You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.

Like most people, I'm at a bit of a loss about what to say.  My personal life seems completely uninteresting in comparison to everything else going on, but I suppose I have some feelings I could stand to express about now.

I was walking out the door for work when Tino came running down the stairs and told me to "wait, you have to see this."  I saw the first plane burning within the WTC Tower 1.  I was shocked, but mostly unable to process it, so I went ahead and left for work.  I took the radio so I could listen as I walked.  NPR didn't start covering anything until 9:30am.  I wonder if they thought it was a hoax somehow?

On the way to work, it became evident that we were being attacked.  I made it to work, and we all assembled in front of the TV in the gym for a while.  They started talking about evacuating some of GiantMediaCo's buildings, and I decided to leave.  I don't want to die while at the grindstone.  The idea of war really puts into perspective how pointless work is compared to enduring times of trouble with your loved ones.

Like everyone else, we watched TV for hours.  Sometime during that process, I passed from shock and disbelief to anger.

Until today, I've mostly remained simply angry.  After hearing about what Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson had to say, you know, the part about how it was all about the homosexuals, abortionists, the ACLU and pro-choice activists bringing the wrath of god on our nation?  I then became desperately sad.  I know he's just one man (and a nut job at that) but I did not need to be remided of how stupid and shallow some people can be.  After watching hours of NYers helping each other, that really slammed home the fact that many people are incredibly small minded.  

I hope no one will ever take those assholes seriously again.  I wish Bush would take a moment to denounce him so he'd just go away for ever.  If I were the republican party, I'd want the stink of that extremism of me, I know.  Preaching hate of other law-abiding Americans is the last thing we need right now.  That and the drug war.  We don't need that either.

Now what do I think?  I think we should ask Afghanistan (yet AGAIN) to give up Osama Bin Laden, and if they do not, we start dropping bombs.  Even if he didn't do this, he did bomb the USS Cole and two embassies.

Any other action will make us look weak and will result in someone striking at us again.

I wish the feds could tell us what they are up to, but after hearing the Battle Hymn of the Republic sung in the National Cathedral today (via radio, of course), I think I have a pretty good idea.[1]  If they need any money, maybe they can quit fighting the drug war.  If we close our borders for war, smugglers won't be operating anyway.

I can't help but wonder what we are really funding in Columbia.  I doubt it's about drugs at all, but I bet we can't just pull out without fucking up the Columbian economy.

Sigh.  I wish we had a better record of action in foriegn countries, but everything we do, even when well intended from the start, seems to turn into some CIA-backed dirty little war that is kept as secret as possible from the American public.

I'm a bit afraid of what's going to happen.  The last time someone struck on our soil, we nuked two of their cities.  I hope it doesn't come to that again.  I can't believe anyone would be so stupid as to provoke us like this.  What the FUCK were they hoping to accomplish?  All that can happen is that the world will be thrown into war and turmoil and we'll turn the middle east into a giant field glass.  The U.S. will win, as we always do, and we'll still be the biggest, richest bully on the block.  Why do a so many people have to die just to prove it yet again?