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photo by Sheri Dixon

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Selective Memory and Outrage

The 15th Anniversary of 9/11.

And we replay it over and over and over today on a loop of horror that never ends.

That one day.

That one day that 3,000 Americans were killed on American soil.

It's awful because it had never happened before, and it hasn't happened since.

It should never have happened.

No one should have to wonder if today is the day they will die...while at work. Or at school. Or anywhere else that should not be dangerous.

We replay it over and over again in a loop of horror that never ends.

"How DARE they attack us on our own sacred soil?"

Totally ignoring hundreds of thousands of people who leave their homes EVERY DAY wondering if they will return, who close their eyes EVERY NIGHT wondering of they will open them in the morning. People who are afraid of *US*, of our troops, our drones, our "allies" who WE arm. Every single day. On their own soil.

Hospitals bombed with patients and doctors inside.

Schools obliterated with students and teachers inside.

Children who are afraid of birds because...drones.

Young people and old people who turn to lives as terrorists because it's really all they have left- everything and everyone else they ever loved is blown up or dead or both.

When will it end?

That endless loop of horror?

Never.

It will never end as long as we only give weight and matter to our suffering and none at all to the suffering we cause in "retaliation".

It will never end as long as we can justify our violence while deploring and punishing the violence of others.

With more violence.

Bigger violence.

"Better" violence.

Calls to "make our military strong AGAIN" when we are already the biggest, most horrific killing machine ever known to human society. Ever.

So we ignore the carnage we're causing every single day and revel in the knowledge that we'll be bigger, better, more strong...the behemoth of fear and bullying that proves how compassionate and freedom-loving we are.

And the loop of horror plays over and over and over again...