tp62.xml
Title
tp62.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-02-28
TomPaine Story: Story
"Toward A More Perfect Union",
"On September 11, 2001, I rolled over in bed and, as always, fumbled for the remote to turn on the morning news. I woke up to a nightmare. I grew up in the shadow of the Big Apple, and I sat shocked as the skyline, solid as a mountain, crumbled.
Like so many Americans that morning I felt helpless. At the time, people
talked about the loss of innocence, and one question was heard across the nation, "Why?"
Those attacks were considered a wake up call and a chance to reflect on our nations role in the world: could we be accountable for creating a hatred felt so deep terrorists would smash planes into our buildings; do we need to be more aware of our civic responsibilities?
If childhood ended that day, we must now be in adolescence. As a nation ourresponse was to strike back with raw emotion and a year later, our nationsleaders are not directing the nation to becoming a responsible citizen of theworld. Bush is threatening war with Iraq, whether were with him or against him. He breaks treaties. American citizens are held without charge in military prisons, while his Administration defies court orders. He tries to silence dissent with pleas of patriotic duty and secrecy.
It seems hes intent on shredding the very rights he claims hes protecting. Why?
Its time we honored our civic duties, speak up, and stop sleepwalking through the world. In 1941 Senator Robert A. Taft said, "(T)he right of criticism in the long run will do the country maintaining it a great deal more good than it will do the enemy, and will prevent mistakes which might otherwise occur." On September 11, thousands of voices were silenced; do we want its legacy to silence even more?
"On September 11, 2001, I rolled over in bed and, as always, fumbled for the remote to turn on the morning news. I woke up to a nightmare. I grew up in the shadow of the Big Apple, and I sat shocked as the skyline, solid as a mountain, crumbled.
Like so many Americans that morning I felt helpless. At the time, people
talked about the loss of innocence, and one question was heard across the nation, "Why?"
Those attacks were considered a wake up call and a chance to reflect on our nations role in the world: could we be accountable for creating a hatred felt so deep terrorists would smash planes into our buildings; do we need to be more aware of our civic responsibilities?
If childhood ended that day, we must now be in adolescence. As a nation ourresponse was to strike back with raw emotion and a year later, our nationsleaders are not directing the nation to becoming a responsible citizen of theworld. Bush is threatening war with Iraq, whether were with him or against him. He breaks treaties. American citizens are held without charge in military prisons, while his Administration defies court orders. He tries to silence dissent with pleas of patriotic duty and secrecy.
It seems hes intent on shredding the very rights he claims hes protecting. Why?
Its time we honored our civic duties, speak up, and stop sleepwalking through the world. In 1941 Senator Robert A. Taft said, "(T)he right of criticism in the long run will do the country maintaining it a great deal more good than it will do the enemy, and will prevent mistakes which might otherwise occur." On September 11, thousands of voices were silenced; do we want its legacy to silence even more?
Collection
Citation
“tp62.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 22, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/641.