Yet another 9-11 Commemoration

A year passes and everything has changed. 9-10-01 seems like a distant memory for most of us, almost like a childhood dream. Too many of us wish to return to that date; others llike to throw around nickle words like "closure" and "normality". But we aren't normal, and most of us recognize that "closure" is a meaningless term dreamed up by psychologists to justifice their petty profession and outrageous bills.

On this anniversary I lack the talent to eulogize those we have lost. Instead here's a list of questions to ponder as we commemorate this anniversary.

1. Is Osama Bin Laden dead?

Contrary to the various reports that we see coming out of Pakistan, Europe and various intelligence agencies, I think he's dead. Why? Because speaking out against American actions in Afghanistan and elsewhere would help him marshal forces to lead a jihad against the USA. In late 2001 and up until the spring of 2002, he could have simply walked into Pakistan and taken over the place. Why didn't he, and why is he so silent today, a year later? Why? Because he's under a pile of rocks in Tora Bora.

2. Is war with Iraq a good idea?

Yes. 9-11 put the lie to the supposed "stability" of the Middle East. That region was "stable" as far as Washington was concerned as long as it was 6000 miles away. When Middle Eastern chaos hit home on 9-11, the region ceased being seen as stable and as a consequence our policy towards it shifted. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are both seen for what they are: nations that breed terrorists by blaming the West in general and the USA and Israel in particular for their own failures. Egypt failed at socialism and has done a middling job under capitalism; Saudi Arabia's standard of living has plummeted since the industrialized world began shifting away from oil during the first oil shock (engineered by the kingdom) in 1973.

So if the Middle East is unstable, then what is in America's best interest? It is in its best interest to completely overhaul it. That means installing peaceful regimes in the area and deposing those that hate the USA. Iraq is the second step after liberating Afghanistan in this process. Up next are Egypt, Libya and Saudi Arabia. The first two will probably move towards European style capitalism without American military intervention; the last demands a coup. Iraq is simply a stepping stone - the creation of a beacon of hope and democracy on the doorstep of despotism the same way that Japan stood for human rights and democracy in East Asia during the Cold War.

3. Are American civil liberties under siege?

I am no fan of John Ashcroft and personally campaigned against his nomination to attorney general. However I don't find my civil liberties unnecessarily curtailed. In a recent NPR story about 9-11, a reporter interviewed a Moroccan who owns a Sicilian restaurant in New York City.Although most of his staff hail from Arabic speaking nations, since 9-11 he has forced them to place orders and speak to each other in English or Italian, fearing that the Arabic would unsettle customers. He also noted that while he has not experienced any discrimination from his neighbors or the authorities, he is afraid that he will be mistaken for "one of those bad men".

My first impression was: like the average New Yorker would know the difference between Arabic and Italian... My second thought was that here was a Muslim New Yorker who feared discrimination yet had not experienced any. After a whole year - in a city that had been the victim of the worst atrocity on American soil - this guy lived with not a single incident of discrimination. A white suburbanite from New Jersey can't even say that.

4. Have our institutions of higher learning lost their collective minds?

Chances are, yes. National Pacifist Radio had another report which complained about the suppression of views that are critical of the USA or the Bush Administration on American campuses. Huh? When Noam Chomsky is escorted from the halls of MIT in chains, I'll agree with that. Or I'll believe it the next time that San Francisco State University arrests only Pro-Palestinian protestors instead of a Jewish counter-protester.

Politically correctness started with good intentions. The English language isn't hurt without terms like "nigger" being used in everyday conversation; but it would be if Huck Finn is removed from the shelves because of it. And it certainly is when a teacher risks being fired for using the term "niggardly". The dogma quickly mutated into the greatest threat to free-speech since Joe McCarthy strolled the Senate halls. It is proof of the aphorism about the road to hell being paved with good intentions. It is also proof in Toynbee's adage that "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." In the 1980s the threat to free speech rested with Reagan's Meese Commission and Tipper Gore's PMRC. Today it lays with Leftist organizations that champion an assortment of causes.

In place of critical thinking, the universities are now turning out acolytes with no knowledge of the real world and without the ability to analyze a problem objectively. It is then up to employers to try to make something of them (as European employers have had to do for years) but aren't responsible to do so in the USA. Community colleges thrive on those who have are stuck in low-paying jobs after leaving four year universities without learning the basics of communication and reasoning. The students aren't flocking to the logic and speech courses; they're obsessed with learning a marketable skill - without understanding that as an employer, I will not hire someone who lacks the ability to say what s/he thinks clearly and concisely no matter how well s/he does the job.

The solution is to remove tenure from the equation. Let professors succeed or fail the same way janitors do - according to how well they do their jobs. That would mean better teachers and a better educated populace.What employers need is quality minds: ones able to think critically and make wise decisions. Employers cannot teach that to employees, but universities can.

5. Is Bush a good president?

In a wartime situation, I think that the question is irrelevant. Bush is the man currently occupying the role and he doesn't have to be a Rhodes scholar to do the job; Clinton was and he turned down several chances to take out Osama & Friends - one of the stupidest mistakes in hindsight since World War 2. I personally don't like him, but I respect the position and feel confident that the President has the right people and information at his disposal to adequately protect and defend the Constitution of the USA.

And I cringe when I imagine the phrase "President Gore".

6. It has been a year.Will The Razor.org continue?

I just renewed the domain so it looks like we'll be around for awhile. We don't have the resources to publish as much as we'd like, but what the hell.It's better than half the crap you'll find at Geocities or AOL... To quote writer Harlan Ellison, "I have no mouth and I must scream" and for want of a better forum this is my mouth.

For the deaths of thousands of people, I scream. For having to explain horrific pictures to children, I scream. For dancing Palestinians in the streets, I scream. For long lines at airports, and stupid-assed corporate policies, I scream.

Then I laugh because I remember I have something that our enemies don't have: Freedom.

To all the men and women in uniform

Whatever job you have

In whatever branch of service

We owe it all to you.