Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource TomPaine.com Stories Description An account of the resource TomPaine.com -- a liberal advocacy organization -- distributed a public call on August 12, 2002 for 300 word "opinion advertisement" similar to those that the organization had been running regularly in the op-ed page of The New York Times. TomPaine.com received hundreds of submissions from the public, most of which the September 11 Digital Archive has preserved here. TomPaine Story TomPaine Story: Story TOWARDS A MORE PERFECT UNION America s Greatest Gift To Mankind A firefighter for 25 years, my father was a hero to me, but he thought, as did most Americans during the 1960 s, that the United States might come under attack by communists. We were wrong, and even as that concern faded, nobody envisioned attacks by little-known terrorist groups who had no clear purpose, never made demands, and struck without warning. When this happened on September 11, 2001, the U.S. Constitution, the core of America, was in danger of being shredded by nineteen men who carried out the biggest assault on American soil using -- boxcutters. The very nature of the attack, a diabolical use of transportation in a free society, devastated us and our friends around the world. However, it brought us together and we raised our fists, waved Old Glory and shouted United We Stand, as if we never meant it before. Then we faltered. Some of our short-sighted leaders attributed the tragedy to an open society based on our precious civil rights. They quickly denigrated our Constitutional safeguards by saying its a different world today, these liberties may no longer apply. They enacted privacy-robbing laws empowering the government over the people, ironically labeling the new laws Patriotic as if to suggest opposing them would make you a traitor. However, the Constitution s testimony to our freedom is its checks and balances, a brilliant framework that inspires us to bravely meet the challenges to our autonomy. Our path to a more perfect union was laid when Americans decided that their legacy to the world was a free society. We must cherish our freedoms by respecting the sacrifices of brave patriots who fought for the liberties accorded us by the Constitution. Let s continue this battle for freedom today and thumb our nose at fear by reminding ourselves that only a coward trades freedom for security. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource tp31.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. story Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2003-02-24