9/11 Terror Attacks Reach Legal Drinking Age

9/11 Terror Attacks Reach Legal Drinking Age
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 7, 2020

On Sunday we mark the 21st year memorializing the slaughter of 2,977 innocent souls, the victims of 19 Muslim extremist terrorists who skyjacked four American airplanes with the intent purpose of inflicting as much damage as possible against people, property, and the body politic. With ruins in its wake, the American people coalesced - even if for a short time - to remind the world that the United States may bend, but it will never break. Even President George W. Bush received a standing ovation at Yankee Stadium during the World Series.

Yet in the interim, during the past two decades, the United States and a certain segment of the American people have tried their level best to prove prophetic Abraham Lincoln. On January 27, 1838 during an address in Springfield, IL, Lincoln opined "At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."

Instead of shoring up the military might and strength of the American armed forces, the so-called military leaders are relieving good men and women of their duty because they chose bodily autonomy where the Covid vaccination is concerned. Recruitment is down and has not met its obligations under the Biden administration. Far too many of these so-called military leaders are more concerned with pronouns, white rage, equity, and checking boxes.

While this administration is allowing every Tammy, Ricardo, and Mohammad to invade our supposedly sovereign nation via the southern border, unvetted, sans Covid testing, and collect as many freebies as possible, our brave and honorable military veterans are being treated shabbily by the very nation they served. There are nearly 38,000 homeless veterans scattered about the fruited plain, and still thousands more veterans and September 11 first responders not receiving the services they so desperately need and have most certainly earned - be they medical, psychological, or financial.

The politicians on both sides of the aisle have allowed the Chinese Communist Party to steal American intellectual property right before our very eyes. Additionally, the CCP is buying American farmland - to the tune of 352,140 acres in 2020 up from 13,720 acres in 2010, according to the Department of Agriculture. This includes lands dangerously close to Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, and F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.

This is not to politicize the tragedies of September 11, 2001, but present facts and a cogent argument supporting the point of the downward spiral of the United States over the past 21 years. There are myriad other reasons the United States is in decline - from the embarrassing, severe, indoctrination in the K-12 schools as well as on college campuses, an epidemic rise in crime rates, an almost non-existent value placed on human life, and a loss of faith, as evidenced by the shrinking rates of attendance in our houses of worship.

For the 21st year we will pay homage and respect to the fallen who were murdered by Muslim extremist terrorists on that clear, crisp, Tuesday morning when the screaming airplanes permeated the sunshine, penetrated their steel and glass targets, plunging the world into darkness and chaos.

A brief timeline of the harrowing and disturbing events of September 11, 2001:

            Between 7:59 AM and 8:42 AM four flights depart Boston’s Logan, Washington’s Dulles, and Newark airports, headed for Los Angeles except the Newark flight, headed to San Francisco.

            8:46 AM: American Airlines flight #11 is flown into #1 World Trade Center - the North Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the 11 crew, 76 passengers and hundreds inside the tower instantly. 

            9:03 AM: United Airlines flight #175 is flown into #2 World Trade Center - the South Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the nine crew, 51 passengers, and hundreds inside the tower instantly. 

           9:05 AM: President George W. Bush is alerted to what is now believed to be terrorist attacks. “Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” said Bush.

          9:37 AM: American Airlines flight #77 is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the six crew, 53 passengers, as well as 125 military and civilian personnel on the ground.

           9:59 AM: The South Tower collapses in 10 seconds after burning for 56 minutes. More than 800 civilians and first responders are murdered. 

          10:03 AM: United Airlines flight #93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, PA when passengers and crew storm the cockpit. There are no survivors of the seven crew and 33 passengers due to the murderous plot by the four Muslim extremist hijackers. Flight #93 was 20 minutes from Washington, DC where the White House or the Capitol Building were the presumed targets. 

         10:15 AM: The damaged section of the Pentagon E-Ring collapses.

        10:28 AM: The North Tower collapses after burning for 102 minutes. More than 1,600 civilians and first responders are murdered. 

        8:30 PM: President George W. Bush addresses the nation.

May the memories of the 2,977 murdered on September 11, 2001 always be for a blessing. This must never be forgotten.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He grew up in northern New Jersey in the shadow of the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, he was writing for a newspaper in northern Virginia, 10 minutes from the Pentagon.

9-11: 20 Years Later - Are We Any Safer?

9-11: 20 Years Later - Are We Any Safer?

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

August 30, 2021

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. That the longest war in United States history should come to a shocking conclusion in abject failure on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack perpetrated on American soil is beyond disappointing to the men and women who wear and have worn the uniform of the American military. In fact, it should be disappointing to all Americans.

The good intentions to which I refer are the hopes I had in writing a different column regarding the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, but it is impossible to ignore the two-ton elephant in the room - the crumbling failure in Afghanistan as after 20 years of keeping the Taliban at bay, the terror group captured the Islamic nation in less than two weeks. Afghanistan fell like a hot knife through butter. Does that make the United States any safer?

Joe Biden, in less than eight months in the White House, has become Jimmy Carter Redux, giving an entire nation a serious case of acid reflux, while all else is faltering around him - inflation on the rise, a southern border masquerading as a sieve, severe indoctrination in our public schools, creeping socialism, and a nation more divided than at any time since the War Between the States (1861-65). Biden’s absolute failure in Afghanistan is the disaster at the Bay of Pigs (Cuba 1961), the optics and the fall of Saigon (Vietnam 1975), the potentiality of a worse hostage crisis than that of Iran (1979-81), and a greater slaughter than Benghazi, all rolled into one - on steroids. Does that make the United States any safer?

Under feckless leadership, the United States is no safer, no smarter, and certainly no stronger than it was on September 10, 2001. While four presidents failed to learn from history - how the Soviets could not defeat the Afghan-Mujahideen from 1979-89, it was the ineffectiveness of Biden to extract Americans and their allies from Afghanistan in an appropriate, safe, secure manner. The incompetence of Biden, his Defense Department under General Lloyd Allen, his State Department under Antony Blinken, and his Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley has created the quagmire that is the back-asswards retreat and surrender in Afghanistan. Does that make the United States any safer?

