have not done so well by those your age.

for me, 911 occurred less than 2 months after my life was hacked into two parts by the death of my daughter. but it is a digression and an indulgence to bring that up.

what i recall is that until 911 - or the gwbush presidency - i actually believed that i lived in the best nation on the face of the earth. that i had a government of, for, and by the people. i despised all the republicans but until gw came along, i felt secure that with our system of government, this was indeed the home of the free and the land of the brave. i have since believed and felt very strongly that we teeter on a slippery slope of powerful fascism that would like nothing better than to see the vast majority of americans and indeed all humans living as slaves to the elite. corporatism, the MIC, patriot act, WAR, WAR, WAR.

not just any wars, wars without reason or justification. wars invented and designed for the sole purpose of making the rich, richer and the poor, poorer.

i used to actually get choked up when i voted, or when i heard the star spangled banner. it doesn't really work that way anymore. but i learned something - belatedly, i have to admit - during the obama campaign. and that it is up to me to stay engaged to as great an extent as i possibly can, to be active, to keep communicating with the powers that be.

because if this democracy is ultimately saved (i hope and believe that it can be and will be), it will only be because the people insist upon it. and the fact is that that has always been the case. the threats that Eisenhower mentioned so long ago were all along busily chipping away to their own ends and against the greater ends of the public good, and peace. when 911 happened they jumped on that in a big big way to step up their game and speed up the destruction of a free society. i went from LIHOP to MIHOP with regard to my beliefs about what happened 8 years ago today, but regardless of who was behind the attacks, the bush admin USED them to further a very nefarious agenda, and they were very successful for quite a long time.

big messes to clean up. wars to be ended, rights to be restored, justice to be served. i'll be staying awake from here on out and trying my best to wield whatever power i do possess as a citizen of the USA, and hope you'll do the same. it does get very discouraging, and i feel a pull to apathy all the time. i just don't want to give in to it and watch something even remotely like the gwbush years happen again. please not in this lifetime.