"If the President has to keep reminding us that we are at war..." (From: Saturday, September 16, 2006)

Okay, I just heard some yahoo on TV say that "If the President needs to keep reminding us that we are at war - then we AREN'T at war." I'll give him points for a clever soundbite and sparking the interest of the viewers (myself included), but not for demonstrating any form of analytical thought or exercising common sense. I'm certain his comment was simple sensationalism meant to inspire emotion and draw viewers, but I can't shake the roots of his comment. It reeks of a cultural mentality that existed five years and six days ago. Have we forgotten that people hate us?

It's natural for our nation to seek a return to normalcy in the days and years that follow 9-11-01, but is it possible that in doing so we are losing the lessons we learned when we were brought to our knees by a few assholes with plane tickets and box-cutters? It does appear that the nation seems to be seeking a fast-track toward healing: we're trying to get a memorial built as quickly as possible and we've already made our commemorative tv shows and feature films. Pretty soon we'll be ready to forget all about those terrorists that bothered us back around the turn of the millennium.

And then there's the war. We've got masses begging to bring our troops home - claiming we're getting entrenched in "another Vietnam." But I don't think that is really what we are afraid of. We're afraid of a conflict that could define our nation for its foreseeable future. As a culture we're afraid of anything that isn't easy. We're afraid this war could cost us some of the control we want to feel that we have over our lives. We're afraid of the need to remain vigilant. We're afraid that we could lose.

So many like my reporter friend choose to deal with these fears the same way they did when they were a child - they close their eyes and pretend that whatever scares them isn't there. But we all know how well that strategy worked.

So when you hear someone questioning why the President keeps reminding the American public that we are at war - and I'll admit, it gets old (I wish he didn't HAVE to!) - please keep in mind he is only reminding us so that those we are at war with don't get the opportunity to do so.