragedy that I never want to forget. I remember it every year when my son celebrates his birthday. I remember it every time I see Brad put on his Army uniform. I want to remember it. And I hope others do too.

Remember that we didn't just lose our buildings and thousands of lives that day. We lost our freedoms to fear. And that's something we can get back. If we don't forget.