9/11: Another year

-->

I thought about what I might want to say this year on the fourth anniversary of 9/11.

Of course, as in previous years, you can read my brother's first-hand account of watching the second tower collapse in lower Manhattan. Or you can read my account of what my daughter wore to school morning four years ago.

Then I noticed that Bush's Saturday radio address linked 9/11, Iraq and Katrina.

Really. I guess I'm not surprised.

That's when I knew that I'd pass along this excerpt from Cunning Realist:

So here we are again. Another year, another September 11th, "the hunt" continues. Listen, after the events of the past two weeks, it's painfully obvious that if this administration cannot help thousands of people trapped for days in one building in a major American city, there is no reason to expect it to bring to justice the two main individuals responsible for the worst-ever attack on American soil.

Are we safer now than we were on Sept. 12? Apparently not.

I want to close with this account from Ray Dougherty:

But above and beyond everything, the one thing I will never forget to my dying day, is the view of the people on the roof and higher floors of the World Trade Center lined up in the windows and on railings. You cannot see their expressions, but it is amazing what a 40 power telescrope reveals.

They often huddled, probably talked about their chances, and sometimes went back into the building, or maybe, just laid on the floor. But then, some went to the edge, and jumped.

Some jumped in pairs, holding hands. I doubt if they were married or lovers. I think it was just two people, alone, desparate, black, white, oriental,who cares - the telescope didn't allow me to distinguish age and race. They would just pair up and jump.

I have thought all day about this. If I were on the roof, and I saw flames on all sides of the building, I would almost certainly jump rather than fry. And if I saw another trembling human alongside of me, I would be much happier holding their hand, and jumping as a pair. Somehow to jump as half of a pair, even if the other half is an ad hoc recent acquaintance, seems to me an infinitely more human way to pass on to the next step, than to take the next step alone.

You want to link Katrina and 9/11? Fine. Then let's remember those poor people who leapt from the towers, holding hands with a stranger. Let's remember them and pledge now that we will make America a place where everyone comes together and no one -- no one -- gets left behind.