Watching it unfold live was horrible. To this day if I see an airplane banking in a steep turn I get a sickening feeling inside. So much innocence was lost that day. Innocent lives. Innocence in feeling that our Country was safe, that we were safe. Do we even dare to send the kids to school? The eerie silence in the skies for the days that followed. Slowly things returned to a new type of normal, but the damage that was done can't ever really be repaired....and shouldn't be forgotten. The way everyone came together at that time shouldn't be forgotten either.
I'm not a very politically minded person. When I was younger it bored me to no end....now it just frustrates me that neither side can seem to find any good in the other. I normally choose not to talk about politics...but things have been brewing and today I will. I'll start by saying that I am in the middle...for me that means that I think the people that are too far left are just as wacky as the ones that are too far right. It also means, for me, that I don't think that blindly endorsing someone just because they are in the party you lean towards is a very good thing to do....I'm calling it party blinders....seeing only what you want to see, only good or only bad in a person depending on your/their party.
Why the political stuff from non political me? Well, it's because it's all we are hearing about lately and it's getting to me. There is so much battling between the parties that all sense of respect and decency seems to have been lost. Senator Ted Kennedy died, our President suggested that flags be lowered to honor him. Did they do that in Minnesota? Nope, our Governor wanted to make a statement and wouldn't do it. Is that really a time to make a political statement? Does it matter what party the Kennedy's represented when it comes to honoring someone? Does it matter that he had some personal issues in his life time? Who hasn't? Who wouldn't given the losses that he suffered in his life. Would it be that hard to show some respect to a family that has given so much to our country by lowering the flag for a day? Seriously.
That fine act was followed by our Governor not wanting to allow our Presidents speech to the students to be played in the Minnesota schools. What? Isn't he our President? Don't we want to teach our kids to respect that? Should our Governors political aspirations be placed in front of that? The speech was made public before it was given...wouldn't it have been better if it had been read before paranoid accusations were thrown out there? The speech was to encourage kids to stay in school...how can that be a bad thing? The following lines from his speech spoke the loudest to me:
And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.
Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education - and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book.
The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make?
The whole speech can be found here.
Is it wrong for a President to encourage kids to set goals, to take pride in themselves and in their Country? Couldn't we all use a little encouragement? As parents don't we want to raise our kids to be responsible? To set goals? To aim high? To make a difference? Isn't that where the hope for our futures...and more importantly their futures comes from? How many kids missed this message because of political positioning?
After the 9-11 attack, our country came together. Our own agendas weren't as important then as doing what was good for our country. We seem to have lost that....and it's a big loss. I loved this video of the National anthem because it shows two former presidents standing together, it shows all branches of our military represented, it shows the strength of working together and being united.
The point of my posting this isn't to say that one party is right or wrong, my point is that maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge, maybe we should respect each other and our differences...and maybe we should remember how much better things can be when people focus on working together instead of only looking for ways to bring the other guy down. Boys...play nice!
....one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Whew...I'm tired now. No worries, back to flowers and football and other fluff tomorrow.
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