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New York's Skyline pre attack

GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOME

IN THIS OUR DEEPEST TIME OF TRAGEDY WE MUST ALL STAND TOGETHER, HAND IN HAND, AND PRAY TO OUR HIGHER POWER. PEACE AND LOVE TO ALL MANKIND.

A victory for courage over cowardice, but forces of terror carried the day on Sept. 11, 2001. The date, like Dec. 7, 1941, will live in infamy. The audacious air assault on the political and financial capitals made a mockery of Fortress America and ended the illusion that its citizens can somehow float above the hatreds of the world. The thick clouds of smoke and dust billowing up from the spot where the World Trade Center once stood were eerily reminiscent of the photographs from the Japanese attack on Battleship Row in Pearl Harboronly the clouds were engulfing lower Manhattan, where hundreds of thousands of civilians live and work. The image of the broadcast tower on top of one of the Twin Towers, slowly sinking as the 110-story building disintegrated, reminded older Americans of newsreels of the Hindenburg disaster, the explosion of a giant German dirigible in New Jersey 64 years ago. Only the death toll from this horror could reach well into the thousandsno one will know the exact total for daysand the cause of the tragedy was not human folly but evil. With the kind of tactical precision that a trained commando unit could only dream of, a cell of terrorists had turned four jetliners into guided missiles and destroyed the most iconic symbol of American capitalism, the World Trade Center, while bombing and blackening the nerve center of U.S. military might, the Pentagon.

Facing a profound test of leadership, President George W. Bush talked tough. Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward, and freedom will not be defeated, said a stern-looking Bush as he appeared before the cameras at about noon. Make no mistake: the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts.

Life is going to change, said Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Some of the response will be a higher state of vigilance, a higher state of awareness and a little less ease as we go about our lives. And perhaps less tolerance: already there have been reports of harassment of Muslim Americans. Washington was clearly going on a war footing. If bin Laden was too elusive, his sponsors might prove to be more convenient targets. In his televised address to the nation on Tuesday night, Bush significantly vowed that America would make no distinction between terrorists and those who harbor them.

We must stand together. We must be strong. And we must NOT forget who we are.

GOD bless us all.

10/17/01 update - WE ARE KICKING THE TALIBAN'S FUCKING ASS ALL OVER AFGHANISTAN! VIVE AMERICA!

Here I wanted to print the lyrics of one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, SHRIEKBACK. I feel the song speaks for itself in this, our time of great and frightening crises. The song is titled "Cradle Song" and seems to be eerily pertinent. "...The cold air of the world and the fierce light of day and the cruel separation, In a world washed with tears..."


CRADLE SONG (from the Shriekback album, "Big Night Music", (c 1986)

Sing a cradle song now,
as the light fades around us
And you breathe like the ocean,
lying small in my arms

See it all in a moment -
you so young and unclouded
Shining bright as a lion -
feel the motion of time
As the world rolls away from the sun.

Refrain:
I can feel your life burning -
unlived moments within you
Further than I can see...

Chorus:
May the fire be your friend
and the sea rock you gently,
May the moon light your way -
til' the wind sets you free

I remember your face
as you cried for the first time
The cold air of the world
and the fierce light of day

And the cruel separation
In a world washed with tears
numbed with pain too unfeeling
May you hold to your truth
as you walk the dark night of unreason

Refrain:
The stone walls which surround us -
may your spirit fly round them
Like the wind from the sea...

Chorus:
May the fire be your friend
and the sea rock you gently,
My the moon light your way -
till the wind sets you free

(Instrumental)

May you never know hunger:
may you love with a full heart -
The light stay in your eyes...

May the fire be your friend
and the sea rock you gently,
My the moon light your way -
till the wind sets you free (repeat)