That heads have not rolled in the form of firings and resignations, especially after the suicide bombings leaving 13 US servicemen and women slaughtered at the hands of ISIS-K is unconscionable. Biden and his minions have the blood of those brave, honorable men and women on their hands. As left wing progressives are fond of saying when wishing to honor some slain criminal, “say their names,” do just that here. Say their names:

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, Rio Bravo, TX

Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, Sacramento, CA

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, Salt Lake City, UT

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, Corryton, TN

Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, Indio, CA

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, Jackson, WY

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, Norco, CA

Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, Omaha, NE

Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario-Pichardo, 25, Lawrence, MA

Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, Logansport, IN

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, St. Charles, MO

Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, Berlin Heights, OH

May their memories always be for a blessing, and may their service to a great and grateful nation not have been in vain, nor ever forgotten. 

While these 13 heroes are laid to rest back home on American soil, we recall the nearly 3,000 men, women, and children murdered on September 11, 2001. The failure of August 2021 is an insult to the memories of all those murdered on 9/11 in Manhattan, Arlington, VA, and Shanksville, PA, as well as every man and woman who has worn an American military uniform fighting the never ending war on terror.

We did not learn from history. The savage, G-dless enemy - Taliban, al-Qaeda, ISIS, ISIS-K, as well as every Muslim extremist, and every Islamic terrorist has the patience of Job, but the demonic will of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, - whether 20 years or 20 decades, they will wait us out, as has been evidenced in Afghanistan. Does that make the United States any safer?

The currently weak-kneed United States doesn’t have the stomach for a long drawn out military engagement - even overseas. Secretary Allen and Chairman Milley have committed their all too valuable time to testifying before Congress about white rage and racism in the US military and attempting social engineering with said military while not returning to the days when our allies could depend upon the United States and our enemies feared the United States. Does that make the United States any safer?

Today, and this will be Biden’s legacy, the United States is an undependable laughingstock overseas, and more reviled at home than ever before - including during the turbulent 1960s and the entirety of our involvement in Vietnam. Indoctrination, and now the full court press for Critical Race Theory in the classrooms, running rampant in American public schools, is at an all time high, but this did not commence yesterday. No, this has been ongoing for more than a generation - anti-American Americans who obviously never learned the history of the United States, anti-American Americans not understanding context and the tremendous progress achieved in the United States. Does that make the United States any safer?

I would trade all the US-born malcontents for the Cubans and Hong Kongers waving American flags at great personal peril to life and limb for the freedoms they so richly deserve in their homelands. The United States women’s soccer team, other Olympians who turned their backs on the American flag, who behave disrespectfully during the playing and singing of the Star Spangled Banner, and the leader of these classless snowflakes - Colin Kaepernick should try pulling that crap and living in Angola, China, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, or Venezuela. See how that works out for them. They can thank the veterans in wheelchairs who fought for those malcontents’ right to be malcontents and take a knee.

Those soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen - volunteers - who signed a blank check for up to and including the ultimate sacrifice, made their sacrifices to enable those unappreciative, ungrateful, anti-American Americans to live lives of unbridled hedonism while spitting on the memories of those who gave their all and left it all on the battlefield. Does that make the United States any safer?

The hundreds of police and firefighters who were murdered on September 11, 2001 did not stop their rescue attempts to check out the skin color of those they were rescuing. Those first responders did not ask about the race, religion, ethnic background, or sexual orientation of those rescued either. No; they plunged headfirst into danger and the face of death in efforts to serve and rescue as many people as possible.

For the 20th year we will pay homage and respect to the fallen who were murdered by Muslim extremist terrorists on that clear, crisp, Tuesday morning when the screaming airplanes permeated the sunshine, penetrated their steel and glass targets, plunging the world into darkness and chaos. 

A brief timeline of the harrowing and disturbing events of September 11, 2001:

Between 7:59 AM and 8:42 AM four flights take off from Boston’s Logan, Washington’s Dulles, and Newark airports, each headed for Los Angeles except the Newark flight, headed to San Francisco.

8:46 AM: American Airlines flight #11 is flown into #1 World Trade Center - the North Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the 11 crew, 76 passengers and hundreds inside the tower instantly. 

9:03 AM: United Airlines flight #175 is flown into #2 World Trade Center - the South Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the nine crew, 51 passengers, and hundreds inside the tower instantly. 

9:05 AM: President George W. Bush is alerted to what is now believed to be terrorist attacks. “Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” said Bush.

9:37 AM: American Airlines flight #77 is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the six crew, 53 passengers, as well as 125 military and civilian personnel on the ground. 

9:59 AM: The South Tower collapses in 10 seconds after burning 56 minutes. More than 800 civilians and first responders are murdered. 

10:03 AM: United Airlines flight #93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, PA when passengers and crew storm the cockpit. There are no survivors of the seven crew and 33 passengers due to the murderous plot by the four Muslim extremist hijackers. Flight #93 was 20 minutes from Washington, DC where the White House and/or the Capitol Building were the presumed targets. This is an example of heroism, knowingly sacrificing their lives in an effort to prevent thousands more from perishing had that plane reached its intended target.

10:15 AM: The damaged section of the Pentagon E-Ring collapses.

10:28 AM: The North Tower collapses after burning 102 minutes. More than 1,600 civilians and first responders are murdered. 

5:20 PM: World Trade Center #7 collapses. The 47 story building had already been evacuated and no fatalities are reported.

8:30 PM: President George W. Bush addresses the nation.

May the memories of the 2,977 murdered on September 11, 2001 always be for a blessing.

U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), a Green Beret and Afghan War veteran, said “America is less safe and in a worse position than in 2001.” The US has no bases in the region, now that Biden surrendered Bagram Air Base to the Taliban. Does that make the United States any safer? 

There is not one single country surrounding Afghanistan that will allow the United States to base there or conduct intel ops. Afghanistan, population about 38 million, is surrounded by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north, Pakistan to the east and south, and Iran to the west, is roughly the size of Texas. 

Biden, and his foreign policy team of Keystone Cops, who should all be standing in the unemployment line, conducted his entire evacuation backwards. Biden was pulling troops out of Afghanistan before all Americans and SIV (Special Immigrant Visas) holders could be extracted. Biden left more than $80 billion worth of American military and technological equipment behind, abandoned the base at Agram, and surrendered the country to the Taliban - an unmitigated embarrassment. Does that make the United States any safer?

The strategy that should have been implemented, and what President Donald Trump and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) declared they would have enacted, and what makes the most sense, was to extract all Americans and qualified allies first, demilitarize or destroy equipment unable to be removed, bomb your own bases, THEN the military turns out the lights and gets the hell out of Dodge.

