My Thoughts

 I went to bed watching the celebrations outside the White House and in Times Square last night.  I thought that the President's speech was one of the best I had ever seen him give.  I especially liked the way it concluded by reminding us that we are "One Nation, Under God, with Liberty and Justice for All."  (I am not sure that the last three words are actually the case.)  Of course it was a little anti-climatic for the talking heads interrupted my TV show 45 minutes before he actually spoke and  did what they do so well - filled space with endless chatter.  The speech itself was great.

I applaud the Navy SEALS who went in and accomplished the mission begun so long ago and then put on a back burner by the previous administration in their war in Iraq.  I congratulate Mr. Obama for making this a priority and am pleased that he (like Mr. Bush) emphasized that we are not at war with Islam.  Of course he will probably be criticized for that but what else is new.

I started watching some of the coverage this morning and then decided not to for it was just a rehash of what I had heard before. "Osama Bin Laden is dead.. Now we have to go on heightened alert as the terrorists will seek to take revenge."  It is easy to tell who the conservatives are on Facebook.  They generally look to the dark side and see that there is more to be afraid of.

Having a liberal brain I am not so much worried that we will be attacked.  I am more worried that we will miss an opportunity.  This should be an opportunity to reach out to Muslims and non-muslims and say, "We have rid the world of an evil man.  Let us now work together to build a better world.  One where we settle our differences by diplomacy and cooperation and not by war and killing.  Let us work together to conserve our resources and allow every human being on the planet to have a good life and work to see that no child goes to bed hungry."  Let us make the love of one another and not of money our world priority."  You see I think that when we get egos out of the way and then work together to accomplish anything we want to.

In the meantime I admit that I shed tears last night and this morning.  Not so much that a man was killed but that those kids that I was teaching when the planes flew into the World Trade Center can now feel a sense of closure to a nightmare.  As a child I had what are probably known as night terrors.  I would dream that I was on a tightrope with blackness surrounding me and no way to move.  It was frightening.  In many ways we have had our night terrors as a nation. I think it is time to wake up and work together to dispel the night and look at the sunrise instead of the sunset.

The picture below was picked up by a blogger shortly after 9/11.  It was done by a child and it is very powerful. He found it on a school fence and rescued it from the rain. Thanks to Joe Jarvis for posting it.  It speaks volumes.

And then just to get my snark in for the day I found this on line.  It also speaks volumes - about Fox News.  You may have to look twice but read it carefully.