What do you want to hear?

Wednesday – August 31, 2011

What do you want to hear?

Many of us just want to go through life living it and enjoying it. I have to admit that I am one of them.

Many of us come home at night only to turn off the news and put on the Food Channel. We do this to escape the reality of life and to leave our problems at the door step. I have to admit that I would like to do that most nights, but I don’t.

My search for the truth is one that never stops. I research the facts, I listen to the pundits and I listen to whichever Congressman or Senator that is interviewed. Like many, who do the same, I know that at the end of each interview I am a little more skeptical and a little more confused.

There is an appetite that is now brewing among many voters who just don’t want the spin anymore. They don’t want the partisan politics and they don’t want leaders to blame past administrations on their lack of performance.

As we enter the Labor Day holiday this year, we will also be observing the 10 year mark of 9/11. I will never use the word celebrate to describe the events of 9/11. There is nothing to celebrate. Except to honor the day and the holiday that will forever precede the 9/11 observance.

The administration has released a memo that wants this year’s observance of 9/11 not to be “just about us.” There is now a debate of how we as a nation should start to observe this date. Some of us want to feel the sorrow and some of us obviously want to move on. If we diminish the day and the observance then we diminish the true facts behind the attacks and start to ignore true horror that some men can create.

For those who want to move on turn on the Food Channel. For those who want to observe the day go ahead and do it your way. But don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t or maybe its time for you to move on.

Are you comfortable with the change that this White House wants to see when the date of 9/11 comes along on the calendar? Are you comfortable with the change that this White House has made in just about every aspect of our lives? Are you comfortable with being told that you must get along just to go along?

The truth is there is a reason why this White House is now trailing behind its own low numbers and there is a reason why this White House is losing in key battleground states like Florida, Ohio and Virginia. The truth is people in these states have already made the decision about what they want to hear.

When we don’t hear the words of loyalty to the flag or loyalty to the themes of American life, we lose. When we don’t hear the words of praise for those who protect, us we lose. When we don’t hear about how the attack of 9/11 was aimed at us, we lose.

The 9/11 observance and the observance of Pearl Harbor are two seminal events in our history that should never change in tone or in their impact on the nation. In both cases the nation went to war, in both case heroes rose from obscurity. We should embrace these days and embrace the ones that continue to fight for us. We should remember why these events occurred and find ways to prevent them from occurring again. Changing the tenor or the tone of how we observe the day will do nothing to prevent these events from happening again. Changing the tenor and the tone will in all likelihood encourage others to commit similar acts of horror.

When we ignore the things that bind us like patriotism, like a common day of remembrance and the solemn tone that some want us to change then we lose the identity that was frozen in time as the towers collapsed. We should never forget, no matter who wants us to or who says we should not make it “just about us.”

The President wants us to change our view of 9/11. One man who will never change his view, because he lived 9/11 everyday of his presidency was George Bush. He said two things that we should remember:

“Americans are rising to the tasks of history, and they expect the same of us.”
George W. Bush

“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.”
George W. Bush

You tell me. What do you want to hear?

Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives

A footnote: Listen to your gut. It will tell you all you need to hear about a person, a candidate and even an enemy. Listen to your gut. Mine tells me to leave 9/11 alone for the sake of those who can’t.