Nothing to say, except . . .

I didn't believe it.  But the weatherman was right!  We actually sat outside in the backyard today.  It was nice.  Still about 80 degrees or more, but there was a nice breeze.  Even the cat enjoyed a bit of a romp in the yard today.   It was truly a beautiful day.  I'm hoping this is the turning point, but  . . .  this is just not likely to happen.   I believe this is just a little tease.

But what I really need to say is this:  It is the 9th of September.  In two days we will see the anniversary of our Nation's Greatest tragedy.  I am distressed that, 11 years later,  I still worry about being downtown on this anniversary.  I know that we have made tremendous strides toward eliminating the threat of further attacks.  And I am thrilled that the one responsible, the person who gave the order, has been killed.  But I have to admit I am still scared.  Scared of the one small cell that has not been detected.

Fear is a dangerous thing.  We all know that fear can paralyze a person and cause him to make bad decisions.  Fear can drive a group of people to do incredibly cruel things.  Fear can also cause a Nation to make poor decisions.

It was a bad decision to go to war with Iraq.  There were no weapons of mass destruction.  That was incorrect information.  And rather than wait until correct information could be gathered, we rushed into a war.  A war that we did not need to be involved in.  This decision was based on Fear and on oil.  Fear of Sudam Hussein kept us from focusing on the real enemies.  And fear that we would not get that precious oil is what kept us in the war for years after we knew that we had been deceived.  There is a plan in place.  A plan that will have us done with the real enemies in 2014, but now there is a chance that we will not be done at all.  A chance that poor, fear-based decision making will drag our nation into another ill-advised war.

Fear of the "Illegal Alien" has cause normally sane men to grab their guns to patrol a line in the dirt.  I suppose, if that is what they want to do with their time, its ok . . . until they kill someone.  But my question is this: How many of the hijackers swam the Red River?  How many of them crossed from Mexico at all?  I don't know the answer, but I'd be willing to bet it wasn't many of them.  So, the guy swimming the river is just a guy looking for a better life. . .  just like the members of your family who first came to this country.  Just another immigrant who doesn't know the language, yet.  Why are you scared of him?  Is he really likely to take your job?  Are you a migrant farm worker? Is your job really in jeopardy from the uneducated guy swimming a river?  Are you scared of his children?  Fear is a jealous monster.

We are, in just a few weeks, going to make another decision as a nation.  We will be deciding who is going to lead our country.  I can only hope that fear won't be the deciding factor.  Fear is a destroyer.  Don't be scared.  Please make your decision based on facts, not on Fears -- Not on lies.