“I think September 11th changed nothing...” Bill Marr, May 17, 2002, Politically Incorrect.
How much easier could it be? 58% of the voters out there couldn’t be bothered to get off their lazy behinds and fill out their ballots! Most of these same 58% are the ones who after 9/11 shouted “God bless America” at the top of their lungs as they drove around in their gas-guzzling SUVs with American flags adhered to every possible surface. They claim that 9/11 really “woke them up” and they would “never forget”. These are the people who shouted “let’s roll”, not so politely informed us that if you “aren’t with us you’re against us” and demanded that this was America’s call to action. Well, now it’s 8 months later, those flags are faded, gas prices are reasonable, catchy slogans have gotten old and God is still nowhere to be found.
These “patriotic” Americans have very poor memories and have indeed “forgotten”. They have forgotten to do the one thing that truly gives them a voice. They have forgotten to do the thing that many throughout the world still fight and die for. Americans too often take the right to vote for granted. They claim it doesn’t matter, after all they are just one person — what can they or a handful of their neighbors do that could make an impact? To answer that question we can look at the 19 men who hijacked planes and flew them into the Trade Center and the Pentagon. These handful of people made a huge impact on the world with their actions. They believed so much in their cause they killed themselves for it.
Yet, I suppose in the end, not even those 19 men really made much of an impact on America. If you take a look at the pitiful election returns you can see just how much citizens really give a damn. Patriotism for these 58% seems to stop at catchy slogans and flag waving. The only thing these people can “rally around” is apathy. It’s interesting how many people are quick to complain about the government, and how few people actually VOTE. I’ve always said that if you don’t vote, then you have no right to complain.
How long is the average American’s attention span? It appears to be under 8 months. Bill Marr is right — 9/11 changed nothing.
It was the day after election night. I sat at my desk watching the returns reported on the local news and the words of Bill Marr rang though my head. We had a dismal turn out. In some states they were lucky to have a 20% turnout. Here in Oregon we have “vote by mail” and we had about 42% returns.
Hello. My name is Angela Christine Byers (yes, my mother actually named me “Angel of Christ”), and I am an atheist.
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Angela C. Byers
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