We Are

*This is the post I wrote on the tenth anniversary, but I think it deserves a re-run.  We no longer live in a safe world. And with the current administrations bungling in Afghanistan, it's more dangerous than ever.  We need to remember who we are.  In spite of that mashed potato in the White House, we need to remember that we are We The People.  We are America.  We will hold the line.

   

They thought they'd break us, that day back in 2001. 

They thought they'd break us. 

They thought we'd roll over, give up, submit as so much of Europe has done. 

They thought they'd break us, that day back in 2001. 

But they forgot one thing. We are not Europe. We are America. 

We are the land of Don't Tread On Me. Of Come And Take It. 

Of Patrick Henry. Of John Paul Jones. Of Remember The Alamo.  Of the Minutemen. Of the Tuskegee Airmen. Of Jesse Owens and the US. Track & Field team. 

Of gun totin' rednecks. Country boys and Swamp People. Of "Give me liberty or give me death" and "Choot em!" 

We are America. The land where rights come from God, all men are created equal, and governments that can be altered or abolished. 

America was not always there, like Europe has been. America came screaming into the world in a violent and bloody birth, under the light of the rockets' red glare, to the lullaby of bombs bursting in air. They will not break us. 

For we are strong. 

We will pause this day. We will remember. We will bow our heads and mourn those who were lost. We will pray for the ones who lost them. We will give thanks for those who rushed into burning buildings when everyone else was rushing out. And for those who stepped forward and answered freedom's call.

But we will not break. We will not bow down. We will not submit. 

Then, in one great Nationwide act of defiance, we will go on living our lives. We will go to church. We will go to work. We will barbecue. We will tailgate. We will watch football. 

And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave 

and we will be free.  Because we are 

 America.