Here in the East Valley, our morning 10 years ago was cracked wide open. Breath was hard to come by. Incomprehensible television images tore a hole in our hearts. But, as one first responder said on CNN this past week, we've "had a choice of what to do with that space."
And now we assess: Many will never forget 9/11, but from where I stand, our nation remains under attack - from within.
We saw the George Bush years become what many ignorantly try to forget. They were the steadying years; the years in which adrenalin had to be used well, for more attacks against our sleeping nation surely were in the works - works set up during the golden, Clinton years.
Clearly, no matter how we judge the Bush administration as a whole, we have remained safe. The watch now rests within the care of another president and his advisors. We shall see.
At the top of my memory is the sacrificial suicide of Flight 93 where the best of men bravely stopped the worst of men, intent on fulfilling evil.
And, then, we had bodies. No, not bodies... real people with names and dreams falling from towers - most certainly in prayer - and only after they'd spoken with loved ones, one final time. Those transcripts, those farewell words of love rang deeply within my own gut and remain there today, seared and sacred. And, then, strangers escaping with strangers on ash white streets as fire fighters gave their lives in their climb to nowhere.
Amidst it all, home, family and friends claimed first thought, first response. Love won out as hate had its way. A nation became bonded in an instant. It was electric.
Why then, today, are we divided? Why has "that space in our hearts" taken on bitterness and separation? What kind of nation would forget the sounds, the stories, the lessons? Why would we choose a leader who is not loyal to America? And, now we see that what we gained on that day of death has been squandered.
The cost for "change" has been too high, not just in dollars, but in image and character, in confidence and hope. Worker unions, once formed as a refuge for the common man, have become an enemy. Our borders are political pawns; our jobs exported; corruption reigns in the treasury.
And, citizens who walk the talk of families, pride in nation and founding principles, who rise up to defend what was there 10 years ago, are attacked in the most vile ways. One decade. Ten years. How did we lose so much?
In some ways, 9/11 was a blessing. It pushed us into a phase of testing where citizens loved strangers; that very love a healing balm. But here, today, it's forgotten, buried in hostility over money and demands for more and better. All while we remain far more blessed than any other and yet, we're self destructing.
Since that day, we've fought on other shores. And, now we fight here, currently using weapons provided by our fore fathers, and pray they will be enough to prevent civil hate from turning a golden land into a war that overshadows 9/11.
The Declaration of Independence points in the direction of recovery: "Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government."
Empowerment is found in the ashes of 9/11; a reminder that love of country requires action. We must stay awake. We must not sleep.
• East Valley resident Linda Turley-Hansen (turleyhansen@gmail.com) is a syndicated columnist and former Phoenix veteran TV anchor.
davidflucier posted at 5:48 am on Sat, Sep 10, 2011.
This "opinion" is as disingenuous as it is fallacious and politically calculating...dead Americans used as a political statement.
One administration hands off one of the worst political, economic, international and financial scenarios one could imagine to the succeeding administration, and wraps the situation in the flag of 3,000 victims of an attack and has the audacity to talk about how "we" suffer as a nation?
After those 3,000 deaths, less than 1% of the nation's citizens took the risk to confront an enemy thousands of miles away.
No one with the exception of the men and women and their families have sacrificed. There were no new taxes to support the war...in fact, they were reduced. Men & women come back to their communities to little flag waving ceremonies that mean nothing in the face of employers who refuse to hire Veterans.
Our own state legislature continues to refuse to appropriate any funding for our Veterans...because "times are tough". Tell that to the families of dead service members...you know...how times are tough. Tell that to the Marines who fought their way through Baghdad and Fallujah...we can't do anything for you (a Veteran) because times are tough.
Lady, you offend me with your remarks, your narcissistic attitude and your self centered, disingenuous platitudes. All of it in an attempt to legitimize your self righteous and self serving political perspective.
Your right to say these things makes them no less offensive.
RationalHuman posted at 8:04 am on Sat, Sep 10, 2011.
Davidflucier, well said! I find it shameful and pathetic that Turley-Hansen would use the deaths of innocent Americans to propigate an op-ed piece.
And the cherry on top of this shameful Turley-Hansen Ignoramus Sundae?
"And, then, we had bodies. No, not bodies... real people with names and dreams falling from towers - most certainly in prayer"
Her complete disregard (to the point of pretending they don't even exist) for the brave, NON RELIGIOUS men and women who died that day, and who die defending our freedoms (there ARE atheists in foxholes).
Isn't it strange how shameful slander and ignorant bigotry always seem to accompany one another? ;)
Mike McClellan posted at 8:19 am on Sat, Sep 10, 2011.
Ms. Hansen talks of "a nation became bonded," then has the audacity to write this:
"The cost for "change" has been too high, not just in dollars, but in image and character, in confidence and hope. Worker unions, once formed as a refuge for the common man, have become an enemy. Our borders are political pawns; our jobs exported; corruption reigns in the treasury."
If Ms. Hansen were bit more introspective rather than rigidly ideological, she understand that the years after 9/11 have become a wasteland of partisanship -- the things she writes above she believes apply to just one party when, in fact, they can apply to both.
This is just another of her many tirades that essentially repeat Tea Party/Fox News talking points. And doesn't do it in a particularly elegant way to boot.
Ring of Gyges posted at 10:41 am on Sat, Sep 10, 2011.
