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I didn't turn the television on when 9/11/06 came. Truth be told, it's still a bit of an open wound for me. Even five years later, if I sit and think about it for too long it still has the power to bring me to tears. That being said, seeing video clips of the towers coming down - still etched indelibly into my mind - have the power to drop the bottom out of my stomach. Such awesome horror was visited upon us that day. Countless of us around the country, glued to our television sets and clutching cell phones that couldn't get through to loved ones bore witness to an unspeakable tragedy; a tragedy which is still and will be forever burned into the psyche of our country.
What I tend to remember most about nine eleven, however, is not the pain that we all went through together. What is most clear in my memory is what came out of that pain. Keith Olbermann put it aptly when he said that we became "Americans first". It didn't seem to matter a great deal what one person looked like or what another person believed. One thing was clear to each and every one of us: we are Americans.
What does that mean, to be an American? Does it mean that we drive SUVs, or does it mean that we drive Priuses? Does it mean we take our kids to soccer games? Do we like NASCAR? Or is it something else entirely...are we American by virtue of where we live? If you live in Iowa, does that make you an American? How about Chicago? Los Angeles? Montana? Yes. Yes, yes, yes. All of those things and so much more that I neither have the ability nor the time to list.
There's something deeper, I think. There's something else that courses through our collective veins and makes us into more than the sum of our parts. It is the belief in the idea that this country was founded upon: freedom. I believe in it, and if a worthy cause presented itself, I would fight and die for it. There is not a doubt in my mind that, if such a cause came about, no one reading this would do any differently.
We believe in freedom, and we do so fervently. Freedom is our lifeblood; if it goes, so do we as Americans. We will still be Americans, but only by virtue of our geographic borders. We will become Americans in name only.
Mr. Bush, Mr. Rumsfeld, and their colleagues speak of loyalty. They think that Americans should support their government, regardless of the circumstances. They say that to do otherwise is simply un-American. Repeatedly they have called into question my patriotism, and yours. They have done so because we, as Americans, have disagreed. We have thought their policies ill-executed at best, and murderous at worst.
I have something that I would like to say to Mr. Bush, Mr. Rumsfeld, and their colleagues. Perhaps we define loyalty in different terms. I presume that the definition of loyalty that they were taught is that you should respect and obey those who hold power over you, as to do otherwise would be disloyal. To me, that sounds a great deal like obedience - the kind that your pet should have.
We are not your pets, Mr. Bush. We are not your property, Mr. Rumsfeld. We are Americans, and we are loyal. For me, loyalty is action compelled by love. My loyalty to this country supersedes that of any administration, Democratic or Republican. When I see that our country is imperiled by the reckless acts of simple-minded men, I feel it is my duty - as a patriotic American - to speak against them. To speak and to scream and to write until I am satisfied that I am heard. I have not felt such a satisfaction since they have taken office, so I will continue to speak, and to scream, and to write until I am.
They think they can make us afraid. They think they can marginalize us by calling us names. They think they can silence us. I can only speak for myself, and so I say the following: so long as there is breath in my lungs and blood in my heart, I will not be silenced.
I am a patriot, and I love our country.
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