Lessons from the Towers

Bloggers, here is a comment re history and observations from cousin, Laurel Piippo. She is now retired and taking classes at WSU for personal enrichment.


9/11 My history teacher asked what I've learned since 9/11. Here are her comments and mine with no pussyfooting tactful diplomacy (surprise, surprise):

Comments from one of my history professors on 9/11 for our consideration: "Be sure to brace yourself for the 9-11anniversary Monday. There will be a lot of mendacious nonsense emanating from our chief executive. I already heard him say Osama Bin is Hitler, Lenin and Stalin all rolled into one, and the current campaign is just like World War II. If you wrote b.s. like that in freshman history, you would get an F for FLUNK, and I would revoke the history degree of any WSU grad caught echoing that stupid rhetoric, but somehow it's acceptable, even stirring, at the national level."

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"The question today is, what have you learned from 9-11, five years later? I'm trying to downplay the anniversary, because I see the attacks as part of a continuum (the latest attempt by fanatics to impose a utopian ideology, old, old news) and because I don't want to contribute to elevating the death-loving cavemen any more than they already have been by the President and others, who keep trumpeting their connection to Hitler, Lenin and all the other legendary baddies. Those guys must just love the free publicity. I say, let the police and intelligence agencies pursue them to the ends of the earth, and let's all of us go on with our lives, concentrate on the key domestic problems facing the country,and forward-looking public diplomacy abroad -- in other words, long-term, substantive measures, not endless war and "democratizing" people down the barrel of a gun."

What I personally learned: We are vulnerable and hated. I learned that Bush should have been and should be as zealous in pursuing Osama Bin Laden as he has Saddam Hussein, who is still alive and well, by the way, and who did NOT conspire to blow up the World Trade Center. I learned that in the misdirected aftermath, American forces killed more people in Bush's Iraqui war than Saddam Hussein during his evil dictatorship. I leaned that Middle-Eastern Muslim countries are NOT going to joyfully embrace democracy because they have no clue how to do so and would rather kill anyone who doesn't agree with their religion, morals, whatever, than build a healthy society. I learned NOT to trust the US Government, especially the current administration, and God help us when people equate patriotism with supporting Bush and his Evil Triumverate. I learned that a lot of American soldiers are being sacrificed to someone else's mania. I learned that Bush is determined to bankrupt the country with his war and his tax cuts, and in the process he won't improve life for people in the Middle East or in the United States. I learned to be totally disillusioned with the American people when they RETURNED BUSH TO OFFICE instead of throwing him out.

Laurel Piippo