Reflections on September 11th.

Today is a day marked by tragedy for many but a day of celebration for others.  For me I have a mixed situation.  I am an American and do mourn the tragedy that hit our country in 2001.  I also have reason to celebrate this day.  Today is my mother's wedding anniversary.  Today is my foster son's birthday and today is the anniversary of buying our first home. 

It has been 13 years since terrorists took a new tactic against the Western threat.  What have we learned in that time period?  First of all after the initial wave of patriotism Americans went back to their apathetic lives.  They decided they were willing to give up freedom, rights, and privacy in the name of safety and then wonder how the government can get away with monitoring our phone calls, emails and social media usage.  They decided that it was better to pull out of an unstable Middle East and reduce our military than it was to reduce unnecessary sending.  American's decided that it was more important to focus on social issues at home than to focus on economic growth and the security of our borders.

13 years have see many changes to our country, but remember change isn't always good.  We have a record number of people who are on welfare and either unemployed or underemployed.  Taxes are on the rise and wages are either stagnant or lowering.  The cost of living is increasing at a rate higher than most workers wages are.  The country is more divided now than before the civil war. 

We take one day a year to remember the innocent lives lost to a terrorist attack.  We especially remember those who ran to the burning buildings to help instead of running to safety.  13 years have past and yet we have court battles over what should be included in the 9/11 museum.  Some want to exclude anything to do with faith even though faith was a major component in getting through the fear in those first days after the attack.  There are those who don't want the clothing of the seals who
got Usama Bin Laden included in the exhibits.  There was a fight over what should be done with the World trade center site and it took over 10 years to finish it. 

In my humble opinion we have learned nothing from the last 13 years.  We allow other entities to take away our sovereignty even thought we created that entity to begin with.  We allow illegal immigration to continue unchecked.  We continue to police the world and give out aid right and left when our own domestic troubles are overwhelming.  We have allowed our financial position to become so weakened that it won't take violence to overturn our country just the right hostile takeover in the business world.  We continue to rely on Middle Eastern oil instead of drilling off shore in our own country or having a pipeline from the resources of our neighbors to the north.  All the other superpowers have toppled since World War II and we are in danger of the same fate.  The rising Superpower is communist or socialist in nature and we are trying to adopt those ways.  Our government is no longer by the people and for the people its now by the special interests and for the special interests.