“Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?”
I awoke this morning with these words from Alan Jackson on my radio, my country station featuring such songs as Jackson’s “Where Were You” to commemorate this day, September 11th.
I know where I was. We all know where we were. And though there are some in this country with screeching voices and amplified microphones who would rather we forget, we won’t. Ever.
And that is why the vast, vast majority of Americans, all Americans, never dreamed that nine years after that September day, we would be arguing not over the design of the buildings that should replace the Twin Towers, but the building of a mosque upon the sacred ground where the Twin Towers once stood.
The opposition hurls names at this majority of Americans who wish to keep that ground, and the remains of the thousands of souls lost on that ground, sacred. They scream that we are anti-this, anti-that, phobic-this, phobic-that, and, most laughably, they claim we are un-American. For this instance and this instance only, the fundamentally frightened appeasers haul out the Constitution, claiming we who oppose the plan are defying our founders’ intent – and, most importantly, placing ourselves in grave danger.
From politicians to media hacks to talk show hosts, the politically correct ignore pleas to investigate the shady funding behind the project (which, if terror-rooted, would throw the whole “freedom of religion” argument out the window), pleading instead in so many words that if we don’t do this, if we don’t obey, they’ll hurt as again. And indeed, more than one imam has declared publicly, one on national television: If you don’t build it on that site, on that ground, where we say it must go, more attacks will follow.
The left, including the President of the United States, has heeded such threats, and, with the help of New York City’s mayor, New York’s leading candidate for Governor, various New York Congresspeople, leftwing media outlets and formerly funny late night talk-show hosts, they are trying desperately to obey the edict.
The only trouble is, we the people are not so obedient. We know conquest when we see it. We know that the same people pleading the mosque’s case would be singing a different tune if the targets on that September day had instead been Rockefeller Center or the Ed Sullivan Theater. We also happen to be far more familiar than they with our Constitution and our founders’ intent. We believe good and evil exist in this world, we believe in right and wrong, and, above all, we remember where we were when the world stopped turning on that September day. So, no, we won’t obey. And we won’t forget. Ever.
Miracle in Chile
October 13, 2010 | Comments (2)There was not a dry eye in our house last night when the first of the 33 miners stuck underground for the last 69 days in Chile was brought to the surface in a narrow rescue capsule barely large enough to carry a child. Nor was there a dry eye tonight when the last of those miners, Shift Foreman Luis Urzua, exited the rescue capsule to cheers, applause and silent prayers of thanks. The heroism on display in Chile since these men were trapped more than two months ago, which has culminated over the past 24 hours as the world watched their rescue, can be described only as a testament to the human spirit.
Tonight we celebrate the efforts of engineers, paramedics, psychologists, physicians, NASA scientists, excavation experts and everyone in between, as 33 miners, feared dead for the first 17 days of their captivity, emerged from their underground prison. Tonight we reflect on the amazing stories of men, who, under the leadership of Shift Foreman Urzua, who took matters into their own hands, rationed their supplies, never gave up hope, and refused to go down without a fight. We hear of true unadulterated heroism and courage in the rescue workers who volunteered 24 hours ago to take the rescue capsule down into the mine to prepare the miners for their pending rescue. And tonight we witness Chile’s President, Sebastian Pinera, with tears in his eyes, sing his nation’s national anthem, then offer spontaneous, heartfelt words of praise to the rescuers, to the miners, and to his God for the miracle his nation celebrates tonight – and all without a teleprompter.
As a side note, I thank Fox News for giving this story, this miracle, the full-court coverage it so richly deserves. Apparently their competition did not find it so worthy, the other cable news outlets deeming Michael Moore, Tea Party anger, eating disorders and celebrity breakups more important than the arrival of the last miner at the surface.
As for those of us who find such programming choices disgraceful, our prayers go out to the rescue workers still underground, who risked their lives over the last 24 hours to help the miners reach daylight once more. May they, too, reach the surface soon and safely, and know the awe they have inspired with their heroism. The same goes for the miners they helped rescue. We wish them the best in their recovery from their ordeal, and we thank them for reminding us that miracles do happen.