I was 47, plenty old enough to at least try to comprehend what had happened and to note the coincidence: 9/11, 9-1-1.

Emergency.

I wondered for a moment if the Al-Qaida brain trust had chosen the date for that reason, but it was more about logistics and that it was a go/no go situation, aided by what many noted as a brilliantly clear September day. Perfect flying conditions.

I had walked to my office at the church and fired up the little 12-inch black and white television with the single extendable antenna that usually sat in a corner, collecting dust. I was watching as UA Flight 175 hit the south tower and put an end to the earlier speculation regarding the collision of American Flight 11 with the north tower being an unfortunate accident.

There were two more grotesque, intentional plane crashes that morning, along with many stories of genuine bravery, followed in the days to come by reactive bravado and pretense, as we were plunged into retaliatory wars with Iraq and Afghanistan, and the search for bin Laden commenced.

It may have taken a while, but people came to realize that the terrorists had won a battle of sorts—things changed at airports, the TSA was formed, security apparatus was consolidated under the umbrella of Homeland Security, and we perhaps felt violated, or at least vulnerable for a while. Lingering change came that day, whether or not some can yet admit it.

There’s no going back, and the world has become a much uglier, more unforgiving place.

It seemed there was a brief uptick in church attendance, but that didn’t last long. Anger and patriotic fervor led to an increase in armed services enlistments. Islam took a hit, and many took a closer look at the tenets of that faith or simply operated on the assumption that all Muslims aren’t to be trusted. Religious faith in general may have suffered a blow, post-9/11/01.

The date has joined the ranks of other low points in our history— April 14, 1861, April 14, 1865, October 28 & 29, 1929, December 7, 1941, November 22, 1963, a couple days in April and June 1968, along with others since then.

And I cannot shake the thought that we had it coming.

I love the idea of America, but am not an “America–right or wrong” guy. It became apparent to me at some point that others hated us because we were just the latest empire behaving like past empires. We were always calling ourselves the last remaining superpower.

The perception, from the perspective of a conservative Islamic cleric with access to means and resources, was that we were a haughty, liberal den of iniquity, Satan personified, and we had our fingers in way too many cookie jars around the world.

I am by no means condoning what Osama bin Laden and others conceived and a small contingent of zealots carried out, but we have to know that what unfolded really didn’t happen out of the blue. The cost of what we claim to hold near and dear– freedom of speech and religion and the rest, along with self-determination– is high, and even the appearance of such liberty and self-expression is offensive to some, along with the aforementioned omnipresence around the world.

This is not solely about what might have happened if we showed restraint along the way and learned to talk less about American exceptionalism and our status as “shining city on the hill.” September 11, 2001, it seems to me, was about a perhaps inevitable clash of philosophies and visions, which solidified, on the one hand, a rightfully and predictably acquired suspicion and skepticism of religious zeal and fanaticism…

… but on the other hand, exposed the consequences of hubris and greed and ever-expanding spheres of influence– almost as if our power could be absolute, or our supposed “way of life” and ideals were, are or should be desirable by all– paragons of virtue intended to be thrust upon everybody and accepted with a smile and a thank-you.

Of course, given our lingering fixation on and reverence for inanimate structures that are no longer standing, along with the current reality of an entire presidential administration and political party distracted by self-interest, delusions of grandeur, and whatever the opposite of patriotism is, we probably need not worry about our way of life and ideals being all that attractive to much of anyone right now.

In fact, bad guys in other countries might be smiling, and licking their chops, as they monitor some serious cracks in the foundation.

It’s Trump in a nutshell. His proposed $5000 payout is all we need to know about how he thinks: life is one big transaction. Morals and character are nowhere to be found in his lexicon. He’s just all-in on the belief that money is the ultimate arbiter, the universal language of even the woke libtards who have found a way to get under his skin.

There is nothing that can’t be solved with a greasing of the skids, a good hearty bribe. As if another ludicrous lump sum that practically everyone must realize we’d never see could convince people to forget about the stack of empty promises that have come before.

He is a one-man show, always aiming low. Nothing in his world is a collaboration, a discussion, or a consultation. In this case, it’s just the next command decision. The next dumb, unwarranted, unconstitutional and desperate shot from the hip.

Go to hell, Donald.

Why the incessant focus on burning bridges? Why this push to isolate ourselves in the world? What are the ends to Trump’s and the Heritage Foundation’s means? As interested observers with skin in this ridiculous game, we need to know why there is such an unrelenting focus on pulling the rug out from under everyone except the handful in power.

One term wasn’t enough. He hung around and stunk the place up for the whole of Biden’s term, then somehow managed to convince 77 million people that he was worth having around for one more term of his own.

Has anyone ever bothered to look into the 2024 results? How could so many remain so clueless? Sorry, but there is no benefit of any doubt anymore.

Forrest Gump may have been on to something. Stupid is… 

They’ve tried and are still trying to tear everything down and replace it with nothing. They’re still firing experts and essential workers and either replacing them with inept sycophants or not replacing them at all.

There are vacuums and brain drains all over the place, and the infuriating reality is that this is all being done on purpose.

This is their plan. This is Project 2025 coming to fruition. These are hateful people who need to be stopped.

Trump may be the most visible, the most vocal, the most annoying. But he’s not the main idea guy, by a long shot. He’s been perfect for the role of circus clown, though. Especially now that his marble loss is escalating.

I’m just a male who by nature cannot speak from experience about the affliction in question. That said, the Clancy murder case in Massachusetts involving 3 dead children and a mother apparently suffering from post-partum depression has been front and center the past few days.

There’s a hung jury now, and much of the commentary I’ve heard focuses on the need to understand PPD better than it’s been understood to this point. What doesn’t sit well with me—and, yes, this is without the benefit of hearing courtroom testimony—is the nagging thought that this mother and/or her defense team are cunning enough to get sentiment behind her, use post-partum depression as the reasonable doubt that will absolve her of any criminal wrong-doing. Because she just wasn’t herself…

I assume motives and character and potential duration of the psychosis were addressed during testimony and apparently did not emerge as issues, with the possible exception of one juror, when it came to trying to reach a verdict. It is difficult for me to accept the possibility that this condition was so all-consuming and affectively obstructive that the mother was unable to recognize or process the gravity and depravity of what she was doing.

She strangled her three children ranging in age from 8 months to five years, and her defense team apparently convinced all but one juror that their client was psychologically, emotionally, and in all other ways incapable of comprehending the abominable nature and consequences of what she wrought. And thus, should not receive jail time for her actions.

There’s a certain reasonableness to that, but it still feels a bit too convenient. And now that Clancy’s lawyer has asked Donald Trump to pardon her, I’m a bit more skeptical.

He won’t be remembered for anything helpful or good. In fact, he may not be remembered at all. Many will do their best to forget him.

He just wanted to build stuff and slap his name on it, put his mug shot on a $250 bill, line his pockets with one grift after another. His ambitions had little to do with competent governance and leadership.

His run has been one long, visionless power trip and stupendously pathetic and ruinous shit show. His second term might be called a revenge tour, a journey to ignominy and irrelevance. All at great cost, a cost he just can’t be bothered by. He’s freakishly selfish and shallow, over-the-top garish, and completely oblivious to any need besides his own.

He only cares about his legacy, in a way similar to how a mutt marks its territory.

You’ve outdone yourself, Donny. Kudos.