As that order was not followed, when the last five American military planes took off from the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul on August 30, on orders from Washington, DC, some Americans and Afghan allied translators holding SIV were left behind. No additional Americans were on board any of those last five planes. Those left behind are in grave danger, as the Taliban possesses American biometric scanners, able to identify people via eyescans. Taliban terrorists are going door to door looking for Americans and their Afghan allies, and not because they are looking to take up a game of cricket. A young Afghan girl not wearing a head covering was shot and a popular Afghan folk singer was murdered for playing music. More senseless death. Pray for the women, children, teachers, and journalists that remain in Afghanistan. Does that make the United States any safer?

Ultimately, the government of the United States handed Afghanistan back to the same terror group that controlled the country on September 11, 2001 - the Taliban. It will once again become a breeding ground for al-Qaeda, ISIS-K, and Taliban terrorists. While the war in Afghanistan may be over, the war on terror most assuredly is not. The sleeper cells are awakening. With the porous southern border of the United States, not expecting terror activity in the United States would be naive. That said, our American troops fought valiantly and served honorably; it was the United States government that did not leave Afghanistan with honor. It is shameful that anyone has been left behind. Does that make the United States any safer?

The United States should take a long break from nation building and worry about fixing the myriad problems that have beset this country over the last several generations. Quite frankly, the U.S. should have left Afghanistan in 2011 following the long overdue killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Genuine infrastructure problems need solving - crumbling roads, bridges, dams, airports, getting internet access for all Americans. Many of these projects can and should be public-private partnerships. Breaking the grip by teachers unions over American public education must be a priority, as well as keeping CRT out of the classrooms. More charter, parochial, and private schools should be created to foster a system of competition forcing schools to improve or close. Competition - the spirit of American capitalism; capitalism - the spirit of American invention, freedom, growth, and progress.

On the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 the United States is at a crossroads, a tipping point. This is, as Ronald Reagan said in a great speech he gave in 1964, “A Time for Choosing.” Will we allow the woke anti-American Americans to turn the United States into a socialist country with a loss of the freedoms found in the Constitution - speech, religion, assembly, the right to defend oneself and one’s property? Will we continue to bow to the woke tech-corporate-media triumvirate of evil, or will we finally stand up, speak up, take back our rights, take back our country and retain our G-d given freedoms and tell the woke that they don’t speak for real Americans. Am I the only one wishing for the return to the civility that was September 12, 2001 (minus the death and destruction)? This is a time for choosing, and I choose freedom. There is a growing band of Cubans and Hong Kongers who have that spirit that once reigned in the United States. It’s time we choose to recapture that spirit and those freedoms. May G-d continue to bless these United States of America.

One of my favorite Ronald Reagan quotes is aptly appropriate here. “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it, and then hand it to them with the well fought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same. And if you and I don’t do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.”

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He grew up in northern New Jersey in the shadow of the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, he was writing for a newspaper in northern Virginia, 10 minutes from the Pentagon.

A 9/11 Compendium: 2001-2020

A 9/11 Compendium: 2001-2020
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
August 30, 2021

September 11-12, 2001 America at War
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/1376003781830077428

September 5, 2002 One Year Later
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/3400231616882251322

September 7, 2007 9/11 Six Years Later
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/4096331614366856295

September 7, 2009 Remember the Fallen, Forget the Politics
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/7881998122050008192

August 16, 2010 Zero Mosque: Legal: Yes; Moral: Never
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/4473286323620093425

September 1, 2011 Reflections on September 11, 2001
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/5377223110677195235

September 2, 2011 Whitewashing 9-11
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/1835794043925201135

September 3, 2012 Eleven Years Ago
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/163164185553538875

September 6, 2013 One Date, Two Tragedies
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/1668016745439715483

September 11, 2014 9-11: Looking Back; Looking Ahead
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/9053459989818885779

September 9. 2015 Another 9-11: Vigilance or Venality?
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/347974593638085036

September 8, 2016 9-11’s Kindergartners Vote for President
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/6134530341432004534

September 8, 2017 Not a Sweet 16
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/2521301323072068210

September 9, 2018 September 11 - What Real Sacrifice Looks Like
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/7867626707400850871

September 8, 2019 9/11 Ancient History to Millennials 
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/3537121818366787702

September 4, 2020 9-11 In the Age of Covid
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4560465072711180606/4643914489296163581

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. Growing up in the shadows of the World Trade Center in northern New Jersey, on September 11, 2001 he worked for a northern Virginia newspaper a mere 10 minutes from the Pentagon.

9-11 In the Age of Covid

9-11 In the Age of Covid
Commentary  by Sanford D. Horn
September 4, 2020

For the 19th year we will pay homage and respect to the fallen who were murdered by Muslim extremist terrorists on that clear, crisp, Tuesday morning when the screaming airplanes permeated the sunshine, penetrated their steel and glass targets, plunging the world into darkness and chaos. 

The darkness is one from which we have still not yet fully recovered. There is a new brand of chaos under which we are imprisoned, also courtesy of another enemy of the United States - the Communist Party of China, and that chaos is Covid-19 or the Coronavirus.

Normally my 9-11 columns typically tend to stray from politics, as for one brief moment in time the country was united, giving truth to our name - the UNITED States of America. We were united because we had a common enemy - terrorists who hijacked four planes with the purpose of inflicting as much human carnage, physical destruction, and psychological damage to the people and places of these United States.

A brief timeline of the harrowing events of September 11, 2001:

Between 7:59 AM and 8:42 AM four flights take off from Boston’s Logan, Washington’s Dulles, and Newark airports, each headed for Los Angeles except the Newark flight, headed to San Francisco.

8:46 AM: American Airlines flight #11 is flown into #1 World Trade Center - the North Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the 11 crew, 76 passengers and hundreds inside the tower instantly. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.

9:03 AM: United Airlines flight #175 is flown into #2 World Trade Center - the South Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the nine crew, 51 passengers, and hundreds inside the tower instantly. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.

9:05 AM: President George W. Bush is alerted to what is now believed to be terrorist attacks. “Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” said Bush.

9:37 AM: American Airlines flight #77 is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the six crew, 53 passengers, as well as 125 military and civilian personnel on the ground. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.

9:59 AM: The South Tower collapses in 10 seconds after burning 56 minutes. More than 800 civilians and first responders are murdered. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.

10:03 AM: United Airlines flight #93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, PA when passengers and crew storm the cockpit. There are no survivors of the seven crew and 33 passengers due to the murderous plot by the four Muslim extremist hijackers. Flight #93 was 20 minutes from Washington, DC where the White House and/or the Capitol Building were the presumed targets. This is an example of intended sacrifice - heroism, in fact, knowingly sacrificing their lives in an effort to prevent thousands more from perishing should that plane had reached its intended target.

