September 12, 2006, here on slacktivist: Fear itself
One place where FDR’s spirit — “nothing to fear but fear itself” — seems to live on is in New York City, home to ground zero itself. New Yorkers — those actually, personally, physically affected by the Sept. 11 attacks — haven’t confused vigilance with fear, they’ve simply gotten back to the business of being New Yorkers. (“There are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn’t advise you to try to invade …”) They’ve had to endure the president’s reluctance to fulfill his promise of financial aid. They’ve had to endure the lies from their government about the safety of the poisoned air they breathe. And they’ve had to endure five years of lectures from red-staters thousands of miles removed from ground zero about how their refusal to vote for George W. Bush demonstrates that they don’t “get” the “meaning” of 9/11 as deeply as do the terrified masses in middle America.
Al-Qaida hit New York City with its very best shot and New York is still standing. For those keeping score at home that’s NY, 1; AQ, 0. Game over.
But the score reads differently in the rest of the country, in places far from the destruction of ground zero al-Qaida scored big and continues to score. Credit the Bush administration with the assist.
Both intend to influence an audience. Both want to keep us so scared we can’t think straight. But neither has the power to take that which we refuse to willingly surrender. We have nothing to fear but fear itself.
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