Courage and Consequences

(Excerpted from the Twin Towers Alliance website.)

Theodore Roosevelt said: "I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart, and that is softness of head." We would add to that "smallness of spirit", which is what is behind the measly "Freedom Tower" and all the attempts to ram it down our throats.

Affirming that we have nothing to fear but fear itself is still the key to living victoriously in dangerous times. Being fearful invites disaster. Like it or not, the Western world got pushed onto a tightrope on September 11, 2001, and if we don't extol the virtue of courage, of actively refusing to give in to our fears, then the future isn't bright. Our enemy is counting on our knees to buckle, and in denying them that satisfaction we would gain a critical advantage. Rebuilding the Twin Towers would do so much to prove our mettle -- why would we do anything else?

The Twin Towers must rise as beacons of our resolve. If we have to live in a dangerous world, let's face it with all the heart we can muster and the will to overcome.

If you haven't done so already, please take a stand by signing our petition. It is one sure way to take your own shot at the terrorists. The battle for Ground Zero is worth fighting and really ours to lose. If we let the pols and special interests get away with denying us a real say in this matter, we will surely regret it -- but it's not too late and once we get the vision right the progress will be swift.

Please pass this message on to your network of family and friends. The outcome will touch everyone.

We will always have soft targets, because we are free, but we don't have to have soft heads. That is the legacy of September 11th.

Please sign the Twin Towers Alliance Petition – because it's not going to ever hurt less, but we can still make the future better.

"Dirge Without Music"

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely.
Crowned with lilies and with laurel they go: but I am not resigned.

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains - but the best is lost.

The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,
They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

The terrible tragedy of September 11th remains embedded in our hearts. In honor of all the innocent lives that were lost to us that day, let us draw from our sorrow the commitment to always make the most of what really could be our last beautiful day on earth.