Yesterday was September the 11th, twenty two years since Islamists attacked our nation and murdered approximately three thousand American citizens. The week following the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the crash of flight 93 in Somerset County, PA were marked by a level of patriotism and unity not seen since Pearl Harbor. In many respects, it was a tremendous time to be alive and a patriot.
Flag pins were all the rage. They were in such high demand you couldn’t find them anywhere. The National Ensign decorated lapels, blouses, and golf shirts worn by news personalities, sports figures, Hollywood stars, and nearly everyone else who could scrounge one up. Neighborhoods were lined with Old Glory, proudly curling and snapping to attention in the breeze.
For a time, the enemy was clearly defined, and we rallied as a nation to execute justice on the evil perpetrators and their abominable creed.
At the time, America enjoyed leadership that was capable of rising to the task and waging a just war on any battle field, no matter how remote. There was no cave too deep or backwater too obscure to hide the evil that had crawled from a religious cesspool, spawning maniacal hate.
They hate us still. As I heard in a sermon last Sunday, they hate our country, our God, and would be pleased to see us all beheaded and our nation a smoking crater. By the way, it’s not just the Islamists. The Chinese, Russians, North Koreans, and a large swath of the Middle East would celebrate our fall. These are sophisticates who wage war asymmetrically, by getting in our heads and creating the chimera of enemies next door. They have insinuated their operatives within our highest levels of government. Actually, we’ve done most of the work for them, electing the worst among us, and gladly trading our liberties for statist trinkets.
That’s what happens when a nation forgets YAHWEH — the God of the Bible.
America circa 2001 is long gone, a relic of history. Even while ground zero smoldered, dissension was fomented as conspiracy theories were recklessly bandied by a fringe, whispering from their digital bunkers. Back then, the deep state’s interest didn’t completely align with with the proto-marxist movement that has since infested nearly every federal institution via Saul Alinsky’s prophet, Barack Hussein Obama.
Imagine a 9/11 today, with the deep state puppet Joe Biden at the helm. Picture the fumbling, incompetent, and callous architects of the Afghanistan retreat responding to the lethal events that day, and you’ll begin to understand how incredibly vulnerable we are — veritable sitting ducks. All the while, the increasingly brittle Joe Biden can’t even be bothered (more likely trusted) to attend 9/11 memorial events.
The comparison is stark. Think of George W. Bush with his bullhorn at ground zero in New York City. Biden wouldn’t be capable of ascending the rubble heap, much less deliver a proclamation that reverberated globally like the revolutionary war shot heard round the world: “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.”
The heroes of 9/11 were easily identifiable. NYPD, FDNY, Port Authority, and many more from state, local, and federal agencies. Civilians from every walk of life — many still anonymous — who did countless selfless things. Even man’s best friend, numerous search and rescue dogs like Jake, worked tirelessly in the rubble. And, of course, members of the U.S. armed forces took the fight to the enemy for two decades, sacrificing life and limb.
The much maligned FBI martialed manpower to the Pentagon and to Somerset County, PA after the crash of Flight 93. Many of those agents have succumbed to complications resulting from the toxic environment they knowingly entered. On that day, John P. O’Neil, former FBI SAC for counterterrorism in New York who chased the al Qaeda beast, died at the World Trade Center on 9/11 as the director of security. He’d retired from the FBI only a week before.
The unity that resulted from the tragedy of 9/11, a unity of purpose which terrifies totalitarians within and without, has evaporated more than two decades later. Schisms have been carved as deep as the Grand Canyon in the American psyche, and it’s a boon to our adversaries. Old divisions between right and left have become fractal as splintering webs pop and crack through the surface of our body politic.
Politicization and weaponization of our federal institutions by Democrats has created a new cottage industry of hate mongers. They’re exploiting a niche market where a new right wing propaganda boutique is profiteering on the public’s inability to distinguish nuance. It’s an old marxist trick. Create a monolithic narrative, and lead the masses in jingoistic chants reminiscent of the Reichstag. A highly profitable one is, “the FBI is evil personified.”
The truth isn’t always simple. Like the Old Book says, “the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.” (Proverbs 1:6) Unity only exists in the presence of truth. But, people have to be willing to subsume their self-interest and preconceptions once it’s revealed.
For instance, the reason there aren’t a phalanx of FBI whistleblowers isn’t because thirty five thousand employees are hopelessly reprobate as some would have you believe. The vast majority of FBI street agents haven’t been put in positions that conflict with conscience or their oath. The rot is primarily at the top. But, that truth doesn’t lend itself to social media quips or book deals. Nor is that truth comforting to those who see themselves as crusaders.
The body politic isn’t the enemy, though it is diseased. We don’t need to saw limbs away as if our only means are those offered by Civil War field hospitals. We need the intelligent use of the scalpel, lest we destroy the republic we intend to save.