As we approach our Independence Day celebration...
I am sitting on our back deck in the rich late afternoon sunlight. I am reading "The World is Flat". Overhead in the cloudless blue sky I hear the rumble of jet engines. A burnt orange Southwest Airlines jet is making its steady way across the sky to take the sharp left parallel to the Columbia and come to rest at PDX just as planes do hundreds of times every day. I take a sip of wine and watch the progress of this, most recent courier from the farflung world. And I marvel, as we often do, that we take for granted this clockwork transportation system that connects us with everywhere so easily and even inexpensively.
The Fourth Of July is just days away. The whir and pop and crack of exuberant fireworks starts before dusk and startles the cats in their heat-induced torpor. I am reminded, in a new way, of a thought that I've had several times over the past four years. Our greatest risk today on the threshold of our national celebration of independence is that we concede too much power to the "enemy", the terrorists. The casual progress of the SW Air plane across the sky is a reminder that tens of millions of passengers have flown to destinations all over the world without incident since Sept 11, 2001. Terrible as it was, the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center was an anomaly- the worst that they could do- in five years. They will have succeeded to the extent that we reshape our lives and look over our shoulders because of that grim and tragic moment. Our leaders have urged us to take seriously the "war on terror". And we should take it seriously but at the same time not elevate the character of the threat beyond what it deserves. To do so is to abandon the pieces of the "American Way of Life" that are good and wonderful and which we can hold up to the world as examples to aspire to. And I don't mean everyone owning an Escalade and being able to afford hair removal. I mean the luxury of sitting on our back decks and reading a book and watching the planes pass overhead without fear. I mean the freedom to get some fireworks and set them off on the street without worrying that someone will come and confiscate your stash. I mean the freedom to gather your entire family at the park where the big trees give some shade and have potato salad and fried chicken and watermelon and watch the kids kick the soccer ball around. These kinds of simple rituals in American life are at risk down the road if we allow fear of the lurking terrorist threat to change how we do things. Sadly, some of our leadership beat the "War on Terror" drum on every occasion possible because they believe it's useful to drive people out of fear, not out of well-judged intent. And that in itself, the drumming of fear into our national consciousness is a pernicious lie. The terrorists can't do more than give us a bee sting. davidrites
And they can't even do that unless we create an environment that gives them power. The orange jetliner in my blue sky may have come a thousand miles to get here. And it is twice that far to reach across this extraordinary and blessed nation to reach the Atlantic shore. And there is not a terrorist alive who can span that gap. We should never, in our minds, allow a different perception to grow. We are Americans and Independence Day, the invention which we share, should always be a symbol of our joy, our gratitude, our deep respect for our roots and our blessings, and our sense that life demands moments of reflection.
The Fourth Of July is just days away. The whir and pop and crack of exuberant fireworks starts before dusk and startles the cats in their heat-induced torpor. I am reminded, in a new way, of a thought that I've had several times over the past four years. Our greatest risk today on the threshold of our national celebration of independence is that we concede too much power to the "enemy", the terrorists. The casual progress of the SW Air plane across the sky is a reminder that tens of millions of passengers have flown to destinations all over the world without incident since Sept 11, 2001. Terrible as it was, the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center was an anomaly- the worst that they could do- in five years. They will have succeeded to the extent that we reshape our lives and look over our shoulders because of that grim and tragic moment. Our leaders have urged us to take seriously the "war on terror". And we should take it seriously but at the same time not elevate the character of the threat beyond what it deserves. To do so is to abandon the pieces of the "American Way of Life" that are good and wonderful and which we can hold up to the world as examples to aspire to. And I don't mean everyone owning an Escalade and being able to afford hair removal. I mean the luxury of sitting on our back decks and reading a book and watching the planes pass overhead without fear. I mean the freedom to get some fireworks and set them off on the street without worrying that someone will come and confiscate your stash. I mean the freedom to gather your entire family at the park where the big trees give some shade and have potato salad and fried chicken and watermelon and watch the kids kick the soccer ball around. These kinds of simple rituals in American life are at risk down the road if we allow fear of the lurking terrorist threat to change how we do things. Sadly, some of our leadership beat the "War on Terror" drum on every occasion possible because they believe it's useful to drive people out of fear, not out of well-judged intent. And that in itself, the drumming of fear into our national consciousness is a pernicious lie. The terrorists can't do more than give us a bee sting. davidrites
And they can't even do that unless we create an environment that gives them power. The orange jetliner in my blue sky may have come a thousand miles to get here. And it is twice that far to reach across this extraordinary and blessed nation to reach the Atlantic shore. And there is not a terrorist alive who can span that gap. We should never, in our minds, allow a different perception to grow. We are Americans and Independence Day, the invention which we share, should always be a symbol of our joy, our gratitude, our deep respect for our roots and our blessings, and our sense that life demands moments of reflection.
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