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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| "Those Hateful Airplanes..." |
| 2006-10-13 |
| ...A dear lady in San Francisco sent this letter to the San Francisco Chronicle: "Thank you, Fleet Week. My preschool-aged daughter, having heard your airplanes overhead all week, is now completely traumatized and afraid to go outside. She just heard a commercial airliner in the sky and ran inside shrieking, shaking, and trying to close all the windows and doors. We tried to have a fun family weekend enjoying free music in our park, but it was ruined by the thundering sound of those hateful airplanes overhead, forcing her (and most of the other children I saw) to throw her hands over her face and cower. If there is ever an opportunity for me to vote on any proposition keeping this ridiculous event and huge waste of resources from marring the skies of my city again, you can bet I'll be the first in line to get it voted in. DEMETRA DELÍA San Francisco" ..The WSJ's Opinion Journal published this reply from another reader: "In August 2001, I moved my wife, two daughters and infant son to Alexandria, Va., where I attended seminary. On September 11 my wife, like me a former New Yorker, came to campus to tell me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. As we considered the possibilities, someone passing by told us that a second plane had hit the other tower, and we realized the awful truth. We began to pray for the dead and dying as our children played in the sun. While we were praying, the ground shook and we heard the explosion of what we later learned was the third aircraft hitting the Pentagon. From that moment on, my 5-year-old daughter had real and very justified fears of passing aircraft. At bedtime she had questions for us, the most poignant being, "Were there children on the planes?" and "What does it feel like to be on fire?" During the days she would find cover or rush inside whenever a plane or helicopter passed by--which was quite often, as we lived near Reagan National and on the flight path from Fort Belvoir to the Pentagon. I was able to assure her that she was safe, precisely because the military aircraft that we saw daily were there to protect her. Indeed, the pilots of those aircraft were engaging in acts of mercy and of love, interposing themselves between her and the horrors of war. So I say three cheers for jet engines. May the delightful roar of Pratt & Whitney and General Electric be heard over the homes of all peaceful people, to protect them and their children. And may they be heard over the strongholds of those who would seek to kill and destroy without justification or discrimination, to restrain them by force, when all other means fail." I am going to have that last paragraph printed up and hung on my wall. Mike |
| Posted by:Mike Kozlowski |
| #4 Dear Demetra, Tell your But do tell her that, the day she looks up at airplanes overhead and realizes they're not ours, at your personal request ours won't be coming along to save your sorry moonbat ass. Or hers either. Happy now? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-10-13 23:27 |
| #3 HIDE THE WOMEN, OWG + SOCIALISM NOW, D *** NG IT, PAPER AIRPLANES ARE PLANNING TREASON. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-10-13 22:31 |
| #2 Christ, Demetra. Your kid sounds like a bigger wuss then you are. You must be so proud... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-10-13 21:55 |
| #1 On 9/11 I am pretty sure that flight 175 went right over my head. All the airliners turn over my house on their way to the three big airports ( Newark JFK., LaGuardia) and I still look at them with some suspicion. I try not to pass this feeling on to my child. But the shear ignorance of not being able to tell your child, "Those are ours baby, They protect us." is beyond me. |
| Posted by: J.D. Lux 2006-10-13 19:49 |