10:15 AM: The damaged section of the Pentagon E-Ring collapses.

10:28 AM: The North Tower collapses after burning 102 minutes. More than 1,600 civilians and first responders are murdered. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.

5:20 PM: World Trade Center #7 collapses. The 47 story building had already been evacuated and no fatalities are reported.

8:30 PM: President George W. Bush addresses the nation.

Clearly the Muslim-extremist terrorists did not discriminate on September 11, 2001, nor have they done so since in their various formations. All freedom loving people must be vigilant at all times. The international terrorist, the domestic terrorist, and yes, even the politicians who call for the shrinking of the American military, the ceding of borders, and the adoption of socialism must not be allowed to garner or maintain a foothold in the fabric of America or in any elected office, locally, statewide, or federally.

In 2001, the terrorists hated us then as they still do now, for our freedoms and liberty. For our equality amongst people regardless of their race, religion, or creed. Now in 2020, we are being terrorized by the Covid pandemic that has crippled the economy, the educational system, people’s non-Covid related health, and common sense, while China thrives.

This is a pandemic for the ages, the likes of which has not been seen in a century. And it has been particularly political, mostly because there is a presidential election in fewer than eight weeks. Covid is driving the campaigns with as much force, and just as divisive, as the civil unrest that is destroying American city after city across the fruited plain. For the most part, liberal-Democrat governors and mayors seem more than a bit reticent to open their cities and states to commerce and classes, while conservative-Republican leaders were more eager to return to some sense of normalcy. Some of the more recalcitrant liberals have been New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, New Jersey Phil Murphy, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Some of the more forward thinking conservatives include Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Florida Governor Ron De Santis, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem - perhaps the boldest of any governor in the nation, not shutting down her state and with positive results. There is a clear divide here, those with elongated shutdowns, stifling economic regrowth, hoping to foster damaging statistics to hurt the president’s reelection chances, and those wishing to do right by their citizens - getting them back to work while still observing distancing with masks.

The continued shut down in New York will adversely affect the annual 9-11 ceremonies at Ground Zero. The six moments of silence and tolling of the bells at their assigned times will occur live on Friday, at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Reading the names of the victims of the terrorist attacks will not be conducted live. Instead a recording of prior years’ readings will be a woefully unacceptable substitute.

Masks and distancing can be observed for those who wish to participate and/or attend the ceremonies were they to be held as per usual. Name readers could easily be six feet apart or more at Memorial Plaza. Those who wish to attend for those readings could be admitted for each individual letter of the alphabet corresponding with a victim’s last name, with an entrance at one end of the plaza and an exit at the opposite end. I imagine few people would want to travel from out of town to attend this year and fewer still would attend due to their concern over Covid. It’s an outdoor event where distancing can be observed and masks worn.

The museum is currently closed, but will reopen on September 11 for victims’ families. It will reopen to the public on Saturday, September 12 with masks and distancing observed on both dates and forward. 

Even more incredulous, is the cancelation of the Tribute in Light - the illumination in the New York City skyline of the Twin Towers. The first such tribute was shone on March 11, 2002 - twin beams of spotlights high into the sky - visible for miles - representing the fallen towers. That tribute ran until April 14 of that year, located a block from Ground Zero, where workers continued removing rubble and carefully sifting through it in search of victims’ remains.

Disjointed ceremonies to be sure, courtesy of the Chinese Communist Party and their “gift” of Covid-19 on the 19th anniversary of the worst terrorist attacks in American history. Regardless, we must never forget those who were murdered on that fateful day - black, brown, red, white, yellow, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, male, female, gay, straight. All were victims - terrorists don’t discriminate, they exterminate. On September 11, and on every day, remember the freedoms Covid stole from us, freedoms the terrorists resented and performed dastardly deeds to forever change the landscape of not just the United States, but the world. May the memories of the murdered be for a Blessing and may G-d continue to Bless the United States of America.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He grew up in northern New Jersey in the shadow of the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, he was writing for a newspaper in northern Virginia, 10 minutes from the Pentagon.

9/11 Ancient History to Millennials

9/11 Ancient History to Millennials
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 8, 2019

The babies born in 2001, if they have not already, will turn 18 this year, thus making them eligible to vote. The catastrophic events of September 11, 2001 are literally a lifetime ago, and the United States has changed dramatically since that horrific day.

Those who suggest making political hay of 9/11 as inappropriate, are wrong. This is not about the 2020 presidential election or any specific candidate. This is about a philosophy - a philosophy that has been a success for 243 years and hopefully into the foreseeable future. Called the American Experiment, it is an experiment that, missteps, mistakes, and pitfalls notwithstanding, has been a grand success. After all, millions upon millions of people have arrived on our shores and crossed our borders - legally - from every corner of the globe. 

“America is a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere,” said President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) often, as he paraphrased John Winthrop (1588-1649).

People are literally dying to get into the United States. There are not scores and scores of people leaving or being denied the right to leave the United States. Who is attempting to sneak into Angola, Cuba, North Korea, or Venezuela? People are dying in their endeavor to escape those oppressive regimes.

This new crop of voters, these millennials, are knee-jerk quick to condemn and criticize their own nation, most often with precious little knowledge of the history of these United States. As an educator, it is demonstrably easy to attest to the sad notion that the teaching of American History in public schools has been watered down to sound bytes in an effort to indoctrinate this generation of students. They are taught the dark side of American History - which, make no mistake, must be taught. The teaching of any history must not be whitewashed. But for all its missteps, mistakes, and pitfalls, the United States of America has done infinitely more for the world than any other country on the planet, and continues to do so.

Slavery was an abomination. Interning more than 110,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II was reprehensible. But how many Americans of all races, creeds, colors, and faiths gave their lives so that others may enjoy the rich taste of freedom? How many Americans created and invented life saving tools, techniques, and drugs that are available around the world?

WE, all of America, all Americans were viciously attacked on September 11, 2001 because of our way of life, our history, our free and open society, our capitalism, our democratic-republic form of government giving every American - black, brown, red, white, and yellow equal opportunity to make the most out of their lives.

While the pre-ordained intent of the 19 Islamic extremist terrorists became clear upon impact, and the loss of human life intentional - male and female, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim, the nearly 3,000 slaughtered became the first casualties of the current war on terrorism.

