Editor,
On Sept. 11, 2002, it was raining in Albuquerque. The day fit the somber mood of the people gathered Downtown to pay tribute to those killed on that tragic day one year earlier. On Sept. 11, 2003, it was a beautiful fall day in New York, the time of year in which the city is alive as the suffocating heat of summer has ended. The wounds were still open, and there was still pain in the city. I went to ground zero at 3 a.m. and met a woman, a New Yorker who had come to remember people she lost. We exchanged a few words, a hug and many tears.
On Sept. 11 this year, I sat in class, discussed the macroeconomic impact of terror, then went home to watch a fictionalized, politically-motivated movie.
The meaning I drew from the tragedy is fading. I am told it is called 9/11 fatigue. Am I callused, cruel, insensitive and a traitor to the memory of those who suffered on Sept. 11, 2001? I remember the pain I felt five years ago, but sadness now gives way to anger when Bush and Cheney speak on Sept. 11 and a movie distorts the truth.
I suffered on Sept. 11. I was scared, confused and in pain when I saw the images of the buildings' collapse.
Do you remember the people who chose to jump from the buildings? I cannot imagine the hell a person needs to know before falling 1,000 feet to certain death as an attractive alternative to reality. Do you remember people searching for loved ones, grasping a picture and hoping for any information at all? I do.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
I saw the shoes left on the iron fence that encircled St. Paul's Chapel. When firefighters arrived at ground zero they changed into their protective gear on the street, and they placed their shoes on the fence so they could be reclaimed when their job was finished. The shoes I saw were never reclaimed. I remember the pain that gripped my soul the day I saw those shoes.
I am angry my pain has been stolen for the political objectives of the Bush administration. Sept. 11 is the foundation of every speech that comes from the mouth of this administration, so the fear Americans felt will once again occupy their minds and distort their perception.
I am angry this tragedy is now nothing more than a brand used by Bush to create the image of a father protecting his helpless children. The meaning of this day is all but lost, stolen to push an agenda most Americans do not support but are willing to tolerate for the sake of safety from an artificial reality rooted in terror.
I do not have 9/11 fatigue. I am suffering from the deliberate politicalization of this tragedy. The actions of Bush have tarnished the memories of those that lost their lives, the anguish of Americans and the soul of this country.
Isaac Padilla
UNM student
