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"Tuesday the 11th of January 2011 marks the beginning of the nine month countdown to what will almost certainly become a 24/7 drum-beaten media-driven blitzkrieg extravaganza extraordinaire of the decade - yes, the Mother of all Retrospectives - reminding us all how terrorized we were, have been, and should remain."
"It's time to [re-]embrace the horror."
"A non-stop stream of politicians and pundits, experts and exegetes, hawks and doves, apologists and apoplectics will hash, rehash, and make hash of comparisons to Pearl Harbor, the Cuban Missile Crisis, all the assassinations from JFK to John Lennon, Madrid, 7/7, and Mumbai."
"Be afraid, be very afraid [again]."
"The media will ask all the usual questions:
"Where were you?" "What did you see?" "What were you told?" "How did it make you feel?" "How has 9/11 changed your life?" "What do you tell your children?"
"All that's left is to decide is what color to make the commemorative 'Remembering How Afraid We Were 9/11 2001-2011™' silicone bracelet."
Or we can refuse to be terrorized...again...or ever again. We can take stock of what we've learned about the world and ourselves these past ten years. We can move forward with hope rather than looking back fearfully to celebrate the day we got sucker punched. We can strive to meet this generation's challenges with some semblance of the style, grace, and resolve shown by our elders and betters during the Great Depression, the Londoners during the Blitz, the Russians at Leningrad, and those Americans who risked their lives to assert their rights. We can endeavor to emulate those who suffered but did not whine.
It's up to us. It's our choice. We will determine what history says of us, and this is the year we will do it.
"Keep Calm and Carry On" indeed.
