DO WE? EVER?

  The rest of the question follows right along. Do we ever learn? Do we ever take an example, a warning, and follow it through to the final outcome? Do we ever change our behavior in response, in a thoughtful answer? Will we ever learn, indeed? Unfortunately, I believe that our ability, our desire, to respond thoughtfully, to learn from past and present errors, to tailor behavior to necessities exposed by questioning the realities of the day, is quite limited. Nor do I see a solid chance of that fatal defect, of not learning from our actions, and words will improve soon, if ever. Woe upon us if we do not correct, immediately, this threat to all that we hold dear and close to heart.

Look around. Yesterday was 9/11. 21 years ago, we were attacked. We suffered major blows, blood and death filling the air, horrendous pictures. The never to be ever erased from the mind's eye of people falling, jumping, from the towers in desperate search of rescue or relief from fire. The heroic efforts of people within sacrificing their lives to save others, or remain with friends, or to carry people down that long descent. The firemen and police rushing in where brave men fear to tread indeed. Yet, have we forgotten, so quickly? So terribly ignoring all that we learned so forcibly, against our desires? Will we ever learn to take the proper things to heart and cut out the nonsense, the grandstanding, the growing, fatal, hypocrisy of wannabe leaders? Do we ever? Will we ever?

I am not optimistic. One, ONE, ad in the pages of the NYTimes in remembrance and salute to those gone, murdered. ONE!! No big story of front-page importance and relevancy re the Memorial. Little, barely there articles buried on inside pages, even as we know, truly know, that the world was changed after September 11, 2001. Forever. And ever.

I can still smell the air, see the burned pieces of paper float down over Queens and Brooklyn. Watch in horror as the huge wave of crushed buildings, cars and people, washed over downtown Manhattan. That crumbling was more than buildings; it was the beginning of the crumbling of a nation and its reserve of power, of concentration, of pure and true patriotism, of a good America following the paths begun by the Founders and all those who came here through the centuries to build a nation and their lives. With hope, success, the ability, difficult as it might be or actually was, to do that indeed. Or to reset for their children. No, we lost our nation in that crumbling, in a wave of poison which resonated down the years and frankly, despairingly, I see no end to its destruction. None. 

Yesterday we read of other terrible and/or life changing and life destroying events and movements. Queen Elizabeth II was being mourned all over the world, for she represented what is no more. A true leader who put country over self, who took on a role which demanded sacrifice. Young as she was, she did exactly that. She held a country together, more than I can say for our supposed leaders down the years of her reign, other than perhaps JFK and Lee Oswald took care of that possibility.

 Even worse is the deep, dark disappointment felt when the heroic response of some turned to ashes years later as they pursued benefits deriving from their initial responses, turned to the Dark Side, threw away their Light Sabers and fell, no, eagerly jumped, down a long, deep hole of selfishness, greed, hypocrisy, anger and what all. Nothing good. Nothing hopeful. Nothing that extended a helping hand to pull us out of the new wave of poison enveloping this nation. In fact, they swallowed and breathed deeply and pushed others to do the same.

Thus, twenty-one years later we had a mob of supposed patriotic Americans attack a building which symbolized this nation. They wished to literally lynch "enemy" members of Congress. We now have a rabid electorate only able to imagine chewing the "enemy" to pieces, but that enemy, those enemies, are our brothers and sisters, our friends, our fellow Americans. How have we fallen so low, retrogressed so far? Will we ever stop, and will that possible stop be in time? Do we know? Do we even care? Or have we given up?

For three nights - September 18, 19, 20, PBS will air Ken Burns' powerful documentary The United States and the Holocaust. It is a meaningful report, facts known, but long hidden and denied. It is a warning that this horrendous hatred of Jews continues to manifest itself all over the world and right here in our own land. It is a hatred which would deny the reality, the necessity, the right, of a Jewish state called Israel. It is a hatred which continues to physically attack Jews and their buildings wherever they are found, a hatred which demands that Jews be restricted, even better, continue the job of Hitler to the end.

That insane hatred grows apace and envelops more within. There is no end to it. There is no light at the end of the tunnel; in fact, we are still racing to find that tunnel, seeking some relief and refuge. The question is - will refuge ever be found? Will there never end a need for that refuge? Will the carnage of hate ever end? Will the blood flow, the hemorrhage ever end?

I have no definitive answers. I have no idea, actually, little to no hope of things ever getting truly better. Certainly not with the caliber of leadership we have, accept and even expect. No, we have a long, long way to go before we can even come back to a time of possibility. But not until we fix ourselves. Not until we repair our damaged judiciary. Not until we educate properly, allow freedom of thought and speech, but not speech of hatred and instigation. Not until we remember that we are Americans all, black, white, pink, red, yellow and who the hell cares? It is all a matter of melatonin and evolution. That is all. The be all and end all of it all. And as for the invocation of G-d on our side, well, He could care less re the Name he is given or the manner of worship. All He and His angels care about is the worsening aspects of His creations, the abuse of his other creations, and they wonder, they despair - will they ever learn? Will they ever improve? Will they ever meet and beat their potential?

Will they? Will we? Do we have a chance? Do we? Do we?