Remembering 9-11

My desk calendar says 9-11 is now to be called Patriot Day. I'm not sure what the proper greeting is; somehow "Happy September 11th" doesn't seem appropriate. . It was eight years ago today that four planes were hijacked. Two brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center in NYC. One rammed into the Pentagon. The fourth, apparently with the White House as its target, slammed into a Pennsylvania field. . I'm not sure what the lessons are from September 11th, 2001. I suppose we're supposed to hate Arabs now, but I have a tough time holding the actions of a few against an entire ethnic group. . I belatedly gathered that all "good" Americans were supposed to wear a red shirt today. I wore black, not knowing any better. If I had known in time, I still would've worn black. . We're at least supposed to hate Osama Bin Ladin, which seems sensible to me. Alas, we don't seem to be looking for him. Somehow we got distracted into invading and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan instead. Our sons and daughters are still dying in both those countries, and no one here in the USA knows quite why we're still there. Do we intend to stay forever? Does this have anything to do with 9-11? . Maybe the best lesson for this day is to mourn for those 3,000 people who lost their lives that day and reflect what it did to us as a nation. We now think it's okay to run clandestine and/or overseas torture camps; kidnap and murder; hate without reason; and pre-emptively start wars. Habeas Corpus and other rights have been abolished. The government engages in illegal wiretaps and e-mail monitoring of its own citizens. All in the name of security. And the irony is, we're really not any safer than we were on September 10th, 2001. . So Happy Patriot's Day, or whatever I'm supposed to say. If you're not with us, you're a terrorist. God is on our side, and the only good Arab is a collaborator.