A brief timeline of the harrowing events of September 11, 2001:

Between 7:59 AM and 8:42 AM four flights take off from Boston’s Logan, Washington’s Dulles, and Newark airports, each headed for Los Angeles except the Newark flight, headed to San Francisco.

8:46 AM: American Airlines flight #11 is flown into #1 World Trade Center - the North Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the 11 crew, 76 passengers and hundreds inside the tower instantly. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.

9:03 AM: United Airlines flight #175 is flown into #2 World Trade Center - the South Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the nine crew, 51 passengers, and hundreds inside the tower instantly. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.

9:05 AM: President George W. Bush is alerted to what is now believed to be terrorist attacks. “Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” said Bush.

9:37 AM: American Airlines flight #77 is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the six crew, 53 passengers, as well as 125 military and civilian personnel on the ground. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.

9:59 AM: The South Tower collapses in 10 seconds after burning 56 minutes. More than 800 civilians and first responders are murdered. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.

10:03 AM: United Airlines flight #93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, PA when passengers and crew storm the cockpit. There are no survivors of the seven crew and 33 passengers due to the murderous plot by the four Muslim extremist hijackers. Flight #93 was 20 minutes from Washington, DC where the White House and/or the Capitol Building were the presumed targets. This is an example of intended sacrifice - heroism, in fact, knowingly sacrificing their lives in an effort to prevent thousands more from perishing should that plane had reached its intended target.

10:15 AM: The damaged section of the Pentagon E-Ring collapses.

10:28 AM: The North Tower collapses after burning 102 minutes. More than 1,600 civilians and first responders are murdered. This is an example of unintended, yet real sacrifice.

5:20 PM: World Trade Center #7 collapses. The 47 story building had already been evacuated and no fatalities are reported.

8:30 PM: President George W. Bush addresses the nation.

Clearly the Muslim-extremist terrorists did not discriminate on September 11, 2001, nor have they done so since in their various formations. All freedom loving people must be vigilant at all times. The international terrorist, the domestic terrorist, and yes, even the politicians who call for the shrinking of the American military, the ceding of borders, and the adoption of socialism must not be allowed to garner or maintain a foothold in the fabric of America or in any elected office, locally, statewide, or federally.

Socialism has never succeeded - it has a 100 percent failure rate - there can be no more damning a statistic. The inculcation of socialism will tax this nation out of existence, into bankruptcy, and with it the inability to continue to do the good the United  States does around the globe. Listen to the unrealistic plans and claims being made by the myriad candidates - in their own words - extolling the virtues of government running (and ultimately ruining) virtually every aspect of our lives. Government run health care? The government can’t even take care of the veterans, who deserve so much more from this country. Imagine government attempting to mete out health care for roughly 320 million Americans, and countless illegal aliens, to whom free health care has been promised.

Is socialism what the Founding Fathers fought, and in some cases, died for? Hell no! Read the Preamble to the United States Constitution, where it calls for the “form[ation of] a more perfect union.” The Founders, for all their intelligence, knew this new nation was not perfect upon its founding. It took a Bill of Rights and 17 additional amendments to straighten out many of the ills plaguing this still great nation. And the works continue to this day - today, tomorrow, next year, next decade, next century as we the people make this a more perfect union.

“It can be done,” was the four word phrase President Ronald Reagan kept on his desk in the Oval Office. Reagan also reminded the American people that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”

However, if the nation remains divided, if indoctrination of our children continues in the public schools and on the college campuses, if sanctuary cities continue to protect criminal illegal aliens, if abortion on demand including infanticide continue to exist, if G-dlessness continues to expand while attendance in churches and synagogues continues to contract then surely we shall cause our own demise as a nation.

President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was a visionary beyond reason. “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed itself,” he brilliantly said.

It is up to we the people to fight to prevent Lincoln’s prophecy from becoming reality. Heed Reagan on freedom. Read the great documents of America’s founding. Read, learn, and understand American history. If condemnation and hatred is all you have for the United States; if the American flag and the Star Spangled Banner offends you, feel free to take your leave from this great nation at any time. Ensure that the nearly 3,000 men, women, and children who became the first casualties in the war on terrorism did not die in vain. Make America for Americans - from wherever they have come.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He grew up in northern New Jersey in the shadow of the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, he was writing for a newspaper in northern Virginia, 10 minutes from the Pentagon.

9-11's Kindergartners Vote for President

9-11’s Kindergartners Vote for President

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

September 8, 2016

On that fateful day 15 years ago, while President George W. Bush was reading the short story, The Pet Goat to a class of second graders at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, we all remember vividly what we were doing when the peaceful calm serenity of that bright sunny Tuesday morning was infiltrated by terror.

I was at home in Virginia completing my news articles for that week’s local newspaper for which I was a journalist. Sitting at my computer, as I am today, no longer in Virginia, yet the memories are as clear as though the air had been permeated with evil today, not 15 years ago. While putting the finishing touches on my assignments, Fox News on television in the background as per usual, the first report came in.

-       8:46 AM: American Airlines Flight #11 crashes into the North Tower (1 WTC) at the World Trade Center, New York City – followed by

-       9:03 AM: United Airlines Flight #175 crashes into the South Tower (2 WTC) at the World Trade Center, New York City

-       9:37 AM: American Airlines Flight #77 crashes into the western side of the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia

-       9:59 AM: South Tower collapses

-       10:03 AM: United Airlines Flight #93 crashes into a field, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Somerset County; alleged target: Capitol Building or White House

-       10:28 AM: North Tower collapses

-       10:53 AM: New York primary elections cancelled

-       5:20 PM: 47 story #7 World Trade Center collapses; #4, 5, and 6 WTC also ablaze

These heinous, unforgivable terrorist attacks were perpetrated by radical Muslim extremists who skyjacked the planes – of that there is no doubt.

While I have attempted, over the years, to avoid turning my 9-11 columns into political pabulum, this year there is too much as at stake on November 8 as we cast our next vote for president. Without hyperbole, I truly believe this election is the most important to the nation since 1860 when Abraham Lincoln handily defeated a triumvirate of opponents, John Bell, John Breckinridge, and Stephen Douglas.

In 1860 the United States was a nation divided over the issue of slavery and states’ rights, which led to a country illegally split into two. This year, 156 years later, this nation is once again divided – divided by a generation of entitled, politically correct, sniveling whiners who think the world is their oyster, so long as government pick up the tab. These are people brainwashed by a liberal public education system that does not support school choice who believe socialism is the answer, not capitalism. Let these poorly educated neophytes spend some time in Venezuela to see how real socialism is faring. Extreme shortages of food, toilet paper, and jobs have a nation in dire straits because of a totalitarian dictator attempting to cut his country off from the world. Any worse and Venezuela becomes Cuba or North Korea. Is this the socialism for which Generation Pinhead is clamoring?

