Do We Want To Forget 9/11

By Alicia Colon

President Obama has decided to change the significance of September 11, 2001. It will no longer be a day of fear, which he feels gives an advantage to the national-security conscious Republican Party. Now it will be a day dedicated to something more befitting the Kumbaya Democrat Party. He signed into law on April 21 "The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act" designating a "September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance."

I wonder where he was 8 years ago when over 3,000 innocent victims were killed on that day and if he knew any of them. I certainly did. He must have been many miles away from New York City or he would never have done anything as mind-numbingly stupid as approving jets flying over Ground Zero for a photo shoot. It boggles the mind why the administration hasn't been sued by an enterprising trial lawyer for mental trauma suffered by those forced to relive that horrific day.

Even more than Dec. 7, 1941, 9/11 was truly a day that will live in infamy because the victims were innocent civilians not military personnel. That's the way I perceive the horror as I am a New Yorker, born and bred, and love this city. Our president and many of the liberal elite do not share that sentiment.

I cherish that George Santayana quote: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Although I never thought it necessary to castigate the Clinton administration for failing to recognize the threat of radical jihadists, I fear the Obama administration is repeating that same error. It has effectively ended the War on Terror by changing its name to "overseas contingency operation" and dismantling policies that have kept this country safe for the last 8 years. It's doing everything possible to destroy and demoralize our intelligence gathering agencies, making me wonder whose side it's on.

Staten Islanders suffered disproportionate losses on 9/11. Over 1,000 children here lost one of their parents who were workers in the World Trade Center, firefighters or police personnel. For weeks and months after that day, the streets teemed with funereal processions and as the bodies from the fallen Twin Towers were identified, the masses and wakes became routine.

What I will never ever forget is my first trip into Manhattan a week after the attack. As I got closer to the site of the devastation, I was surprised that the smoke had pretty much dissipated although when the wind blew, my eyes stung with the particles of dust flying through the air. However it was the smell when I reached Liberty Street that was unmistakable. My husband once described the smell that my dogs used to occasionally bring home as cairn. They would get into some garbage that had rotted and he'd use this Southern term, which is a bastardization of the word carrion. This is what you smelled at Ground Zero: decaying, putrefying flesh.

When I got home that evening, I looked in the mirror and my eyes were beet red. The particles in the air could have been anything from concrete to human tissue. To this day whenever I ride the bus past Ground Zero, I become infuriated that it's still a hole in the ground. This is so unlike what is traditional in New York City. Private construction projects always seemed to be finished overnight. Giant skyscrapers would shoot up where empty lots once stood and yet politics has sabotaged the rebirth of the World Trade Center for the past 8 years.

Even though the majority of New Yorkers want majestic towers to rise phoenix-like over the stricken site, special interest groups insist on a memorial that won't offend anybody. It has always been my opinion that having a memorial at Ground Zero is a testament to the terrorists. Not long after 9/11, there was a huge gathering of radical Islamists in London and the poster advertising the event showed the Twin Towers burning and people cheering.

In parts of the nation there has been a giant attitude shift from recognizing who our enemies are and loving our country to whining about getting more government handouts. The fact that it's worse here in New York City is inexplicable.

On September 12, 2001, New Yorkers were magnificent. They lined up everywhere to give help and aid to the rescue teams at Ground Zero. I read reports of young men enlisting in the armed forces and saw a surge of patriotic displays of emotion throughout the city. A reporter stuck in traffic headed towards the city saw a woman stick a flag out her window urging others to be patient and not to lose their tempers. I tried in vain to buy a small flag because all the stores are sold out. As I walked along the street I noticed the proliferation of flags flying on the buildings or attached to car antennae.

I have had a flag flying on my porch ever since 2001 and there is an e-mail floating around now asking everyone to display them again on the eighth anniversary. I hope there is a resurgence of that respect for the lives lost and for the military warriors still fighting to prevent another homeland attack.

I remind myself, however, that this is New York City, home of the liberal elite and headquarters of the mainstream media. This is a town of short memories that chose to forget those images of fellow residents jumping hand in hand to their deaths from the burning towers.

This is the town where many people are still suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome. They agree with novelist Barbara Kingsolver who wrote an op-ed about reluctantly letting her daughter wear red, white and blue because "the American flag stands for intimidation, censorship, violence, bigotry, sexism, homophobia.... Who are we calling terrorists here?"

Every once in a while, I see a bumper sticker that reads: "Never forget 9/11." I'm ashamed that New York City voted overwhelmingly for a man who did just that.C

Alicia Colon resides in New York and is a columnist for nysun.com. Her web site is aliciacolon.com