9/12 ramblings

So where was I in August? I don’t recall being too busy, so WTF? No entries, no excuses, no worries.
If I’m back, it means I must be worried. Irate might be more accurate. I’m looking at the exchange rate ahead of a November trip to Thailand, and the exchange rate sucks. The upside to having a crappy, weak currency is that we should be awash in foreign tourists. Granted, I’ve seen a few running around downtown this summer, but we’re hardly “awash.” I blame the Bush Administration for acting unilaterally to the point that nobody wants to visit -- not to mention the heightened security measures that make it such an incredible drag for legitimate tourists (with big euros to spend) to even get in the door. It does seem some auto sales offset our huge trade imbalance, but not by much. So I’m just pissed.
Beyond that, looking at the aforementioned “enhanced security measures,” I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I believe in vigilance. I don’t like the thought of loose borders -- at least, not as long as you have borders -- and I don’t think being transported by private companies is a right. This means that if US Airways wants to strip-search every passenger flying, or if I get questioned more thoroughly if the Irish Republican Army starts killing people again and I have an Irish surname, that’s fine. But I don’t appreciate this thought that we’re helpless and need protecting.
Take 9/11. The passengers on those planes didn’t stay in their seats because they were scared. They remained in their seats because they thought that was the prudent course of action. The freaks hijacking those planes told them they wouldn’t be hurt if they cooperated. History largely backed that lie. The passengers could guess that their respective planes would be landed and the psychos would begin making demands from the tarmac, as had been standard operating procedures. Thanks to cell phones, however, word got to Flight 93 that other planes in the same situation were being used as weapons. Suddenly, the rules had changed. Accordingly, the passengers attacked and won. They may not have been able to save themselves, but they did something more important: They stopped the hijackers. I’m certain it wasn’t a question of those Flight 93 passengers being more brave, but simply having more information.
It’s not so hard to execute a sneak attack against Americans. Part of our cultural nature is that we don’t like duplicity. We appreciate straight talk, transparency, open dialogue. We often don’t get it, but it’s what we like. It’s that nature that makes a Pearl Harbor possible. And then we defeated Japan. Sixty years later, it made 9/11 possible. And then Richard Reid tries to light his “shoe bomb” on a loaded flight from Paris to Miami, and no sooner is he putting flame to shoe tongue and knocking down flight attendants, then do passengers and crew have him quietly subdued with plastic handcuffs, seatbelt extensions, headphone cords and a happy dose of valium.
The point is, at least for the remainder of this chapter, I think we’re on to them. People look to the Patriot Act and similar measures and say, “It’s working. We’ve not been attacked since 9/11.” Horrendous attacks have been made, though. Not on U.S. soil, but they have been made -- all the while our espionage is said to be even less restrained overseas. It was little help to London or Madrid. What has protected the United States, primarily, is education. Al Qaeda educated us.
Can we be attacked again? Sure. But it’s going to have to be in some way radically different than on 9/11. Those fellas got their shot. They took it. They did some damage. But now they’ve got to hide from Americans. And from Britons and Spaniards and Australians and Jordanians. Our government can tell our military where to go. But it’s we, the people -- including those same citizen soldiers -- who really keep us safe at home.