I am going to bed now, but before I do, I have to say: 9/11 impacted me for a long time. I wore black for months 
in sign of respect for my brothers and sisters who perished in that tragic event. I have witnessed the darkest days in America's history in the past decade, with gross infringements upon our Liberties: The Patriot Act, executive rendition, Homeland Security, TSA.
My heart also goes out to the victims of the wars started as a result of 9/11. Entire populations displaced, maimed or killed. Depleted uranium altering an entire region for an eternity (or at least a few thousand years). They say we lost a million Iraqis and over seventy thousand American soldiers and I'm not sure if that's true, but what I do know, is that a single human being is too many to lose in a war that benefits no one, but a few powerful corporations...
I am also sad to see so much hate being waged against our Muslim American brothers and sisters. Several foundations have spent over $42Million to engender that hate. We are a nation full of diversity and acceptance for other cultures. How could we become so narrow minded in a single decade?
The wars are ongoing still. In Baghdad, we built the largest Embassy ever erected by any country on the face of this planet. It looks like we're staying there for good. The Trans-Afghanistan pipeline won't be finished until 2014 and then we'll need to guard it. It looks like we're staying there also.
Meanwhile, I sell foreclosures for a living and I negotiate with banks on short selling people's homes. My clients are doctors, lawyers, financial planners, engineers and other working folks. They have done everything they were told to do; they played by the book: they got an education, worked hard and used leverage to invest in Real Estate. Suddenly, the rug was pulled out from under and their lives destroyed by a national financial catastrophe, and while I argue with the banks on their behalf over a pittance, the likes of Goldman Sachs are now poised to profit from our government's wholesaling these foreclosed homes. This, after they caused the financial ruin in the first place!
I go to bed tonight with the same heavy heart I felt ten years ago. So sad for the victims jumping out of windows or pulverized at the Trade Center, the passengers of the ill fated planes and the Pentagon accounting office workers who perished that day. We lost a lot on September 11, 2001, but have we lost our way?
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