September 11th Reflection essays

September 11th Reflection essays I remember my mother telling me about her trip to New York last year. She talked about how the city was just how she remembered it: Times Square, Fifth Avenue, yellow taxis as far as the eye can see. Everything was the same except for that odd patch of blue sky that now shined down onto the shops along East 41st street. In the space where the World Trade Center Towers once stood, centerpieces of the storied New York skyline, proudly representing the triumphs of capitalism, little more than shards of metal and dust remained. She told me visiting Ground Zero was a powerful experience for her, looking down at the hulking crater where almost three thousand completely innocent people lost their lives. She said she thought a great deal about all the people who died there, imagining what they were doing as they went to work that day, what it was like trying to flee the buildings, what the firefighters and police officers thought when they were first dispatched to the towers. There were so many people, just going about their everyday lives, all dying for absolutely no reason at all. Now, after a year of reflection, even though Im still hurt by the attacks, its been even more sobering watching our country handle the situation. Everything about 9-11 has been exploited. The media exploited our willingness to watch television 24 hours a day with their incessant coverage and analysis and over-analysis of absolutely everything related to September 11th. Jerry Fallwell exploited our fears by saying the attacks were Gods wrath against the immorality of American society. Bobby Lehman exploited our new-found patriotism to help him sell used cars. The most dangerous product of the September 11 tragedy, though, is the Bush Administrations exploitation of our patriotism to justify an unnecessary war in Iraq and to further policies that endanger many of the freedoms that our attackers sought to destroy. ...