Do you remember the days after September 11th? Who doesn't! I woke up every morning wondering if the world was OK, if there was going to be another attack.
I'm not a TV person so I had one old television back in 2001. I didn't have cable or Dish or anything other than the basic stations. Right after 9-11 I added Dish. I wanted to know what was going on in the world.
Another change in my habits was that every morning, without fail, I walked into the great room and popped on the TV for a few minutes. I needed to make sure that nothing else had happened.
If I turned it on to a commercial I knew things were calm and I immediately flipped it off.
At some point I slowly got out of that habit. I could get up, brush my teeth, fix my breakfast and go about my business without first turning on the TV.
I'm married now and with the marriage came a couple of newer televisions. We also have cable.
I find I'm back in that same habit of turning on the TV first thing each morning.
I hadn't realized I was caught up in that one again until this morning. So, after seeing that Fox and Friends had a normal show working, I turned off the TV and started pondering why.
I don't have that same always-with-me sense of trepidation or concern that the terrorists are going to hit us again. Although I will have to say that I strongly believe there's a much higher chance now than there has been these past years under President Bush. Based on what I'm reading and hearing, I think the signals we're sending are tantamount to practically asking for them to attack us. The terrorists don't respect weakness. They laugh when we want to negotiate. To them it's just another way to exploit the soft Americans.
So maybe there is a bit of post-9-11 insecurity at play, but it's mostly at a subconscious level.
When I thought about it more I realized the underlying cause is bigger, if that's at all possible, than 9-11. I fear for our country. Every day when I turn on the news, turn on the computer, read my daily news in my email inbox, I see the country I love being eroded by power-craving politicians.
I see Obama sending money to fund abortions when we need it here (not to mention the last thing we need to be doing is killing babies).
I hear about stimulus packages that are going to destroy the future for our children and generations beyond.
I read about the Fairness Doctrine which will kill conservative talk radio then, when that's successful and the voices move to the Internet, will extend its tentacles even further.
I see actions being taken to destroy businesses and other freedoms (i.e., the Employee Free Choice Act which will kill the secret ballot and usher in an era of Union control of our workforce).
I read about Obama's actions to undermine the things that have helped to protect us.
I think I just have to make sure the world hasn't completely collapsed while I slept.
Now that I'm aware, I'm not sure if I want to work to curb the habit or just let it go. I'll probably keep doing it simply because it's almost like a security blanket. I have a feeling I'm going to need more than a quick flick of the remote to ease my angst in the days to come.
-rd
