The next 9/11 awaits us

Something has to be said, but what hasn’t been said already?

Last year — the 20th anniversary — delivered an orgy of remembrance, anger, sadness, sickness.

For the Millennials, it was their Day of Infamy. 

For Boomers it was Nov. 22, 1963 again.

An unspeakable tragedy, a tape measure of America’s shattered invincibility, 9/11 stained us and changed us.

Not just our psyche, the gut punch closed down our economy for weeks. We had never experienced anything like that, but it turned out to be a dress rehearsal for when COVID locked down our economy for many months. And we survived.

So, here it is 21 years later, an odd elbow of a anniversary, one that will be marked, surely, but without the torrent brought by the 20th. 

Although a generation ago, it is still fresh.

The anniversaries of JFK’s assassination (along with Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy) slip by almost unnoticed, along with Dec. 7.

A few stories about 9/11, some clicks, nothing on Page One, and we moved on. 

I don’t think we spend enough time on remembrance.

I think it is important for us to remain vigilant. We are not impervious.

What were the most jarring memories of that tragic day?

Jetliners crashing into sky-high towers, a plane plowing into the Pentagon, the implosion of skyscrapers into their footprint, the sound of bodies hitting the pavement at Ground Zero, the mind-searing sight of Americans throwing themselves out of windows to escape the hell of burning jet fuel licking at their bodies. Beyond grim.

No one should be ever forget the American heroes on United Flight 93 who forced the al Qaeda terrorists to crash into a Pennsylvania field, rather than the U.S. Capitol.

9/11 was a kick in the balls, striking us where we least expect it.

A devious enemy struck where we were soft. 

Most of the terrorists came into this country legally and killed 3,000 of us.

Now we have hundreds of thousands entering the country illegally and the Biden Administration seems to think it’s barely worthy of mention. The jackass Homeland Security director insists the border is “closed.” The only thing “closed” are his mind and his eyes.

I am not saying the hundred of thousands of illegals are terrorists. Not at all. 

But 21 years ago, it took only 19 foreigners to kill 3,000 of us.

How many of the estimated 2 million who will cross our border this year are bad actors?

It’s not just Central Americans coming across. There are people from Africa, Haiti, the Middle East, Central Asia, and places you never heard of. We know some are dangerous criminals. Border Patrol confirms that.

We are deeply vulnerable and our government is asleep at the wheel. 

The next 9/11 will be even worse.