EPIC FAIL

Sept. 11, 2011 has come and gone. This weekend was marked with memorial events at the sites of the attacks. There were rousing speeches, heartfelt songs and people trading "where were you when it hit?" stories. There was wall to wall coverage of the events on the news channels, documentaries on the learning channels. Social media reflected a wide array of emotions in the modern age way of expressing one's feelings. Attendance at area churches was markedly up Sunday. Children too young to remember that fateful day asked questions and tried to understand.

So while this was a day to reflect and remember, it is also important to note that it was kind of a normal weekend. Football games were well attended and widely viewed. The Braves got swept, nothing particularly unusual about that here recently. Early afternoon business at local restaurants was brisk. The smell of grilled meat wafted through the neighborhood. Kids jumped on trampolines or tossed the ball, without a care in the world.

I wonder how Osama Bin Laden envisioned America 10 years after the fact. Did he really think that if he knocked our country to it's knees with a blindside punch we would just stay down? Did he think our people would cower, flee from the danger he presented? In his mind, was Sept. 11, 2011 going to be marked as some kind of celebration of his victory over America? 

Deep down in his little terrorist heart, did he really think he was going to win?

Well, he didn't. From that day forward, his days were numbered and he knew it. He spent the rest of his life hiding in some filthy, run down house on the outskirts of nowhere. I hope he had a working TV in that old dump he was cowering in, so he could see while he did in fact get our attention, life went on here in the U.S.A. 

I hope he caught the 24/7 news channels, so he could see our system of government was still intact and our military strong. When our President stood atop the rubble and boldly declared that he would be hunted down, I have no doubt he heard that loud and clear. When President Bush stood on the mound at Yankee Stadium and threw the first pitch, he signaled so much more than just the beginning of a baseball game. He was heralding in the new normal. He was telling Bin Laden that not only did he fail to destroy our nation, he didn't so much as disrupt the playoffs. It was a great moment in American history. I really hope Osama saw that.

I hope they got ESPN over there too, so he could see that every day in America, stadiums were full of fans who are unafraid to congregate in large numbers to root for their favorite teams. I can imagine he just stood there scratching his beard during the 2002 Superbowl. I hope he got a migraine trying to figure out why Americans were watching football, instead of weeping in the streets or peeking out from underground bunkers.

I do know that he met his end in a fitting manner, on the business end of an American made M-16. As his life was flashing before his eyes, I like to think that the final frame of the montage was nothing more than two words. The only two words for it.

EPIC. FAIL.

God Bless America. Go Dawgs.  Never Forget the victims and heroes of Sept. 11, 2001.

Dedicated to the memories of those who lost their lives that day, and to those left to carry on.