The morning started with the usual rush. I was under the gun to finish the process I was working on. My friend Jonathan Singh was visiting from India and we had eaten habanero peppers with grilled porkchops the night before. Anusha, my assistant, was running late - not normal for her. She came in just after 9A and said, "a plane crashed into the World Trade Center." We went into the conference room and rigged an antenna to pick up the broadcast channel, Fox5 Atlanta, on the non-connected set. The picture came in and a crowd began to gather as people drifted by the breakroom to get their morning brew.
We all fell into a silent hush as the second plane struck. My friend Jonathan immediately said, "Osama Bin Laden. It's the mujahadeen from al qaeda". Then he shared with us all his encounters with Muslims in northern India. Unlike many Indians Jonathan is a Christian. He is known as the Voice of Charles Swindoll to India - he translated and rebroadcast the radio program for Charles Swindoll. We learned more about radical Islam that day in that small conference room than we would hear on television for weeks.
That afternoon I slipped into a daze. My wife and I had developed a habit of sitting on the front porch (not allowed in my town - you're not supposed to have chairs there - hahaha!) but this night we went to my mother's home. We all talked about how terrible it was - Jonathan continued his verbal disdain of Islam and blamed them long before we knew the truth.
For the next several nights we burned candles and torches in our front yard with the flag at half mast - as it will be all day on the 11th. I will be in a somber mood. I recall as the congregation was breaking up saying, "We will all remember exactly where we were and many of the things Jonathan said for the rest of our lives." For Diane that was only a couple of weeks - she passed from a heart attack before all the truth was known.
I am not happy with the condition of my country today. The choices we have for leadership do not blow me away - but one disgusts me to no end. Unlike the jesters and fools from Hollywood I won't threaten to move to France if he is elected for I know he is essentially powerless to fulfill his promises. But we do need change - just not sake for the sake of change. They all voted for the war ... they all saw the same "intelligence". Everyone has faults and not one is perfect but please, for the sake of our industry and our country - vote with your head and not your eyes. We're still in the war that started that day whether you agree with it or not - there we are. I want it over but I want it FINISHED.
GOD BLESS AMERICA - I AM STILL PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN EVEN IF WE HAVE "THE WRONG" PRESIDENT
But I leave with this political statement on this very memory worthy day.
Not my statement but this young man's ...
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