9/11 can bring out the worst in this country

By SJ Otto

As I said in an earlier post, 9/11 brings out the worst in this country and the worst in its people. We have seen lots of reactions to an event the was truly an act of evil. A lot of innocent people were killed. It is natural for people to get angry over such a mellitus attack on this country. The worst of it is that those who made the attack made no effort to differentiate between the innocent people who live or work here and those who are actually responsible for the crimes this country routinely commits.

A lot can be said for the Moslem religion and the knee jerk reaction many Americans had against ANYONE who happens to be Moslem. For many people it is just a religion. For some Moslems it is political and some Moslems have used their religion to attack the US and its imperialist policies. It is reasonable to attack a nation that throws its political and military might around, but attacking civilians is a truly senseless act.

Equally senseless are those conservative Americans who attack any Moslem, mostly just for being Moslem. That is also senseless and thoughtless. Since the election to office of
Ilhan Omar to the House of Representatives, jingoists and conservatives found an easy target of attack. For many conservatives, she has criticized US actions in Venezuela and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Along with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “the squad” has rejected sacred conservative values, such as a foreign policy of complete compliance and complete agreement. Also she gets mixed in with Ocasio-Cortez, who is a socialist.

Among the many conservative attacks against Omar was against a speech she gave about what treatment Moslems have had to endure since 9/11. In it she said “Some people did something.” And she went on to explain the reaction against Moslems. Conservatives jumped all over that. For example, from FactCheck.org:

“White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders claimed that Omar had spoken “dismissively” about the 9/11 attacks, while Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler said her comments were being misconstrued. Nadler said Omar mentioned 9/11 “only in passing” while talking about “discrimination against Muslim Americans.”

The comments made by Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, have been widely dissected. We thought it would be helpful to our readers to provide the context for Omar’s comments, which were made during a 20-minute speech she delivered at an annual Council on American-Islamic Relations event in California on March 23.”

And thanks to those conservatives who have relentlessly attacked Omar, right-wing trolls keep leaving nasty messages on her Facebook account that attack her past phrase: “some people did something.”  For example:

Steve Loeding Tomorrow remember this Omar “some people did something”. You are an embarrassment to the state of minnesota and the congress of the United States. We Will Never Forget. And never forgive you

Lynda Locke Eighteen years ago, "some people did something". We, the People, remember WHO they were and WHAT they did. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Don Isenberg "Some people did something"
May it follow and haunt you to your grave.

Ian Franklin 18 years ago, this was a lot of people's last day on Earth with their family. You, Ilhan Omar, are not good for our country.

Diane Ewing Today, us true American's are remembering the day....some people did something.

So it is not that hard to find those who can’t ignore the ignorance and nastiness of their jingoist and conservative roots. On the other hand there where those who supported Omar:

Muna Khayr A Qambi So many evil minded people here pretending to care about the victims of September 11 by attacking Miss Omar. People who care don't make fun of or belittle others pain. Millions have been killed by this government and its allies since September 11 and hundreds of innocent citizens were demonized because of their faith. That's what this women was talking about. You don't honour the victims by victimizing others who themselves may have lost loved ones in the 9/11 tragedy.

Ibrahim Umar Aliyu God bless Ilhan our prayers are with u

So our conclusion is that this day brings out the worst in some people and maybe the best in others. That is the way it is with a jingoistic holiday like 9/11.