In a beautiful and rural corner of Southern England stands a farmhouse. It's one of many hundreds of similar properties in the area. They have been there, it seems, forever and all carry the patina of age that so typifies the English countryside. This one was no exception.
At around three pm on a sunny day a guy was preparing supper for the adults and children who lived there. The Aga (stove) was warming things up, and the kitchen TV was playing quietly in the background. It was, by all appearances, just another day.
I was the guy cooking supper, and the date was the 11th September 2001.
It wasn't, in the end, just another day.
I sit here six days before the tenth anniversary of that dreadful event. Already the words are flowing from everywhere I look. The radio has been on all day. Even the BBC is sending correspondents to New York for the week. The first "9/11" Diary is scheduled to go into the Community Spotlight of this site in about an hour. The Rescue Rangers having had a long, involved and respectful discussion about the merits of this, probably the first of many Diaries on the subject.
I am wondering quite how to treat the tragic waste of so many lives with the absolute respect it deserves, and try to add words of my own that contribute something more than turning 9/11 into just another spectator sport. That's harsh, but it's what I think some sections of the mainstream media have done over the last decade.
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Tonight I have become painfully aware that this subject is not an historical act that we may pour over, pick apart and otherwise use for political capital. That there are politics in this tragedy is undeniable. Should we as writers attempt to explore the points? Yes, of course we should. At the same time though, could we please remember that this is not a textbook examination of a dark, past portion of history. This is still a living nightmare for many thousands, if not millions of people.
Those people, ordinary Americans, and many others from other nations are still living that terrible day, and will do so for a long time. Spouses, parents, children. The victims were and are their families, friends and colleagues and they are still with us.
Each of them reacts and grieves in their own way. Many of them are here, reading and commenting, writing and reading what we write. So I implore us all, the Daily Kos Community, to be respectful, to maybe consider this week as we would consider the IGTNT Diary Series. I am not suggesting that we shouldn't make our points, I am simply asking that we take the greatest care not to trample on feelings. Feelings most of us do not know, can not know.
What concerns me, more than a bit, is that Liberals and Progressives may use the anniversary to make our political points both in Diaries and in comment threads. Oh I am so not looking forward to the comment threads. Unless, of course, we have suddenly learned how to show some restraint.
I believe that we are big enough for that ... I hope so.
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This Diary was not going to be that which I finally wrote. It was going to be something else entirely and now I have to save that for another time, a better time.
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Note: This is the first time I have ever asked for help with editing and proof-reading of a Diary. I thought it necessary. My thanks to Regina in a Sears Kit House for that assistance. The words are mine, no approval by RSKH is implied.