Hopefully IMHO is the right place for this.
George Pataki says, about September 11: “I think the most important thing is we are never going to forget.”
In all seriousness, I ask: what are we never going to forget? Obviously, Pataki doesn’t mean that we are simply not going to forget that the attacks occured. He’s talking about something else. But what? And why?
When you find out, let me know here.
I can’t help but think that it’s a really deep sound bite being thrown around by people who don’t really know what it means.
On the other hand, you could consider that day an object lesson in the fact that religious extremism is the most dangerous thing in this world.
It’s one of those things that really means nothing and can be interpreted by anyone to mean whatever they want it to, hence its … well, I’m not sure charm is the right word considering some of the things its being trumpeted for, but I suppose it’ll do.
Remember the Maine! Remember the Alamo! Never forget!
Shut up!
It’s always seemed to me an ignorant misappropriation of “Lest we forget”, familiar from Armistice and Remembrance Day ceremonies for most of this century.
Why not think of it as an echo of that, rather than seeing it so negatively?
How about this - Never forget there are people who are planning to repeat that a thousand times over.
How about “Never forget that Saddam Hussein and the people of Iraq had nothing to do with the events of 9/11. Evil elected officials have led us to a situation where innocents have been slaughtered to avenge the deaths of other innocents.”
Today I woke up and forgot today was September 11. Shit, what do I do now?
Move to Cuba with Michael Moore, you dirty son of a bitch.
First of all, I don’t presume to know the thinking of Governor Pataki.
ultrafilter makes good points, particularly the latter.
Over thirty years ago, I became a firefighter, sponsored by the son of our only member to die in the line of duty. Having been to the Fallen Firefighters Memorial at the National Fire Academy in Emmittsburg, MD many times for training courses, I’m familiar with the flags that I’ve never seen at full staff, the bronze plaques bearing the names of men and women-some I knew, and many I did not.
Then there’s the big plaque-September 11th claimed more firefighters on one day than the three worst years put together since the NFPA and USFA began keeping statistics. Look at them-they are fathers, sons, neighbors, friends, lovers, husbands.
AFAIAK, save the political rhetoric. The engine companies, truckies, and officers who went in knew full well that the likelihood of out was dubious, at best. It didn’t matter if you were young or old, black or white, or any other division you care to offer. All of that nonsense goes aside when you depend on your partner to ‘crawl the hall’. I’m not leaving without you, and you’re not leaving without me.
What I remember on the anniversary is those I’ve buried, my badge taped with a black ribbon, the sound of the pipes, and the cameraderie of this business we call fire, for truly, we are our brother’s keepers.
I think that summed it up rather nicely, dwc.
Now, if people will just start telling me what exactly Freedom is under attack by and why it needs so much defending…
There’s nothing to know about Pataki with regard to this quote, it’s just a platitude. He’s gotten some more national prominence from the RNC in New York and he’s hoping to run for national office, but I don’t think that factors in here.
Beats me. Probably best to interpret it in the way that annoys you least. If there was some context for the quote, maybe we could guess more accurately. You hear “never forget” with regard to the Holocaust all the time, I think the meaning really is just don’t forget that it happened, the implication being if people forget, it could happen again. Of course, this is rather different, and to various extents you could argue it’s already happened again and forgetting had nothing to do with it. And nobody could forget what happened even if they wanted to. So who knows. Does any of this tribute stuff mean anything?
Well, call me a big cynic, but ‘we are never going to forget’ sounded awfully like an appeal to vote Republican at the election, because, well, Bush and Rumsfeld hadn’t forgotten and never would forget. They would kick ass.
I guess you could say in that speech, he did sort of mean it that way as kind of a solidarity thing. The most cynical among us (something I’ve never been accused of ;)) might say he’s reminding us to be afraid.
We all need to rise up, face 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and shout in unison "Try to Remember that 9/11 is all about circling around terrorists, closing down their financial systems, nailing up the boards on their schools’ doors, reining in the suicide bombers/attackers and bringing those who have committed crimes against humanity to justice.
9/11 is not about WMD, or honoring the 1,000+ Americans and 12-15,000 Iraqis who have died during this useless, self destructive war. 9/11 is not about code yellows or codes red that emerge when politically expedient. 9/11 is not about prisoner abuse in Iraq. It is not about holding “enemy combatants” as defined by this current ‘selected’ administration. It is not about denying some basic American rights to American Citizens because they might be thinking about a terrorist act.
Let us never forget:
Let us not forget that fighting terrorism is not easy, but that we need to do so to prevent similar happenings worldwide. The legacy of those 3,000 people who died on 9/11 is to remind us that we can’t let this happen again anywhere.
Absolutely, that’s how it came over (combined with all the choreographed hand holding and heads bowed in prayer stuff).
And since politics is the art of the possible, I should add that one should neither be surprised or shocked that Bush is exploiting 9/11 as best he can. Sickened - perhaps, depending on whether you would also be sickened if a politician of your own hue pulled the same stunt. (Well, you can be sickened, anyway, but my point is that it’s hypocritical to accept behaviour in someone you support that you would decry in one you don’t.)
No kidding?
This kind of shameless behavior is deplorable in public figures of all sorts.
Thread closed per request of OP.