The President Speaks: September 11

It’s our 23rd anniversary of September 11. I stand on this boat looking into the magnificent skyline of the most dynamic and creative city in the world.

From the ashes of terror a wonderful building has risen. It is a monument to freedom, not just for those who died here but for those who get to look at it, and most especially for those who work in it.

America could easiy have built a fortress of mistrust, ill will and arrogance. Thanks to the cosmoplitan vision of New Yorkers, we have a building which oozes confidence and lightness, inviting one to marvel from a distance or to linger outside for hours and feel relaxed.

When I strolled the grounds today I wondered what the deceased would think seeing a free-flowing garden filled with people who have no fear.

I was assured by several of the families that though nobody can know what the victims would think or feel, the families are pleased that the grounds are vibrant and free, that the interior of the building brings one’s spirit to life and that the building’s owner and manager are determined not to have cameras recording everyone and police intimidating everyone.

There’s an inscription in the lobby. It reads We are Americans. We will not live in fear. It disappoints me that the rest of the country does not feel this way.

I dearly wish my countrymen refused to live in fear. I wish too that my countrymen lusted for freedom. I wish my countrymen hated having police, cameras and security guards everywhere.

We need to think about what 9-11 means. It was an attempt to make Americans live in fear. The terrorists knew that the Justice Department would attempt to limit civil liberties and that most people would accept the limitation.

The terrorists were correct. We are afraid. We have no problem living in a police state.

I wish you, my fellow Americans, would become arrogant and belligerent, demanding that the Patriot Act be repealed. I long for 300,000 people marching loudly on Washington for an end to our police state. It would show that all your concern for the victims of 9-11 and your claims about America’s greatness are more than the puffery they have been.

We ceased to be great with the passage of the Patriot Act and the invasion of Iraq. We stopped being great as a government and as a people.

That is why I speak to you today – to inspire you like this skyline and this building inspire me.

This skyline and this building can propel our nation back to greatness, to rise from the ashes of cowardice, conformity, gullibility and the betrayal of our Founding Fathers to be a fearless, intelligent, magnificent people.

This new building I look toward does not lose its appeal when you see it up close or enter. It’s appeal increases. This is rare for buildings.

This building was not constructed to be only a photo-piece. The intention was that the building be substantial, that it have soul, that humans in it and outside it feel vibrant, beautiful, proud, confident; that they increase the size of their soul here, that they begin to feel free and freely speak with accuracy and with meaning.

There is a lightness here that we Americans desperately need. But you have to ask yourselves how badly you want your souls back.

Would you rather risk a violent death because you trusted yourselves and others and felt beautiful, or do you want to continue to live the metaphoric death we’ve been living since October of 2001?

The inscription in the lobby – it does not ignore the potential of evil. It is saying that police states make people live in fear so this building will not be like a war zone. It is also saying we know what could happen but we will take our chances.

It is time for you to stop living in fear, to expect police to do their job of protecting you without assuming you are a criminal.

Rise up my countrymen. I ache to lead a great people.

Union Square San Francisco

Hardly any lawn. No benches with backs.

We perch on this cold war plaza.

Cursing the riff raff.

Friday, February 23

Dear Jim,

It’s been the most exciting winter of my life. There have never been this many cold and invigorating days. Even though the wind is exhausting, I hope it lasts until April.

Yesterday during lunch I took a great walk into the wind. It was like March. All these big clouds of various shades of dark gray with a few white ones blowing along. I could have walked all day.

I’m trying to let myself get excited, be carried along and away with beautiful days, especially cold clear windy ones. Whenever I tell people I just had a great walk, they are usually amused. It’s always too cold or too windy or too hot for people to get off their ass to go outside.

Last weekend I read a graphic novel. It’s about a girl in Japan who is going to apprentice as a witch when she turns thirteen. Her mom is a witch.

On the night of her big day, all the relatives and neighbors gather outside of her house to wish her luck as she flies away on her broom with her cat, trusting in the universe that she will find a place to learn and a mentor to teach her.

They’re having a ball flying around trying to figure out the wind patterns. Suddenly a storm comes up. They get soaked.

As she is trying to figure out what to do, she spots a freight train. So she flies down to it. When she sees an open hatch on top of a rail car, she guides them in and they land in a huge pile of hay.

What luck! She takes off her wet clothes then snuggles into the hay.

I loved it. There are three more books in the series, so I’ll read one book each of the next three months. It’s nice to be excited about something.

Did you hear about the killings in Florida last week or whenever it was? I’ve tried to avoid it, but today at the coffee shop I read an article about it. I didn’t know the FBI received a tip about the murder, but failed to act on it. There was a local cop who answered the call about the killer, but did not go into the school when he got there. He stayed outside until it was over.

Everybody is saying we’ve got to ban guns, or not sell machine guns, or run more extensive background checks, or raise the age of gun purchase to twenty-one, or arm teachers so nut cases will fear to enter schools.

But these are not going to solve the problem of mentally ill men, angry frustrated men, and alienated men. We need to have forums: ”What Happened to the Confident American Male?”, ”Why Do You Feel So Small Guys?”

Of course most of the people who showed up would be women wondering what’s wrong with their husbands, sons, brothers. Men don’t know we have a confidence problem. But women do.

One thing to do is not tell boys they are potential rapists. Another thing to do is don’t call a father with no money, car, property, or job a deadbeat dad unless you are calling an unwed mother with no money, car, job, or property a selfish bitch who has abused her feminine intuition.

When I see billboards encouraging men to embrace fatherhood, I cringe. It’s like women have designed these billboards of feminine men being gentle with their kids. Just like mom.

Mothers should be the nurturers. Fathers should be the inspirers. I would love to see a billboard of a father looking sternly at his son. The billboard would say, ”I don’t give a fuck if the other boys steal. Don’t you do it. It’s not right.”

A billboard like that would not be allowed. Comedians can say it every other word. Rappers can say it in every song. Writers can title their books ____ the Boss and ____ Courtesy. But to say it in such an important situation as I just mentioned would offend the people who make family law and lead discussions about the family.

These people are less offended by a man who says fuck you to his wife or calls his son a dumb fuck because in each case the man is weak. Hearing a father judiciously and threateningly use it to his son shows a strong confident proud dad who loves his son and wants him to be good and do good.

The other night my neighbor and I went to a chain Chinese restaurant. We like it because it is close to home. We also like it because it is clean. I got sick of going to the Vietnamese place in the South Area. It was filthy. When you went to pay your bill, you saw huge streaks of black footprints coming from the kitchen.

We always receive a fortune cookie. I never eat mine. I open it, split the cookie, then give it to my friend. He reads the fortune, gives it to me, then eats the cookie.

Last time he handed it to me with a ”Take a look at this.” expression on his face. I laughed when I read it. It said Your confidence will lead you to success.

I stuck it in my pocket. When I got home I taped it to my lamp. I crack up every time I see it.

That’s it for now.

Love,

Dave