9/11. Where were you in that moment you learned the horrific news?

[LWolf]

12. Everyone remembers.

How could they not, when this question is asked every year?

I was at home. My son called me and told me to turn on the tv. I watched for about 10 minutes, and turned the tv off. I knew what had happened. I grieved for the victims and their families, and I waited for what came next: people legitimizing GWB and lining up behind him. The Patriot Act. War.

Because fearful people don't think well, don't make good decisions, and are willing to throw rights and lives away to feel safer. Angry people decide that revenge is good, that if they don't swell up and become even bigger bullies they will have lost their global street creds, and that torture of and violence against, not just perpetrators, but innocents who happen to be in the way by living their lives...all of that is not just a good idea, but crucial.

Because everything changed on 9/11.

And that's what the remembrance does for me. Makes me sad, angry, and disgusted. Not with the original perps, but with their allies in the American citizenry and government, who make sure those changes stay present.