Bad guys and superheroes

I grew up in the Washington, DC area. Both my parents worked for the government - my dad for over 40 years. I even worked for the Department of Justice out of college. My field trips as a kid were to Gettysburg, nearby colonial towns, the Whitehouse, the Smithsonian, the National Archives.  I went to a college founded in 1840, located in the first capital of Maryland. Both my grandfathers served in the military, including one who immigrated here from Albania in the 1930s. I had a great grandfather who was Cherokee. The house we lived in for 26 years was on the flight path to Camp David. Elections were always important in my house (so much so I remember being "sad" that Reagan won the election in 1984...I was 7...). So much about me and who I am is steeped in the history of this country and what we stand for.

13 years ago, our world irrevocably changed. I happened to be in North Carolina at the time of the attacks on 9/11, attending grad school.  I was sitting in my Microeconomics class when someone came in and told us what happened, that NYC and DC had been attacked by terrorists. Everyone ran, frantically jumping on cell phones trying to get through to loved ones. 

I couldn't get through to my parents at first, given how jammed the lines were. Finally I got a hold of my mom -- she didn’t know where my dad was, and there were fighter jets in the airspace over our house. My dad, who frequently goes downtown for work, was fortunately  out of the office, safely getting his hair cut.

 The next hours and days were a blur, as they were for everyone.    I remember huddling with friends who I had really only known a month or two…watching the coverage numbly, together experiencing our world change forever. Friends, sisters, brothers, wives, husbands were lost that day. The countless children who lost a father or mother that day. Watching my friends receive news day after day after day of friends and former co-workers who died in the attacks.  Disbelief and horror turned to anger. I was pissed.  I've never been one  to rush to war -- but at that moment, I wanted us to bomb the hell out of the a-holes who did this.

 A few months later, I went home for Thanksgiving. Normally I would bypass DC to avoid traffic, but this time I took 395 right up through the city, and drove past the Pentagon. I needed to see my city. I lived a mile from the Pentagon for several years, and would got on the Metro there every morning. I was always amazed at how massive it was. A physical representation of the military might of the US.  And there on the western side of the building, a literal and symbolic wound in the side of this country.

Fortunately I did not lose anyone in the attacks, and it has been 13 years...but every year I still submerge myself in the coverage. O saw me tearing up today as I read an article about the attacks, and asked me what was wrong. I generally try to be pretty honest with her, in a 4 1/2 year old- appropriate way. But I had no idea what to say about this. You want to protect your children -- not just from the actual horror and mortal danger of something like 9/11, but even just the thought (and fear) that there could be such hatred, such evil in the world that people would want to do this to other people.

I went with what popped into my head -- that there were some bad people out there in the world, and they did a very bad thing a long time ago on this day, and some people got hurt, and it still makes Mama and other people pretty sad that those bad people would do such a thing. I wish I had just lied, protected her a bit longer.

O replied "You mean, bad guys like the superheroes fight?" She has been very much into superheroes lately…Captain America, Superman, a very pink Batgirl….

As always, she gets it. We had many superheroes that day, with the first responders, the firefighters who risked and sacrificed their lives for others, the passengers on United Flight 93.  And we have had thousands of superheroes since, military men and women fighting nearly impossible wars, trying to combat pure evil and keep our country (and others) safe.

After the attacks, the country came together in a pretty miraculous way. Hell, I even kind of liked George W. ...for a while. But I look at where we are now -- Americans are still being killed…no, executed by purely evil people.  The US is facing another nearly impossible military entanglement, now with ISIS.  We have a Congress who will not even come together to debate the issue, vote and do their job because of political agendas and selfish motivation.  It is increasingly hard to feel that sense of peaceful pride I felt as a kid growing up in DC. The world is irrevocably changed. And while our military members are being superheroes, the people responsible for putting them in harm's way (and taking care of them afterwards) are distinctly not  being superheroes.  

 As I said, every year I watch the coverage of what happened. I cry every time.  I think maybe more each year, not less.  I don’t watch because I'm worried I will forget… I watch because it changed our world forever.  And we -- our leaders especially -- need to be reminded of what is possible. Not just the possibility of terrorist attacks, but the possibility of pulling together as a country. The possibility of being superheroes. I hope that the people leading our country are watching as well. And that maybe reliving the pain will inspire…or shame…them into taking action. To lead, as we elected them to do.  To keep this country safe, and to make this country better.  I can keep my kids safe from a lot of things, and teach them how to be strong and smart...but  there are some things I need some help on.  

 

Yes I will vote to boot the idiots out if they don't do their job, as should you. The problem is -- none of them are doing their job. And we need them to.  We cannot allow another 9/11 anniversary to go by without truly honoring (and learning from) the superheroes who have gone before us. Americans -- do your job and vote. Congress & Mr. President -- do your job and lead the country. Quit f-cking up our country.

 

Because there are still a lot of bad guys out there and we need a few more superheroes.