As a nation we have always been full of ourselves.
We wouldn't have stood up to the most powerful British nation in the 1700's had we not had an insufferable amount of self importance.
Those moments are about the best of us.
Over time we have taken our sense of self importance beyond the healthy -
twisting our rationale to create Japanese internment camps during World War II and imprisoning our own American citizens, going to war with one another, a fight to own other humans, how much more grandiose can one get? To believe we the have the right to own another human?
We have taken it upon ourselves to "root out communism" destroying thousands of American citizens careers, livelihoods , families and lives in the process,
We have invaded smaller countries deciding our form of government is "free" so we should impose it on other countries. We claim to abhor the violation of others civil rights, considering many third world countries barbaric yet we are one of the few "civilized countries in the world to continue using the death penalty.
9/11 is a watershed in America. The lives lost at the Pentagon, the World Trade Centers, and on Flight 93 did not result in a shining America, ready to show the world how we unite and the wonders of our democratic principals.
Instead it curtailed the rights of citizens, created a witch hunt mentality for those few left in the country who believe they are not of immigrant heritage, laws allowing our phones to be tapped, out internet use to be monitored, and yes, even our most fundamental rights, the right to know our accusers, obtain legal council and the right to a fair trial have been thrown out the window-without one peep.
Oh the occasional blogger might have written something-without much notice.
The National Enquirer, once the gold standard for the outrageous? A small burp behind the hand of a child compared to absolute sensationalized, vacuous, self absorbed, shallow "news" meted out by airheaded, mean spirited, intellectually vacuumed mainstream media caricatures who call themselves "reporters"
9/11 shit happens. We are not so unique.
We have invaded countries on baseless lies-do you not think those citizens and families, the many deaths, is not suffering?
Do you not consider the deaths of thousands of blacks at the hands of America a a huge catastrophe?
Do you not consider the meddling in other countries-overthrowing governments, because "we" deem it right, removing whatever will the people own, an insufferable method of patronization?
Had we used these moments in history to declare change which actually did improve the lives of those who suffer, we could rationalize our insufferably grand delusional nature.
We didn't. use this tragedy to shine a light on our justice system, the belief in religious freedoms, or the rights of our citizens, did we?
In our bizarro twist of perspective, we have turned our nations' goodness into hatred- no paranoia , allowing our own freedoms to be sacrificed, taken our Statue of Liberty's welcoming beacon and turned it into a torch of persecution towards our own immigrant history, and emerged an angry nation, irrational, sensationalized, refusing to see truth, grasping at media bloviation as if it were truth, and headed for third world country status.
Our beloved country, the United States, once held out to the world as a nation of hope for others, has become a nightmare, to be feared, globally,
not because of our power or our our strength-
because of our dangerous paranoia and irrational grandiosity.
