So I’m going through my inbox. Shamefully it has over 8,000 stored emails. You read that correctly, just my INBOX has over eight THOUSAND saved emails. I have some other folders that collectively boast over 4,000. Good grief. I started at the beginning, which from appearances, looks like I started saving emails in 1999.
I just ran across a reply to an email I posted to the DeTomaso Email Forum on September 12, 2001. It was the day after the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York. I was at work, mulling over all the network commentators predictions of reduced freedoms and liberties in order to preserve our security.
Bullshit!
… and this is what I wrote then. Today it’s just as valid:
____________________________________________________________________
I know we’ve all said much, thought much, and are still contemplating our
own thoughts and what we as individuals and a nation, should do.
I pass my condolences to those families and friends who have lost loved
ones in this tragedy. I had the misfortune of needing to attend a funeral
for a friend who recently retired from my squadron. He was young, 44 and
died last week. I was awaken, some what in horror, by Shelley calling me
on her cell phone, early in the morning on her way to work, telling me I
had to turn on the TV. By then, one tower was gone, and I watched in
silent horror as the other crumbled at the top, then slowly sank to the
ground. All I could think of, is that those two pinnacles of trade,
freedom and world cooperation, were gone. And no one knew how many people
might be inside.
Four planes. Four major airliners. Not some puddle jumpers, not some
commuter special/banana republic turbo-prop airplanes. These were major
air carrier jumbo jets ( I use jumbo only to convey size, not to confuse
with 747 ). A coordinated effort to Hijack each one. At this time, it
would appear that no firearms were used. No firearms, no handguns, no
hand-grenades, no rifles, no uzis, no assault weapons, no explosives. I
look around my cubicle at work, and I have already found half a dozen items
I could personaly use to incapacitate a person. These are common office
products, any of which I could use to instill fear by stabbing. And this
is allegedly what they did.
I’ve heard recently this morning, that the one plane that crashed in the
Pennsylvania field, had the passengers attempting to overcome the hijackers.
I commend their effort, and say Bravo. For they, of any, realized the
worth of freedom and were willing to sacrifice personal safety to insure
that freedom for others, whether on that plane, or on the ground. They
were not going to sit idly by and let someone else determine their future.
I am only sorry they were not entirely successful.
And this brings me to what I personally feel. That the security of these
United states, is NOT insured by the Government, it is NOT insured by the
Military, it is NOT insured by the Border Patrol, the State Patrol, the
Sheriff, or the local Policeman. They are simply tools, individuals who
have elected to be on the front lines, to help protect and defend the
freedoms of those Americans who desire to be free. They can not, and never
will, insure freedom for all. Only the citizen can insure that.
We do NOT need gun control
We do NOT need wiretaps on all homes
We do NOT need constant surveillance
We do NOT need restrictions on our freedom of movement
However,
We DO need precautions
We DO need a good, properly funded intelligence organization, with the
proper leaders at it’s helm to properly recognize and take appropriate
actions to help insure our security.
We DO need armed citizens, who are willing to insure freedoms for
themselves and their fellow Americans.
We DO need increased security at Airports.
We DO need undercover agents, on board flights, armed. Are we one of the
only countries that does NOT do this???
We DO need to be allowed the freedoms to protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States of American, against ALL enemies, both
foreign AND domestic.
Some of us take that oath formally, and serve in our military forces.
Others take that oath and serve as civilians their entire lives. In the
1770’s, it was the armed citizen who came to the aid of their fellow man.
It was the citizen soldier that defeated the tyrannical government which
oppressed them. The National Guard and reserve, though classified as a
“militia” are NOT the quiet, silent, citizen militia our founding fathers
spoke of. We in the National Guard and Reserves, are citizen soldiers,
training and making ready to be called into war if needed. But there is
one more element to a “total” force concept, and that is the citizen. All
of us, as individuals must be so enamored with freedom that we are willing
to fight for it, willing to die for it, willing to stand up and be counted
among those Americans who wish for our country to stay free.
If citizens simply stand idly by and watch the world unfold around them,
only asking others to insure their freedoms, then they surely will come
under strict government control, and without knowing it, until it is too
late, lose all those freedoms they thought were so dear. Like a cancer,
oppression slowly takes over, diminishing freedoms a little at a time, each
step being careful not to offend. Eventually, all the freedoms are gone,
and no one really notices, because they have all become acclimated to the
new order.
Do not let this tragedy instill fear. Do not allow it to fool you into
thinking we need more control over too many aspects of our lives. Demand
the “right” kind of security precautions, cooperate with officials, be
patient. I for one, do not mind all my bags and person being searched
before boarding a flight. I find it a small inconvenience, compared to the
alternative. I have ALWAYS felt this way, even before this tragedy. I’ve
sat in terminals and watched as questionable looking individuals simply
“swiped” a badge through a security reader, opened a door and were on the
tarmac. I have always worried about air travel. Yesterday, illustrated
those fears in a sobering way.
Be Aware.
Be Alert
Be whatever you need to be, to insure continued freedom for yourself, and
others.
Again, I mourn the loss along with many of you. And I stand ready to help
protect and defend as needed. God be with you, and may his blessings go
with you throughout your day.
Asa Jay
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