Ms. Hansen asks "Why then, are we today divided?" It seems as if the commentary Hansen provides is a prime example. "We saw the George Bush years become what many ignorantly try to forget. They were the steadying years; the years in which adrenalin had to be used well, for more attacks against our sleeping nation surely were in the works - works set up during the golden, Clinton years," Ms Hansen delcares. She insinuates that the current President is lacking the same "adrenaline" or ambition to stop terrorists by exclaiming, "The watch now rests within the care of another president and his advisors. We shall see." The cherry on top is the reference of the Declaration Independence. Jefferson wrote those words in reaction to the arbitrary rule of the British Parliament. The Americans felt that their consent to be ruled was non-existent, thus they wanted to create their own government. Does this ring true today? I don't think so. Our consent to rule and be ruled is a tacit consent, which is going back to the theory of republican citizenship. Ms. Hansen's Declaration of Independence reference is lacking context. Her same reference can also be used as a battle cry by all terrorist, domestic or foreign, for the justification of the dissolution of government institutions.
Accuracy posted at 10:52 am on Sat, Sep 10, 2011.
Linda Turley-Hansen wrote: “Since that day, we've fought on other shores. And, now we fight here, currently using weapons provided by our fore fathers, and pray they will be enough to prevent civil hate from turning a golden land into a war that overshadows 9/11.”
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Sunday, September 11, 2011 – Americans across the nation will take time to remember the events of 9/11 and how that day changed our lives and how it marked the greatest challenge our nation has faced in a generation. As Americans we must remember that we did not start this war, even though it marked the beginning of a decade of turmoil we are still experiencing.
Prayer played a huge role bringing Americans together in the days following 9/11, as hundreds of thousands of Americans turned to God in prayer following that horrific attack. And U.S. Congressmen spontaneously sang “God Bless America” on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington D.C.
It is crucial that we take a stand for the families of those who lost loved ones and for the survivors who risked their lives that tragic day, who have been ministered to over the years by their faith and the prayers of thousands of Americans.
Rich posted at 10:38 pm on Sat, Sep 10, 2011.
Right, we are under attack, be afraid, be very afraid, kill someone. After 9/11 we had one way to win, to go right on as if it didn't happen, to prove it futile. Instead a bunch of rather corrupt people tried to frighten us into electing them and another morally bankrupt group united to sell us security. We bought the whole package, look how that worked out.
Dale Whiting posted at 10:08 am on Sun, Sep 11, 2011.
Rich has it correctly. Rich has become a pessimist. Had I walked in his shoes, perhaps I'd be one, too. But clearly Linda Turley-Hansen is smelling all of the wrong roses.
davidflucier posted at 1:34 pm on Sun, Sep 11, 2011.
Ms. Turley- Hansen is not "just smelling the wrong roses", her comments are offensive to every freedom loving American who believes in the US Constitution.
The First Amendment gives her certain rights and she has chosen to use those rights and that access in a most irresponsible way.
"Our nation remains under attack - from within"...McCarthyism at its best.
"...attacks against our sleeping nation surely were in the works - works set up during the golden, Clinton years."...and didn't the Bush years follow the Clinton years? With this kind of logic, George Washington is really to blame!
"Why would we choose a leader who is not loyal to America?" One could say the same thing about Russell Pearce, but hear she is calling into question the loyalty of the President of the United States...not policy mind you, but LOYALTY.
"In some ways, 9/11 was a blessing." I fail to see the silver lining in 3,000 innocent civilians murdered. I wonder what her take is on the Holocaust?
"...a reminder that love of country requires action. We must stay awake. We must not sleep." I think she means she wants someone else's spouse, sister, brother, mother, father to get out there and fight to the last drop of their blood, not hers, not her family's.
It means that she wants everyone else to pick up arms. She wants everyone/someone else to do the hard work of killing America's enemies. She wraps herself in a flag she has never defended...really defended...never really picked up a gun or a knife or any other weapon of destruction, left her family for an extended period, and really fought back...to the death.
No...what she did was pick up her purse and drive safely to the mall while playing head games about how the President of the United States wasn't keeping HER safe enough. And not only has the gall to question his loyalty (literally) but has the audacity to call for an armed rebellion against the men and women who really have defended this country and sacrificed life and limb for their beloved America.
I'll say it again...Lady, you offend me...not only because you are a hypocrite, but your words of that of a cowardly hypocrite.
bobunf posted at 10:06 am on Mon, Sep 12, 2011.
"Our nation remains under attack - from within" ??
If she's referring to terrorists, the United States is persecuting some, spying on many, inconveniencing most and taxing all to defend against an internal enemy that scarcely exists. Action is required, but our reaction has been severely overblown, including one completely unnecessary war that cost more American lives than 9/11, and another that has been dragging along for about 9 years too long, and has cost far too many American lives.
If she's referring to Obama's attempt to reform our health care system, to gays seeking the right to marry, or to balancing the budget, how dare she compare these policy issues to war. She trivializes the sacrifice of our soldiers and their families.
samkat posted at 5:54 pm on Wed, Sep 14, 2011.
Bob: If you have a problem with interpretation, why not write Linda and ask her for a clarification? I have on occasion and she was courteous enough to respond. Give it a try. Communications are a two way street in clearing up issues.
Mike: I assume you are taking issue with Linda because she dared to mention unions. I doubt that you have ever worked in a union shop outside of the teacher's union. I have and if a worker dares cross the union bosses and loyal members, they can and have been harmed, their personal property damaged or destroyed, and even their family members have been threatened. I have been there so I know how they work.
I left a good paying job at a copper mine in Southern Arizona because the union bosses decided to strike over 2 cents per hour in fringe benefits. After 6 months, I moved on and found another job. I could relate many other first hand instances but it would not sway you so why bother. By the way, whenever the union calls a strike, the union bosses continue to draw their pay. Union members must walk the picket line for a small sum of money.