When the 9-11 kindergartners, now 20-21 years of age, take to the polls this November, they will be casting their first vote for president.

This current crop of first time voters need be reminded of Ronald Reagan’s clarion call, where he prophetically warned the following:

            “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t             pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and           handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years     telling our children and our children’s children what is was once like in the United   States where men were free.”

The PC and thought police already run the public schools as well as the college and university campuses. Free speech zones really mean speech is limited to only certain areas as was demonstrated at Clemson University when barring a student from praying in public. The University of Houston is another prime example of the squelching of the First Amendment. (http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2016/09/cougars-cage-free-speech-at-uh.html)

Freedom is the ability to speak one’s mind – verbally, in writing, but without fear of recriminations or a possible job loss. One does not have the right to not be insulted or presented with uncomfortable issues. Practically anything someone says or writes is bound to upset or offend someone. This country must return to the days when “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it,” meant something. Instead, there are shrinking violets taking cover in the nearest campus safe space or seeking their next trigger warning because their precious sensibilities can’t handle disagreeable thoughts or statements.

That is not how the real world works. For those who complain that Donald Trump is mean or harsh sounding in his speech, just remember we are not voting for Miss Congeniality, but instead, the leader of the free world. A leader who will have to face off with terrorists and is not afraid to identify the enemy for what they are – radical Islamist extremists – the same radicals who murdered nearly 3,000 on that fateful day 15 years ago. Trump will stand up to the terrorists, not cow-tow to them by paying ransom for kidnapped Americans who are in greater danger during the Obama administration than they were under the Bush administration.

For all his pitfalls and foibles, George W. Bush kept this nation safe following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Sadly, the same cannot be said of the current administration. Instead, the United States has a weak-kneed so-called leader who calls what he does, leading from behind. That is not actually leading, Mr. Obama. Myriad terrorist attacks on and away from American soil have darkened far too many days because our enemies don’t fear the United States and our allies are unable to rely upon us. Exhibit Boston, Chattanooga, Dallas, Fort Hood (II), Orlando, San Bernardino at home; and Brussels, Istanbul, Munich, Nice, Normandy, Paris globally.

Hillary Clinton, the Democrats standard bearer who is unable to even utter the name of the enemy, promises to bring much of the same. She has spent decades in public life congenitally lying to the American people and lying under oath regarding her ability to uphold national security. “You clearly corrupted our national security,” said one Navy veteran to Clinton during an event hosted by Matt Lauer.

This September 11 while we mourn the past, and rightfully so – take time to watch the reading of the names from New York City – lest we forget the men and women who were needlessly slaughtered – civilians as well as the brave first responders, let’s also look toward the future with an eye to the past. Take notice of the new World Trade Center and what it represents – that Americans and America may get knocked to the canvas, but we should never be counted out. We will rise up stronger, smarter, and with the right leadership make America great again.

Yes, that is the slogan of one of the candidates for president, but it is also a nod to the future and not a return to the past. A future where the United States regains its rightful place in the world – and yes, it is rightful when the US bails out country after country for their troubles, be they geo-political or weather related, such as earthquakes and tsunamis. It is rightful when the United States sets the standard regarding the rights of women, minorities, people of various lifestyles and religions. Is the United States perfect? Certainly not. Yet people are risking their very existence to live in this country – even illegally – which is being addressed thanks to the same aforementioned candidate.

Are people risking their lives to sneak into Cuba? How about North Korea? While we work to improve the greatness of this country, we should also express our gratitude for the privilege of living in these United States and not act like spoiled malcontents. (http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2016/09/kaepernick-sitting-stands-for-disrespect.html)

This September 11 remember the past, but ask yourselves what kind of future do you want for America, for your children, for your children’s children, and for the myriad generations that follow?

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Another 9-11: Vigilance or Venality

Another 9-11: Vigilance or Venality?

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

September 9, 2015

Another September 11 is upon us and while the memories fade farther into the sunset, the United States finds itself in a more perilous predicament than on that fateful sunny Tuesday morning in 2001. On that date radical Muslim terrorists flew planes into both towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, and into a field in Shanksville, PA headed for Washington, DC murdering nearly 3,000 innocent people.

Since that date there have been thousands of terrorist attacks committed by Muslim extremists, punctuated by those in London, Madrid, Bali, and Benghazi, yet more and more people in the government of the United States can’t bring themselves to utter the words Islamic extremists, radical Muslims, or any other form of accurate verbiage describing the myriad acts perpetrated by a people hell bent on the destruction of Israel, the United States, and Western Civilization.

Since that date al-Qaeda continues to flex its muscles, as have Boko Haram, Hamas, Hezbollah, and if those terror organizations aren’t enough of a threat, ISIS or ISIL is demonstrative of new and improved ways to torture, murder, and destroy. This is the same ISIS Barack Obama ignorantly and lightly dismissed as a “JV team.” Well, Mr. Obama, that so-called JV team is committing mayhem and chaos on a major league scale with headless Christian, Jewish, and even Muslim bodies strewn across the countryside of far too many locales.

And while terror is on the rise, the United States is under the thumb of a narcissistic so-called leader who has drawn down the size of military – a military that should be the largest on the planet to remind the world of Ronald Reagan’s call for “peace through strength.” Instead, there is the feckless call for “leading from behind,” a deleterious theory only putting the United States in greater jeopardy.

The United States lacks vigilance both abroad and on the domestic front. The bridge connecting the two is the lack of a strong policy regarding immigration – both legal and illegal. Sleeper cells are awakening in the United States, many of which are populated not just by illegal aliens slipping across the southern border, but countless thousands overstaying visas – visas legally obtained due to a pathetic system too afraid to tell people from enemy nations they are not permitted entry into this country.

For more on the insane situation that is the ongoing spate of illegal aliens, please read the following:

http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2015/07/san-francisco-is-no-treat.html

http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2015/02/fund-homeland-security-not-illegals.html

http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2014/12/illegal-still-means-breaking-law.html

http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-southern-border.html

(Once a flat or fair tax system is enacted to replace the mess that is the IRS, the money saved by eliminating those jobs can be used to hire more people to make more sound judgment regarding who should be allowed entry into the United States and be able to follow up on all visas prior to expiration.) A strict immigration policy must not only be enacted, but adhered to with harsh penalties. The United States may be a land of immigrants, and have an open door, but the United States must no longer be the doormat of the world.

