...At fifteen seconds after 9:41 a.m., on September 11, 2001, a photographer named Richard Drew took a picture of a man falling through the sky -- falling through time as well as through space. The picture went all around the world, and then disappeared, as if we willed it away. One of the most famous photographs in human history became an unmarked grave, and the man buried inside its frame -- the Falling Man-- became the Unknown Soldier in a war whose end we have not yet seen. Richard Drew's photograph is all we know of him, and yet all we know of him becomes a measure of what we know of ourselves. The picture is his cenotaph, and like the monuments dedicated to the memory of unknown soldiers everywhere, it asks that we look at it, and make one simple acknowledgment.That we have known who the Falling Man is all along.
I struggled to post today, several edits later...nothing jelled. I visited my favorite bloggers for a clue, all said it far more eloquently. John Cox and Allen Forkum, however, touched a deep cord of anger.
When the media, foreign policy appeasers and opportunistic politicans whine about the cost of fighting the war on terrorism, loss of our freedoms or claim we are failing... remember these words:
"Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! "-Patrick Henry, 1736-1799
and these: "Are you ready? Let's roll." -Todd Beamer, UAL Flt 93
Go, read, comment.
Cox & Forkum
E Pluribus Unum
American Digest
Voices: Stories From 9-11 and Beyond
Little Green Footballs: 9-11 Stories
Laurence Simon's rant
Black Tuesday
Stephen Green
James Lileks
Juan Gato
The Dissident Frogman
Charles Austin
Forgotten Heroes of 9/11
American Airlines Flight 11
FDNY and NYPD Tributes
During the day I updated links as I moved through the blogosphere...reading, cursing, commenting, grieving. I leave you with these words:
"The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disentrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."-- December 1, 1862 - Lincoln's Second Annual Message to Congress