fuck you, but i’m not forgetting 9/11.

9/11 Memorial at LA Fire Dept. Training Center

i really fucking hate the phrase “never forget” when used in conjunction with 9/11. that’s not to say i want to forget that day. i understand the need to remember what happened on that day. watching those two buildings come down before i even got to work is something i’ll never be able to shake.

and i don’t think many other people will be able to shake those images.

the “never forget” tagline is one of the more insulting ones i can think of to use on this day. it assumes that we are all imbeciles, that we will never remember what happened on this day in 2001, that we don’t understand the impact of what happened.

i was there. i remember. i remember feeling helpless, feeling helpless to what was going on, to the inevitable war to come because i knew that the only solution america had in mind was to blow shit up in some country far far away. little did i know it was going to entail this:

Section 2 – Authorization For Use of United States Armed Forces

(a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.

that these words would still be used to justify bombing things in yemen even though we’ve never declared war against that country. that it will be used to justify the upcoming bombings in syria and iraq. sorry. justify isn’t the right word. it’s more like the president won’t have to go to congress in order to declare these little wars. but there it is.

it was at that point the american public begged congress and the president to toss away their civil liberties in order to feel safe. funny, i don’t feel any safer now than i did on 9/10/01.

“never forget”? whenever i think of the so-called wars we’re raging, i remember. whenever i have to go through some idiotic ineffective tsa checkpoint at an airport i remember. whenever i hear “god bless america” sung at a ballpark, i remember.

so don’t tell me to “never forget”. i don’t think i could even if i wanted to. just fuck off and have your own pity party in your own corner.