A nation of political correctness in government, the public square, and the public schools is destroying itself from within faster than we can save it. More and more people are thinking it is acceptable to have fewer freedoms and more censorship in media and everyday language – especially in the halls of academia.

Places like at Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, where Deepa Kumar, a professor of media studies, born in India, has said “the United States is more brutal than ISIS.” Kumar was the leading proponent against having former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as the commencement speaker at Rutgers, who kow-towed to Kumar and her ilk. Apparently liberal tolerance stops with conservatives permitted to speak at a public university.

This will only weaken the United States. The answer to speech with which one disagrees, is not less speech, but more speech. The preservation of the First Amendment to the Constitution is imperative for the preservation of the American way of life. We are not China, Cuba, Iran, or Russia.

It is the left in the United States seeking to shrink the First Amendment, shrink the military, eliminate the Second Amendment, and pray the police, which they march in protest against, will protect us while they call for more police firings or even deaths. I should backtrack, I said the left would “pray the police…” – how silly, the left doesn’t pray – it is their lack of prayer that allowed for condoms in the schools, abortion on demand, but mention G-d anywhere, and there is holy hell to pay.

The recent Planned Parenthood expose detailing their selling of baby body parts is as barbaric as the terrorist activities overseas. For more on that issue, please see: http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2015/07/planned-parenthood-americas-isis.html.

The United States is aiding in its own downfall. Terrorists and illegals are using our own laws against us and the United States is a laughing stock with the so-called feminist movement crying over insignificant issues while a genuine war on women is being perpetrated overseas on a mass scale. While a handful of women want to parade around topless and call it an injustice that they can’t, a real war on women exists in Muslim countries where rape victims are stoned to death under the charge of adultery.

And the supposed “champion” of women’s issues, one Hillary Clinton is raking in millions for the Clinton Foundation from countries whose treatment of women is abysmal at best, but hypocrite Hillary talks out of both sides of her mouth – telling potential voters she is for women, yet delivering speeches and profiting from Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

This is the same Hillary Clinton who has endorsed and supports the Obama deal with Iran that will allow them unfettered access to the materials to build nuclear weaponry, with virtually no true inspection systems in place, and with cash in the pockets of the Iranian despotic regime to the tune of $150 billion. This is the worst foreign policy deal in the world since Munich in 1938. Obama has done his best impression of Neville Chamberlain. For more on the disastrous Iran deal, please see: http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2015/08/schumer-must-whip-up-minyan.html.

There is no unity opposing a deal so weak one must wonder if those supporting it have forgotten the severity of September 11, 2001. While Iran was not the perpetrator behind the devastation that shocked the world 14 years ago, it vows to execute damage infinitely worse once it becomes a nuclear power, the keys to which are being handed to them by the Obama administration. Without nuclear power Iran is already the chief state sponsor of terror funding terrorist activities in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

So venal are the supporters of this deal, they put party over country, and legacy over security. For all of its faults and foibles, the United States is still the greatest country in the world. People are forever attempting to make this country their home, not escape it. It is incumbent upon the decent citizens of the United States to strengthen our resolve to ensure the future of this nation is one where people are free to speak their minds without fear of retribution, where the rule of law is respected, where an American education actually benefits its recipients in the competitive real world of law, medicine, technology, communications, engineering, architecture, literature, and education itself.

We are at a crossroads in the United States. It is time to take back our country before it becomes another Sodom and Gomorrah. Let not the sacrifice of those who died making the United States what it once was be lost, and let not those 2,977 souls who perished on September 11, 2001 have died in vain.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living on Westfield, IN. On September 11, 2001 he was working for a newspaper in Northern Virginia and was 10 minutes from the Pentagon on that fateful day.

9/11: Looking Back; Looking Ahead

9/11: Looking Back; Looking Ahead

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

September 11, 2014

On the anniversary of 9-11 we the American people find ourselves in a more precarious state than at any time since Barack Obama took office in 2009. Six years into his administration, there are more threats against American citizens and America as a whole from an increasing number of terrorist groups, more conflagrations around the globe; yet fewer solutions, and less demonstrable strength putting Americans and America in harm’s way.

There is a sad irony that Obama, after months, even more than a year, of dithering, hand wringing, and feigning concern seems to be heading back to Iraq after spending the entire 2012 campaign bragging to anyone who would listen that he ended the war in Iraq.

The irony is that his predecessor in the White House, George W. Bush was prophetic with his words on July 12, 2007. Bush said that leaving Iraq at that juncture would lead to losing Iraq to al-Qaeda and eventually they would confront an enemy more dangerous – enter ISIS/ISIL. (See http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2014/09/this-is-war-mr-obama.html “This is War, Mr. Obama”)

Bush led by actually leading, springing into action from day one while the horrific events of September 11, 2001 unfolded as 2,983 innocent people were murdered. Airplanes, hijacked by Muslim terrorists, were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, and a field in Shanksville, PA presumably headed for either the White House or the Capitol Building.

Yet, the fecklessness by which Obama operates has created an environment of many Americans – 45 percent – feeling less safe than before September 11, 2001. Coupled with an approval rating hovering around 30 percent, 60 percent of Americans support military action – air strikes at the very least – against ISIS as a matter of national security. Only 13 percent oppose any military action. Presumably they are spending more time at marijuana dispensaries in Colorado than anywhere else as destroying and eliminating ISIS/ISIL is a no-brainer after the beheadings of two American journalists, as well as the slaughter of countless Christians, children, and even Muslims.

While Americans and the United States as a whole rose like a phoenix under Bush, life under Obama has been a series of mixed messages, vainglorious behavior, and empty rhetoric. Such words were spoken on September 10, as Obama said “If you threaten America you will find no safe haven.” This from the same man who a week prior had no strategy for eviscerating ISIS/ISIL, saying they needed to be degraded and destroyed in one sentence, then said they needed to become a “manageable problem,” mere sentences later in the same speech. ISIS/ISIL is a terror network growing due to their ability to control and sell oil, bringing in millions of dollars. They are a cancer needing to be eradicated, not simply managed like unruly children in a classroom.

Obama appears more concerned about the Iraq-Syria border than the United States-Mexico border. Yet it his laissez-faire, open borders attitude making the latter more porous and of immediate issue to the American people – a people for whom Obama seems to have little regard as the floodgates remain open to any and all who are able to enter – including terrorists of the ISIS/ISIL, al-Qaeda, Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood variety. The borders should have been shut down like a maximum security prison, but both Bush and Obama failed miserably on that count for various reasons. (See http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-southern-border.html “What Southern Border?”)

