Just Too Raw

Fox News had a very powerful 9/11 special on this year and all the news outlets are crowing about how on this anniversary America is "divided" and contentious, mainly because of the Ground Zero Mosque, the Florida pastor who has threatened to burn the Quran and the general unrest and fear that is pervasive.

I can't help but observe two main facts:

First Observation: There is an awful lot of name calling going on. The pastor, Terry Jones, in Florida is calling muslims devil worshippers. National news commentators are calling Jones a "crackpot" and "nutjob".

Second observation: The 9/11 special was very hard to watch and reminded me of the immense fear we all had, the horror of watching people jump from those towers in a desperate attempt to escape, the passengers who fought back on United 93.
Days after we hung American flags, clung to each other, took comfort in George W Bush's bullhorn promise that "the people who knocked buildings down will hear all of us soon".

I think we have forgotten that 9/11 was a terrible trauma for us, for the people who lost their families. Americans and New Yorkers are not racist or islamaphobic. As Americans, we have always fought for the rights of others to voice and practice their own beliefs. That is what makes this country the best country in the world.

The main problem is this is all too too raw for us. Memories are too sharp, terror still lurks. The children of 9/11 are still children, if only for a few more reading of the names. Nearly 3000 people died there. Workers are still finding shoes, wallets, toys. The smell is unmistakable and unforgetttable.
It just isn't that simple. It just isn't about a mosque or a church or a skating rink.

If Imam Rauf wants to show his compassion, tolerance and sensitivity and bring people together, he would donate that land to NYC for a park or memorial. He would back off on a fight that is causing Americans, all Americans, to be re-traumatized.
And that would be the right thing to do.

Sausage biscuit for breakfast.
Thank you Mr. Cow.