Americans,
One As a People
Most of the time when I write, I do so
purely for fun. I've been extremely fortunate that
something I did on a lark has had such good results. If I
never sell another copy of one of my books I'll have had
a ball, making new friends and experiencing things that
I'll remember fondly for the rest of my life.
Now, I find myself, for the first time,
compelled to write something. Not because of a story
idea, or because of an impending deadline, but because of
my country, and its current situation. I'm an American, a
Georgia born American, and damn proud to be one.
The events that occurred this past Tuesday
touched my heart like nothing else ever has. It was
unimaginable, commercial airliners crashing into both
World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. Two of the
most powerful symbols of American might and wealth,
toppled over by godless extremists.
The attackers that did this didn't worship
God, or Allah, or whomever they profess to pray to. At
best, they worship themselves, and used the Muslim faith
as a cover for their murderous, gutless activities.
Whatever God you happen to worship probably had a couple
of surprises in store for them when they had their
conversations with St. Peter last Tuesday morning. I
imagine they learned first hand about the wrath of God,
dropping right through a trap door from heaven to hell
and finding themselves high-fiving Satan before they
could even blink twice. I hope their miserable souls
sizzle like bacon throughout all eternity for their
murderous acts.
In the midst of our sadness, hurt, and
grasping for answers, some incredibly good things have
happened. We're united as a nation, ready to console our
hurt and wounded, to rebuild our toppled structures, and
to push forward to reclaim our American way of life.
We're fully supportive of our President and Congress as
they deliberate over the steps we'll need to take to
right these wrongs, and to insure that something like
this never occurs again.
I'll admit, I'm a supporter of President Bush, but today
I find myself not just a supporter of him, but also of
Richard Gebhardt, Hillary Clinton, Dick Armey, and every
other representative of our nation. They're one of us,
we're part of them, and all of us collectively want just
one thing - justice for our citizens, and an end to the
senselessness that we observed first hand last Tuesday.
I need to say one more thing. For years, I,
like many Southerners, have made fun of Yankees, or New
York, or anything else that smacks of "north of the
Mason-Dixon line." I now find that I have to take
all of that back.
When I saw those people dying in the massive rubble and
debris, and then watched those brave New York
firefighters and other support personnel doing everything
they could to help those caught up in this horror, I felt
nothing but compassion and love for them. In the end,
they're Americans.
I'm an American, too, and when you do something like this
to us, there is no more North/South, male/female,
old/young, black/white, or whatever such other
designations that we attach to each other. We're
Americans, we're one as a people, and it shall forever
remain that way.
Whenever our current struggle ends, and things return
back to normal, I'll still tease my Northern brethren a
tad. But it'll be a teasing underscored with love, as
it's my nature to tease people I truly care about. And I
care about, and love, our New York brothers/sisters.
In the meantime, I'll pray, and urge you to
do so as well. Pray for our leaders, our armed forces,
and for our domestic rescue personnel as they go about
accomplishing their missions. I'm already predicting that
they're gonna make us proud, and accomplish exactly what
President Bush and our national leadership expect of
them.
And, when their task is finished, when the godless
bastards who attacked us join the vapors coming off our
ponds, we'll understand that we're all part of the
greatest nation on the face of this earth, the United
States of America, and that we share a commonality of
purpose with every other person that resides within our
borders. We all dearly love our country, and aim to keep
it fully functioning for many more generations to come.
Thanks for your time,
Ed Williams
September 16, 2001
P.S. This article can be reprinted by anyone
that has a reason to pass it along or use it,
without getting my permission.
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