Proud To Be An American
2001-09-13 - 3:33 p.m.

before/after
strangely non-functional guestbook

A guy I knew walked up to me in the gym yesterday.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi." I said, "How are you doing?"

"I'm all right. How are you doing?" He asked.

"Y'know," I said, "Its the damndest thing. Right now, I'm proud to be an American."

Things of which to be proud:

• The guys who resisted the terrorists, and prevented their plane from crashing into the White House. That would have been very, very bad for the world. They sacrificed their lives, and in some cases, their children's lives, so that they could wrestle victory from the oppressor's hand, and in my mind, stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the American heroes from history. I sincerely offer my thanks and salute their selflessness. We should all have such spirit as the need arises.

• The people of New York which have lined the roads into and out of downtown Manhatten that has been closed, where they cheer and applaud the rescue workers and their vehicles as they enter and leave. Some bear signs that say, "You are our Heroes!" I heartily agree.

• The guys who draped a huge flag over one of the larger holes in the ceiling of the Pentagon. Those guys rock. The American Spirit is an unquenchable fire, and our will to victory will not be denied.

And with the swelling of the breast comes the unmistakable drum of war. The anger lays thick in the air. The preparations are being made, and the propaganda machine has greased the skids so much so that no one looks back or around. Its all so pat and simple, I instinctively distrust this. There is more going in relation to this than we know.

Perhaps this will crystallize an islamic jihad against the rest of the world. Perhaps, although unlikely because we don't have the leasership for it, a new world can be forged out of the ashes of the World Trade Center, where terrorism is not condoned and the world frees itself from its paracitic hold.

I do not know. In fact, the only thing I really know for sure at this moment is this:

People are going to die.

Some will be average people like me, that have nothing to do with what is going on, only in their country by accident of birth. My only hope is that we spare as many innocents as we can.

Military targets. Military people. People Who Had A Hand. Like Bosnia or Iraq. Soldiers, not daycare centers. And perhaps this will keep us from the road too low like those who have killed our people. Our civillians. Our innocents.

In my travels to foreign lands, a lesson I learned is that people are people all over the world, and want pretty much the same thing on basic levels as anyone else.

They want nothing to do with hurting other people.

But as a result of a madman, who dresses his compulsive desires for manipulation and murder under the pale guise of religion, they will pay the price for the burden of his sins.

If you are so sure that Nirvana awaits on the other end of a suicide ride, why don't you take the trip?

I take no joy in this, but approach it with the callous coldness I approach any revenge I have taken in my life, that does nothing to assuage the soul, but simply as something that must be done.

May God have mercy on us all.