September 11th

I suspended the political portion of the blog today to both participate and take in how our country remembers the attacks of 9/11.  I remember in the days after how people in our country seemed to pause, take a breath and act compassionately toward one another.  I remember the friendlyness of strangers.  There was a very tanglible sense of community.  We always have the “USA-USA-USA” chant style of “we’re American”, but in those days it was different and better.  Hands down better.  The rhetoric of policy, partisanship of politics and polarization from issues ranging from abortion to gay marriage seemed nonexistent for a time.  Not that those issues don’t matter, but in those special all-to-fleeting days the unity seemed to give us the space to tolerate our differences…

I think that atmosphere, if it still existed, would have allowed us to come to some agreements on policy or at least allowed us to try to come to some accord.  Had we failed in our goal we would have been able to hold our collective heads high while walking away from the table without questioning each others love of America and patriotism, but with respect for one another and the understanding that our political adversary is also our national kin.

It’s unfortunate that our paths have led us to a place of contention and polarization.  I hope one day we can once again feel the “we are family” feeling in a tangible way, sans a national tragedy as a catalyst.

Cheers,

Tom

The New Yorker Cover

So much for the “liberal media bias”.  Particularly noteworthy is the picture of an Osama bin Laden-esque figure on the right and the American flag burning in the fireplace on the bottom right.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m pro-free speech and free press, so this is in no way criminal.  It’s just in poor taste.  Note, being free to say/print things does not negate others’ right to supply a retort.

Cheers,

Tom

July 21, 2008 cover of "The New Yorker"