Thank you for this, Hunter. As I've looked at various remembrances online and on-air, I can't help but think of the fear that had to have run through the hearts of everyone in and around the attacks. While I understand the desire of the country to reflect and commemorate, I'm also concerned about how difficult it must be for so many to have to relive those feelings. With that, I hope that you and yours are well, and thank you for the work that you're doing.
My normal feeling about it is perhaps best summed up by a friend who was far closer to the Towers and posted yesterday that they spend the day divided between not wanting to hear about it at all and not wanting to talk about anything else.
This is such a perceptive essay. It's clear from the testimony of the Capitol Police that a significant portion of their ongoing trauma sprang from the surreal reality that their lives were threatened not by external terrorists, but by their own fellow citizens. I can't begin to comprehend the betrayal that must entail. I would like to believe that once the 1/6 Committee has completed their work, an appropriate memorial will follow for the brave men and women whose bodies stood between democracy and anarchy. It's what I would like to believe, but it would require a level of maturity by the majority of Americans that I no longer believe exists. As I watched the solemnity and gravitas of the 9/11 families...the sincerity with which they lived their lives in tribute to the fallen...it was as though we were looking back in time. Even the youngest speakers possessed an air of maturity that seems utterly absent in a large minority of this country. Our elected lmk leaders range from those afraid to acknowledge the depth of the corrosion to those who treat governing and matters of life and death as a game. The vapidity, callousness, and utter lack of humanity of Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Desantis, Abbott, etc. is breathtakingly obvious when compared to the quiet heroism of all who spoke today...those who moved forward despite unimaginable pain. And who, despite all they endured, spoke of their love of America and implored Americans to unite. The subtext of their words to Americans is that we grow the hell up.
I've thought a lot about how having what they went through denied must compound the trauma for the police who were there. One particularly gut wrenching moment in their testimony was when they described the racial component of the abuse they went through that day. I can't imagine going through all that after literally making a career out of defending the capital.
I know...it was devastating to hear. Most of the rioters have turned out to be pathetic, immature, and ideologically barren. That's not a surprise, but the worst are the former (and several current) military, police and fire department officers. How do you treat one of your own so maliciously? Part of the answer is mob psychology, but how did the same departments who produced incalculable bravery amongst first responders on 9/11 also produce malevolent anarchists?
Excellent column.....
Thanks for reading it!
Thank you for this, Hunter. As I've looked at various remembrances online and on-air, I can't help but think of the fear that had to have run through the hearts of everyone in and around the attacks. While I understand the desire of the country to reflect and commemorate, I'm also concerned about how difficult it must be for so many to have to relive those feelings. With that, I hope that you and yours are well, and thank you for the work that you're doing.
My normal feeling about it is perhaps best summed up by a friend who was far closer to the Towers and posted yesterday that they spend the day divided between not wanting to hear about it at all and not wanting to talk about anything else.
This is such a perceptive essay. It's clear from the testimony of the Capitol Police that a significant portion of their ongoing trauma sprang from the surreal reality that their lives were threatened not by external terrorists, but by their own fellow citizens. I can't begin to comprehend the betrayal that must entail. I would like to believe that once the 1/6 Committee has completed their work, an appropriate memorial will follow for the brave men and women whose bodies stood between democracy and anarchy. It's what I would like to believe, but it would require a level of maturity by the majority of Americans that I no longer believe exists. As I watched the solemnity and gravitas of the 9/11 families...the sincerity with which they lived their lives in tribute to the fallen...it was as though we were looking back in time. Even the youngest speakers possessed an air of maturity that seems utterly absent in a large minority of this country. Our elected lmk leaders range from those afraid to acknowledge the depth of the corrosion to those who treat governing and matters of life and death as a game. The vapidity, callousness, and utter lack of humanity of Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Desantis, Abbott, etc. is breathtakingly obvious when compared to the quiet heroism of all who spoke today...those who moved forward despite unimaginable pain. And who, despite all they endured, spoke of their love of America and implored Americans to unite. The subtext of their words to Americans is that we grow the hell up.
I've thought a lot about how having what they went through denied must compound the trauma for the police who were there. One particularly gut wrenching moment in their testimony was when they described the racial component of the abuse they went through that day. I can't imagine going through all that after literally making a career out of defending the capital.
I know...it was devastating to hear. Most of the rioters have turned out to be pathetic, immature, and ideologically barren. That's not a surprise, but the worst are the former (and several current) military, police and fire department officers. How do you treat one of your own so maliciously? Part of the answer is mob psychology, but how did the same departments who produced incalculable bravery amongst first responders on 9/11 also produce malevolent anarchists?