mo(u)rning report
Sep. 11th, 2003 09:27 amHello to
piano_hack who newly friended me.
September Eleventh. "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest forever in peace. Amen."
I remember where I was two years ago; a 1L, in at school early for a Legal Writing and Research session. I remember coming down to the student lounge after the session, and everyone watching the television. I remember being worried about my in-laws in D.C., and trying to find out if they were all right. I remember my torts professor canceling classes because he could not teach that day. I remember all my classes getting canceled, and the bus company running shuttles out of downtown every fifteen minutes, because the authorities were worried that Milwaukee, as a financial & banking center, would be attacked. No place was safe anymore.
And I remember the professors's reactions to it later on in the week -- torts, criminal law, etc. Who would the families of the victims sue, what court would try the planners of the attack, what kind of conspiracy it was, etc., and how totally inadequate law seemed as a tool to deal with the people who had done and planned this thing. "In times of war, the law is silent -- Inter arma silent leges." I remember emailing and talking to my father, and his telling me that this was not a crime, it was an act of war. My Contracts professor asked us that week, "How many of you think we're at war right now? And how many of you would go if you were drafted?" I remember being astonished at the naivete of my younger classmates, who didn't see it as an act of war, who didn't think we would go to war.
I remember reading the list on my alma mater's website of which members of the Notre Dame family had died, and saying prayers for them.
I never thought Bush would be such an idiot as to go after Iraq. I see it as vengeance, and not as a rational act in any way, shape, or form. Unless he did it to help out the oil business. But, "never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity," after all. If he was really concerned about stopping terrorism, he would make sure that we rebuilt Afghanistan as we did Germany after WWII, and then go after Saudi Arabia as the nurturer and teacher of such terrorists. But of course, since they control our oil supply, we can't do that. God forbid the American people would ever have to give up anything as they go to war. Why, that's so old-fashioned, so WWII.
I wonder what's going to happen to the U.S. in the days and years ahead. If Mr. Rudbek and I ever do manage to have children, I wonder what kind of world they will be born into. Will the U.S. be a police state? Will my children ever ask us, "Tell us what happened on September Eleventh," or will they view it as ancient history, something that happened before they were born, and not take any interest in it? I don't think I've ever asked my parents where they were when JFK was shot. I don't see any way out of the mess we are in right now...
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September Eleventh. "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest forever in peace. Amen."
I remember where I was two years ago; a 1L, in at school early for a Legal Writing and Research session. I remember coming down to the student lounge after the session, and everyone watching the television. I remember being worried about my in-laws in D.C., and trying to find out if they were all right. I remember my torts professor canceling classes because he could not teach that day. I remember all my classes getting canceled, and the bus company running shuttles out of downtown every fifteen minutes, because the authorities were worried that Milwaukee, as a financial & banking center, would be attacked. No place was safe anymore.
And I remember the professors's reactions to it later on in the week -- torts, criminal law, etc. Who would the families of the victims sue, what court would try the planners of the attack, what kind of conspiracy it was, etc., and how totally inadequate law seemed as a tool to deal with the people who had done and planned this thing. "In times of war, the law is silent -- Inter arma silent leges." I remember emailing and talking to my father, and his telling me that this was not a crime, it was an act of war. My Contracts professor asked us that week, "How many of you think we're at war right now? And how many of you would go if you were drafted?" I remember being astonished at the naivete of my younger classmates, who didn't see it as an act of war, who didn't think we would go to war.
I remember reading the list on my alma mater's website of which members of the Notre Dame family had died, and saying prayers for them.
I never thought Bush would be such an idiot as to go after Iraq. I see it as vengeance, and not as a rational act in any way, shape, or form. Unless he did it to help out the oil business. But, "never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity," after all. If he was really concerned about stopping terrorism, he would make sure that we rebuilt Afghanistan as we did Germany after WWII, and then go after Saudi Arabia as the nurturer and teacher of such terrorists. But of course, since they control our oil supply, we can't do that. God forbid the American people would ever have to give up anything as they go to war. Why, that's so old-fashioned, so WWII.
I wonder what's going to happen to the U.S. in the days and years ahead. If Mr. Rudbek and I ever do manage to have children, I wonder what kind of world they will be born into. Will the U.S. be a police state? Will my children ever ask us, "Tell us what happened on September Eleventh," or will they view it as ancient history, something that happened before they were born, and not take any interest in it? I don't think I've ever asked my parents where they were when JFK was shot. I don't see any way out of the mess we are in right now...