Getting ready for my usual "Music Monday" feature, I stumbled across the following video. Yes, I am telegraphing my plans for tomorrow, but my reaction to the video was such that I felt it deserved some commentary outside the usual boundaries of "just plain entertainment" that I try to keep with my regular music posts. Two things before you click "play". First, the video contains the graphic image of a Taliban execution by AK-47, so you might want to be aware of that. Second, even if you don't like heavy metal, the video montage is more affecting if you watch it with sound (I've tried it both ways). The song is by Tony Iommi, the guitar player from Black Sabbath, sung by Dave Grohl, formerly of Nirvana, currently of the Foo Fighters, called "Goodbye Lament":
September 11, 2001 was the first day of a week's vacation for me. My father's 80th birthday was on Saturday, and Moriah, who was then four, and I were going to drive to my parents' for the party (Miriam was three months old and my wife was not really up for traveling 775 miles with a three month old). I got off work at 7:00 am and came home and got in bed. An hour or so later, my wife rushed into our bedroom, waking me up out of a barely begun restful snooze and started screaming that the United States was under attack - the World Trade Center had been hit, the Pentagon had been hit, there were stories of other fires and strange things in Georgetown, etc. I wandered out to the TV room, and stared uncomprehendingly at the images of the Twin Towers burning and smoking then, without comment, went back to bed (I was exhausted)>
I got up about 12:30 and asked my wife if I remembered correctly, something about the US being attacked. Like everyone else that day, she was in shock, but said yes, that's right, the Towers had fallen, who knows how many were dead, the Pentagon had a hole in one of its sides, and so on. Like pretty much the rest of the country, I sat and stared at the television screen for the rest of the day, wondering at what had happened, and why. Every time they replayed the footage of the Towers collapsing, or of the planes hitting the Towers, I thought of the people inside; we were watching people die.
In the years since then, all the sorrow and rage and fear engendered on that horrible, beautiful September morning has been stolen from us, used for ends and purposes that have little to do with vengeance or justice (for myself, I recognize my own acceptance of vengeance as a legitimate reaction to the events of that day; it isn't pretty, and I wish I could feel otherwise, but I want the people responsible for that day caught and/or dealt with). All the righteous fury, all the fear, all the goodwill the world showed towards the United States in the ensuing days and weeks has been stolen by an Administration that saw the opportunity to use those emotions engendered on that fateful day for its own ends.
They continue to do so. Michael Chertoff talks about his gut telling him another attack in imminent. The Administration, duly noted by our stenographic press, insists that we are fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq, rather than dealing with a messy, multi-factioned civil war. Rudy Giuliani is running for President on the graves (some unmarked) of the real heroes of that day, the firefighters and other first responders who lost their lives doing what they loved - going in to burning buildings to save people. Joe Lieberman has built an entire second career out of snuggling up to our President and his exploitation of our reaction.
There are days, ladies and gentlemen, that I hate these people for what they have done. There are days that I am so enraged at how out of control, how unfocused we have become, I want to scream. Watching this little compilation video, which brought back to me all the sorrow and anger of that beautiful sunny day, I am convinced more than ever that, no matter the political cost, it is imperative that we provide backbones to any and all politicians who are willing to take a stand - NOW - and say, "Enough!" Impeachment should not only be back on the table, it should be the table. Those who died that day, so visibly and horribly, deserve nothing less than to have their memories salvaged from those who have destroyed the reputation of the United States, and our rule of law, on the pretense of remembering and avenging their deaths.
