Seven Years Later

9/11/2008 is only two weeks away and unfortunately for many it will be just another day.

We have already had a movie poking fun at the attacks and more recently we had a game maker who thought it was a good idea to remake space invaders and use the World Trade Center as the target of the attacks.

It is also being reported that the Target store chain will be using the anniversary of 9/11 as a marketing tool to open up a few “Target Stores” in New York.

Needless to say we have come a long way from the “Never Forget” attitude that followed the attacks.

Not that we would want it to become a political opportunity but don’t you find it odd that neither presidential candidate has even mentioned what they will be doing on 9/11.

We have elected officials from other states telling us we need to get past the event and move on.

And of course we will always have those who feel too much has already been done to support the victims of the attacks.

The $64,000 question is why?

Maybe it’s the economy.

Maybe it’s the fact that thousands of additional sons and daughters have died in a seemingly never ending war.

Or maybe it’s the fact that after seven years and billions of dollars spent all we still have is a huge hole in the ground at the site.

Whatever the reason, the fact is that there are those who wake up every day hoping that the whole thing was only a bad dream.

For those that have forgotten close your eyes for a few moments.

The complete darkness that you experience is what many family members have experienced every day since 2001.

Experienced because:

Seven years later and the victims’ list grows every day as people die because they put their faith in Christie Whitman, when as a representative of our government, she assured them that the quality of the air was fine at Ground Zero.

Seven years later and the judicial system continues to deny any legitimate claim against deficient governmental performance or any action against foreign countries that have proven ties to funding the attacks.

Seven years later and thousands of remains are still not identified.

Seven years later hundreds of millions have been spent to dismantle a building that still stands after taking two additional lives but no money can be found to remove human remains from a landfill.

All of this after seven years.

So while complete closure will never come, addressing these issues will surely go a long way towards easing the pain.

Lest we Forget

Dennis