To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [okgreens] A letter from Granny D. Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 17:30:49 EDT MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: from [216.115.96.81] by hotmail.com (3.2) with ESMTP id MHotMailBD6F7E96009A400431CED87360512E35404; Mon, 17 Sep 2001 10:36:07 -0700 Received: from [10.1.4.56] by hp.egroups.com with NNFMP; 17 Sep 2001 17:34:47 -0000 Received: (qmail 70050 invoked from network); 17 Sep 2001 14:16:53 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.26) by l10.egroups.com with QMQP; 17 Sep 2001 14:16:53 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO n18.groups.yahoo.com) (10.1.1.37) by mta1 with SMTP; 17 Sep 2001 14:16:53 -0000 Received: from [10.1.2.208] by mr.egroups.com with NNFMP; 17 Sep 2001 14:16:53 -0000 Received: (EGP: mail-7_3_2_2); 14 Sep 2001 23:00:38 -0000 Received: (qmail 67246 invoked from network); 14 Sep 2001 21:31:19 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.26) by l8.egroups.com with QMQP; 14 Sep 2001 21:31:19 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO imo-r05.mx.aol.com) (152.163.225.101) by mta1 with SMTP; 14 Sep 2001 21:31:18 -0000 Received: from [log in to unmask] imo-r05.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.7.) id r.77.1b1142c8 (9665) for <[log in to unmask]>; Fri, 14 Sep 2001 17:30:50 -0400 (EDT) From sentto-417072-3026-1000748087-thelordalmighty Mon, 17 Sep 2001 10:36:11 -0700 X-eGroups-Return: [log in to unmask] X-eGroups-Return: [log in to unmask] X-eGroups-Approved-By: [log in to unmask] via web; 17 Sep 2001 14:16:50 -0000 X-Sender: [log in to unmask] X-Apparently-To: [log in to unmask] Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]> X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10536 Mailing-List: list [log in to unmask]; contact [log in to unmask] Delivered-To: mailing list [log in to unmask] Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe:

Dear Friends:

In the space of an hour, thousands of Americans had their lives snuffed out

by acts so cold-blooded that we cannot wrap our imaginations around what has

happened. I have three grandchildren who, until Tuesday morning, worked near

the World Trade Center. We held our breath until they found their ways to

telephones and finally, on foot, to bridges and home. Many of their dear

friends must be among the less fortunate.

It is a nightmare from which we cannot wake.

As we emerge from our pain, as we begin to accept the dimensions of this

loss, we will of course resolve as a nation to make our world safer.

Whenever we suffer a tragedy, we ask ourselves, "how can we prevent this in

the future?"

In answering this question, all Americans must participate and add what they

can to the discussion and the plan. It is an opportunity for the political

left and the political right to respect each other's point of view and their

differing interpretations of history.

Those who see the attack as a military act of war are like the cancer surgeon

who must find the tumor and kill it. Some minds indeed have become cancerous

in this world and they threaten our survival. They are just as emotionally

capable of exploding a home-made nuclear weapon in our cities, or of

poisoning our air and water with biological, chemical, or nuclear toxins.

What we saw Tuesday morning, horrific as it was, was essentially the loss of

several large buildings and thousands of their inhabitants. We risk the loss

of whole cities --millions of people-- in today's charged international

environment.

While the surgeons will cut, others will look to a deeper question: how can

such cold-bloodedness arise in the hearts of our fellow men? As the

nutritionist examines the lifestyle that may lead to disease, we begin to

ask: What can we do in the future so that love and respect are nurtured in

the place of hatred? Surely we cannot kill our way to love and respect, where

our only true security resides.

The surgeon's will undoubtedly have their way for a time. The news shows

--that incidentally are never interested in covering the reasons why so many

people are angry at American policies-- are now full of swaggering

militarists who are looking, please, for someone to kill for peace. They will

have their way, for the emotions of our nation are running to red.

But those who seek true security must not stand aside in silence. Those who

know that international justice is the only road to international peace must

continue to speak their minds. It is not un-American to do so. It is, on the

contrary, un-American to fall into a state of fascism, where our civil

liberties are forsaken and the human needs of Americans and of people around

the globe are forgotten.

The secretaries and file clerks and young executives in the stricken office

buildings, and the children and mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers

aboard those four airplanes would not have been the targets of hatred, had we

Americans better expressed our highest values throughout the world --had our

government expressed in all its actions the fairness and generosity that

characterize our people. That disconnection between our people and our

government does not excuse the cold mass-murders committed by terrorists, but

it helps explain it, and we cannot stop it if we do not understand it.

There is much we can and must do to regain control of our own government and

to stop its participation in cruelties around the world. That is our best

road to long-term security for our own people. There will always be

breast-beating generals to lead us into further horrors. Let us pray that

some of our leaders are wiser than that, and can see that the real road to

security does not lead us to places like Kabul with our mops and brooms, but

to places like Langly, and to the mammoth political fundraising events where

our representatives are bought away from us.

Many media pundits glibly say today that America will be less free from this

point onward. If they mean that we will have to have our luggage examined

more closely, we can all agree to that. If they mean that we will all have

our telephones tapped and be rounded up for criticizing the government --that

we must be fascist to be free-- then they are talking illogically and

immaturely.

In my long walk across the US, and in my everyday experiences, I know that

Americans are kindhearted and do not wish to colonize and exploit any other

people on earth. Our central question --the question that will determine the

security of our cities in the future-- is this: can those American values be

expressed by the American government? Can we be more a government of our

people? Can we get the greedy, short-sighted interests out from between us

and our elected representatives?

Our struggle for campaign finance reform and other democratic reforms will

now take a back seat as blood and its disciples have their day. But until we

clean up our government, we will all be the targets of rising international

rage, and our children and grandchildren are not safe.

Doris "Granny D" Haddock