September 11--the 5th anniversary

I remember wondering what it would feel like after five years had passed. It doesn't feel too good. The streets are still full of God Bless America bumper stickers, the newspapers are still full of lies and omissions, the White House is still full of war profiteers, and the streets of Iraq are still full of dead bodies.

Five years later, 85% of our troops believe they are in Iraq because of September 11, the September 11 commission is respected rather than condemned, the airplane cargo goes uninspected, the ersatz president of the United States milks the tragedy for all it's worth, and ordinary citizens cannot speak, take photographs, or display slogans on signs or shirts without wondering if they will be arrested.

People say that September 11 was the darkest day in American history. Perhaps that is true--it was a very dark day--but it certainly was not the darkest incident in our history. Much darker were the slaughter by our government of thousands of Native Americans, and the brutal, horrific treatment of thousands of African slaves.

Every October, we observe a day named after a man who led a campaign of unspeakable torture and slaughter, yet we rail against Saddam Hussein. Americans gave shelter and support to Eric Rudolph, but we are appalled by those who hide members of al Qaeda.

There are reasons to admire America, reasons to question America, reasons to emulate America, and reasons to hate America. Nothing is black and white. And despite having given the world many more reasons to hate Ameica through the invasion of Iraq, our biggest enemy is still religious fundamentalism. But that is not an enemy confined to people in caves in Afghanistan; it is also a rapidly growing enemy in the homeland.

September 11 taught us nothing we did not already know. There are people who hate our country so much that they will do anything to bring it down. There is little homeland security to protect us from attacks. And there are Americans who so despise the constitutional basis of our country that they will seize on the worst type of tragedy to subvert the government. Now, as in the 80s, they are the ones running the government. And though they were not legally elected, no one--not Congress, not the Courts, not the news media--did a thing to stop them.

Who are the enemies of America?