2020: I wish every day was Saturday.

 

9/11

 It was a little after 7am when I got up out of bed, had breakfast, and readied myself for work. It was my first job out of college, selling residential pest control in Sarasota, Florida. I had a routine, get up, shower, dress, have a bowl of cereal, then out the door.

The day started out like so many — it was a Tuesday, I’d gone into to work to prep for my day — only one stop today, so it would be light. After about an hour or so in the office, I get in my car to start my day, and turn on Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio. That’s when I hear…

“We’ll get back to that story in a moment but right now we’re following this story about a plane that’s evidently crashed into one of the World Trade Center buildings.”

I thought… Wow, a Sesna? How did the pilot missed that? That’s gotta suck.

But then… the ABC News Special Report… a jet airplane had plunged into one tower of the World Trade Center — many casualties expected.

 

I start to call. “Did you hear this?” “Did you hear that?”

President Bush was in Sarasota at the time, so I head down to the airport to see Air Force One.

A stop off at Stark Truss shows visual evidence… a second plane has crashed into the other World Trade Center tower.

The news gets worse.

It’s a hijacked plane.

Cell phones are impossible at this point, as you can’t even get a signal. Dialing out is worthless. I rush home and that’s when I see it… the devastation, the carnage, the catastrophic loss of life… it’s so amazingly tragic, so stunningly awful, so fantastically heartbreaking … people running everywhere, screaming and crying … blood mixed with ash and fire littered the streets of one of the greatest cities on Earth. What was once a towering signal of capitalistic strength — reduced to nothing… in a matter of hours… and the world would change forever.

My life — the way I see things, the way I view things — changed forever that day. I can’t explain it, but there almost isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t relive the moments in my mind at some point… seeing that plume of smoke in the air — hearing the thunderous thuds of human bodies who had given up on any hope of saving — falling and crashing into the earth beneath them.

The confusion… the deadening silence of no planes being allowed to fly…

 

The anger and determination to see the demise of those who had committed these horrible acts… the fury of watching them celebrate in the streets like animals — at the thought of innocent women and children who died that day…

and the pride of a nation that came together, albeit for a brief time — Conservatives and Liberals… Democrats and Republicans… Blacks, Whites, Hispanics… men and women.. young and old … together, in unity.

If for a stitch in time, there wasn’t a label — there wasn’t an ideology or an agenda. We were Americans. And we were hurting. We consoled one another. We tried to understand the calamity. We offered solace, and comfort as best we could. We stood united — bruised and battered, but not defeated.

We were the United States of America, and the date was September 11th, 2001.

Where were you…?

Democrats Risk Overplaying Their Hand In November

 If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the news every night with a disheartening concern that you probably haven’t felt in decades - if ever.

No matter where you turn, it seems like the country is besieged on all sides and in all facets - be it our economy hanging on by a thread, the health and well being of our nation’s people due to the Coronavirus, and the on going yet ever increasing volatile debate on racial equality for Black Americans.

Fear and trepidation have once again turned into anger and vitriol - where violent protests once again spill out into the streets of some of the largest cities in America. It’s a cry out that we’re all too familiar with in this day and age, and rightfully so, I might add - Black Lives Matter.

A nation that is frustrated, angry, depressed and devoid of a chance at the economic growth and success we were enjoying at the cusp of 2020, has since turned its eyes to the streets because of a void of common sense leadership from our elected officials across the spectrum.

While the nation burns, politicians in Washington dither, focusing their attention on news media talk shows and retweets. For the Democrat party and their 2020 Presidential nominee Joe Biden, the blame of America’s alms falls at the feet of one man - President Donald Trump.

To hear the Democrats and their media cohorts bloviate night in and night out about how this all somehow the President’s fault spits in the face of what Americans read about in their newspapers and see on their television screens. We are facing tough and complex questions with no easy answer, but the tried and tested partisan bickering without tangible solutions and a willingness to compromise only adds fuel to an already explosive fire.

Biden and the Democrats have begun to try and weave the narrative that Americans aren’t safe in “Donald Trump’s America”. But I feel like this narrative is yet another example of the Democrat Party about to overplay their hand when it comes to the National election. In their attempts to marry the violence on our streets and the economic calamity due to the nationwide shutdowns as a failure of the Trump Administration, The Democrats are once again taking what for all intents and purposes should be a winning hand in November, and are close to squandering any good political fortune they may have had with many voters, because the narrative just doesn’t match reality.

And Americans know this.

Blaming President Trump for the response to Covid-19, while at the same time offering up nothing new or different about what’s been done or is being done reeks of political pandering. Calling the lawlessness and violence on the streets of Baltimore, New York, Portland, and the like a creation of Donald Trump’s hate both diminishes and devalues the true nature of the issue. We do need a national conversation about policing in America - especially as it pertains to race - but we can’t have that conversation through the prism of political divisiveness. It’s a total non-starter.

Vice President Biden has enjoyed a double-digit polling lead for most of the summer as Americans struggle to navigate an economy on the mend and try and make sense of the racial turmoil that is ravaging our country - but recent polling averages have seen that lead dissipate. The Real Clear Politics Betting Odds as of August 31st show the race a virtual tie. While it’s true, the GOP Convention surely gave President Trump a much needed bounce in approval - I believe the reason is simple.

Democrats have once again overplayed their hand, attempting to lay all of the problems we’re facing as a country at the front of the White House lawn, instead of engaging all Americans from every side of the aisle with frank and honest discussions about the Coronavirus, racial inequality, and how we move forward together to achieve economic and social peace and justice for the benefit of every American.

On the other hand, ignoring the realities most Americans are facing and choosing to point the finger of blame at the President as a short-term campaign strategy to win in November may very well end up being the very reason the country re-elects President Trump for four more years.