Regardless, Obama seems hell-bent on defending Islam, as if the lessons of September 11 were not vivid enough to remain indelibly fixed into his memory. ISIS/ISIL is not Islamic, said Obama, adding that “no religion condones the killing of innocents; ISIL is not a state.” However, it is ISIL itself that takes pride in claiming it is Islamic and on a mission to create a worldwide caliphate. Obama still refuses to call the ongoing strife a war, as if not acknowledging it will somehow make it all go away. The only way for it to disappear is to destroy it wherever it exists – town by town, city by city, and nation by nation.

“Radical Islam is the enemy,” said Lt. Col. Oliver North.

So too is the political correctness that goes out of its way to not profile when profiling is one of the answers needed to limit the odds of the next 9-11. The enemy need only be accurate once, while the powers that be in the United States must be right 100 percent of the time. See also the failures involved in the catastrophe in Benghazi on this the second anniversary of the murder of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Air Force veteran Sean Smith and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods. (See http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2012/09/obama-finally-calls-terror-attacks.html “Obama Finally Calls Terror Attacks Terror”)

Looking ahead, Obama insists there will be a large coalition of nations to fight ISIS/ISIL, yet to date there are nine countries willing to join the United States. Compare to the 37 nations during the Bush administration aligned to fight the ongoing war on terror. Bush did not mince words and our allies knew where they stood – with the United States because Bush regarded them appropriately. Obama, conversely, has treated allies with disdain and open hostility while literally bowing to our enemies, thus proving he cannot be counted upon during this or a future crisis.

Never forget the real lessons of September 11, 2001. Remain ever vigilant. Teach the children the truth.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

One Date, Two Tragedies

One Date, Two Tragedies
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 6, 2013

This year September 11 has more significance than in previous years and for several reasons. Of course this is the 12^th year we commemorate and memorialize the terrorist attacks on American soil in New York City, Arlington, VA, and Shanksville, PA where 2,996 Americans were slaughtered by Muslim extremists who hijacked airplanes and used them as murder weapons.

This is also the first anniversary of the murders in Benghazi, Libya of US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, US Foreign Service officer Sean Smith, as well as Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, also by Muslim extremists.

Having grown up in the shadows of the Twin Towers, as well as living and working minutes from the Pentagon on that once beautifully sunny Tuesday morning turned fateful and tragic, the events of that day are indelibly seared into my memory and psyche.

While listening to the roll call of the names of the victims read each year at the site of the World Trade Center, remember also, those four men on the job in Benghazi murdered by Islamo-terrorists. The men, women, and children slaughtered 12 years ago and just last year were murdered by Muslim extremist terrorists in the name of a supposed religion of peace, yet proven to be anything but by the perpetrators.

This year, as Syria is boiling over, while Iran continues striving toward nuclear capabilities, while Muslim extremism continues its perpetual reign of terror both in and out of the Middle East, peace is still the goal. Peace cannot be achieved via acquiescence or weak-kneed threats lacking backbone and follow through.

On this September 11, there is a juxtaposition between war and peace as this year’s observance falls during the Days of Awe, between the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). While we pray for peace, there is also an understanding that war, however unpleasant, is sometimes necessary.

In the prayer book for the High Holy Days there is “A Prayer for Our Country” in which we recite “May this country forever be the land of the free, where all may dwell in security and peace.”

There is also “A Prayer for Peace.” In it we recite, “I will bring peace to the land, and you shall lie down and no one shall terrify you. I will rid the land of vicious beasts and it shall not be ravaged by war.”

Pray for peace, but remember that G-d helps those who help themselves. Meaning, we must, at times, fight to retain our way of life and to live in peace.

America is viewed as weak on the global stage today, as it was in 1979-80 when 52 Americans languished in an Iranian hellhole for 444 days. It was no coincidence those hostages were released the day Ronald Reagan took the oath of office, becoming the 40^th president of the United States on January 20, 1981. Iran feared the United States. Both Reagan and Obama, in their own ways, proved it is better to be feared than loved.

There has not been peace under Obama. With Reagan there was “peace through strength.” Pray for peace. Remember the fallen – both from 12 years ago, as well as last year. Work and strive to keep the United States of America “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. On September 11, 2001 he was writing for a newspaper in Northern Virginia.

Eleven Years Ago

Eleven Years Ago
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 3, 2012

Eleven years ago today, our world as we knew it changed interminably.

Wherever Americans around the globe were located they suddenly had a heightened sense of who they were as individuals, as countrymen and as proud patriots. Our only concerns were whether or not our families and loved ones were safe – especially for those of us living within the sights and sounds of Ground Zero – either of them.

Nothing else mattered – not politics, not sports – all seemed so insignificant while our realities seemed so surreal. However, attending the first Orioles home game after the resumption of baseball on September 21 proved otherwise as halfway through the National Anthem I began to cry like a baby, and I know I wasn’t alone.

Having grown up in north Jersey, with parents, sadly both Blessed memories, still living there, contact was vital. I was living in Northern Virginia, about 10 miles from the Pentagon, working as local newspaper reporter on a deadline that fateful Tuesday. We were able to appraise each other as to our whereabouts and safety, but so many others we knew were not as fortunate.

Once the beautiful, crisp morning air and blue skies were permeated by the evils of al-Qaeda in New York City, Arlington, VA and Shanksville, PA, all stories and deadlines were shelved in favor of the biggest breaking news since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The entire newspaper staff was dispatched to as many communities in Northern Virginia as possible to cover the horrific terrorist attacks of that morning. A new day had dawned.

In fact, a new era had dawned – one that includes gropings at airports, stadiums and any other large populated venue; the surrendering of privacy rights and potentially freedoms in favor of political correctness because we don’t want to seem insensitive to other groups.

Yet, while life has gone blithely on as we distance ourselves further and further from September 11, 2001, and the restrictions on our freedoms become more of an inconvenience and not a violation of the Constitution, it becomes easier for the government to dictate our lives. This we must fight as though our very existence as a free people depends upon it, because, well, it does.

“Those that would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither,” said a prophetic Benjamin Franklin.

Never forget what happened that innocent Tuesday morning 11 years ago. Our collective national strength rose up from those ashes like that of the Phoenix, and their deaths shall not have been in vain.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.