The title of this blog comes from a Gaelic expression -"putting on the poor mouth"-which means to exaggerate the direness of one's situation in order to gain time or favour from creditors.
11 September 2011
Remembrance
Robert Peraza remembers his son who was murdered on 9/11.
The tributes are nice, but I will leave you with this for better or worse.
I am an ordinary man who had a front row seat on the day the world changed. It was not the first time I had been through this at the WTC.
The story of 9-11 starts with man and his potential for good and evil. A band of twisted religiously inspired loons attacked my city and smacked fuel ladden jets into office buildings in a twisted publicity stunt for their faith.
Faith like men is subject to our weakness. I can point to many religious people of all faith who serve their communities by helping the poor and the lost.
The problem is when man thinks utopia is at hand he can do some really terrible things. The lesson most of us should learn is the ends don't justify the means. Secular types have been proven again and again to be just as dangerous as zealots when they believe utopia is around the corner.
On that day we saw the paradox of man all in the same place at the same time. We had the worst of our nature in the same field as our noblest aspects. I will never forget the foreboding haunting look of the firefighters speeding to join history knowing that many would not return. To me that is the more haunting and poignant message of the day.
My story is not unique as I raced away the Jewish song of death came naturally to me out of nowhere as I joined others in an unscheduled marathon. The song is about the inevitability of messianism even if it is not today. In reality, I was neither brave nor cowardly just ordinary. I was never in any real danger, but we didn't know that then.
I will leave you with the parting wisdom. Most of us sat around wondering who we knew that was gone. At the time 30,000 were believed dead and 3000 is no walk in the beach either.
I had to leave my girlfriend in NYC to take care of the nieces and nephew. So off I went to NJ to watch my sisters home. Probably avoiding the stench of death and burning evil I can never forget saved my life. If you inhaled it you would never forget it.
I walked home from the train station and passed the procession for Father Michael Judge. He was the gay priest who lost his life administering rights on that day. A brave man as brave as every other hero, just with another calling card.
I met my beloved and in nearby Union Square Park what awaited me was worse than 9-11. The far left held a hate rally and on that spot with the buildings still burning in the distance and amidst the smell of burning evil political opportunists started the mostly anti Semitic conspiracy theories. The Zionist Mossad CIA were the usual suspects of familiar Tutherism that we have sadly become familiar with.
My girlfriend was a very perceptive woman who read me like a book. I told her I had some things to attend to and would meet her upstairs. She didn't like the look in my eyes and touched my cheek and said I am not going home without you. I knew I had lost as for whatever reason the notion of a brawl in front of a loved one is more abhorrent than the worst of my anger. I went home as real men know their duty to their loved ones always comes before things that really do not matter.
I do not blame the whole left for what I heard that day. There are plenty of decent folks like yourself who are like me and understand that the ends do not justify the means.
I find myself amazed at the horrible things truthers say. There were no Jews there and the zionists told Jews to stay home. I remember telling one I missed the memo. They said I was just an acceptable loss. A look at the memorial shows a cross section of my city died and no community was untouched.
Just remember if you pass a truther they really are not just asking questions. They are insulting the memories of many brave men and women including brave first responders. Over the years, I stopped being angry and learned that laughing at Truthers is better than fighting with them. If you fight with them it plays into the persecuted paranoia that sustains the hate.
9-11 is a reflection of man's potential for both good, ordinary and not so good.
12 comments:
Awesome capture!
Yes, I'm sure all our thoughts are with those across the pond today.
It is a superb and moving photo Eileen
Absolutely Welshcakes
In Memoriam!
What a heart wrenching photo...
It is possibly the most moving photo I have seen in relation to 9/11 Sandy
Powerful photo :(
Thanks Knatolee
Jams
The tributes are nice, but I will leave you with this for better or
worse.
I am an ordinary man who had a front row seat on the day the world changed. It was not the first time I had been through this at the WTC.
The story of 9-11 starts with man and his potential for good and evil. A band of twisted religiously
inspired loons attacked my city and smacked fuel ladden jets into office buildings in a twisted publicity stunt for their faith.
Faith like men is subject to our weakness. I can point to many religious people of all faith who serve their communities by helping the poor and the lost.
The problem is when man thinks utopia is at hand he can do some really terrible things. The lesson
most of us should learn is the ends
don't justify the means. Secular types have been proven again and again to be just as dangerous as zealots when they believe utopia is around the corner.
On that day we saw the paradox of man all in the same place at the same time. We had the worst of our nature in the same field as our noblest aspects. I will never forget the foreboding haunting look of the firefighters speeding to join history knowing that many would not return. To me that is the more haunting and poignant message of the day.
My story is not unique as I raced
away the Jewish song of death came naturally to me out of nowhere as I joined others in an unscheduled marathon. The song is about the inevitability of messianism even if it is not today. In reality, I was neither brave nor cowardly just ordinary. I was never in any real danger, but we didn't know that then.
I will leave you with the parting wisdom. Most of us sat around wondering who we knew that was gone. At the time 30,000 were believed dead and 3000 is no walk in the beach either.
I had to leave my girlfriend in NYC to take care of the nieces and nephew. So off I went to NJ to watch my sisters home. Probably avoiding the stench of death and burning evil I can never forget saved my life. If you inhaled it you would never forget it.
I walked home from the train station and passed the procession for Father Michael Judge. He was the gay priest who lost his life administering rights on that day. A brave man as brave as every other
hero, just with another calling card.
I met my beloved and in nearby Union Square Park what awaited me was worse than 9-11. The far left
held a hate rally and on that spot
with the buildings still burning in the distance and amidst the smell of burning evil political opportunists started the mostly anti Semitic conspiracy theories.
The Zionist Mossad CIA were the usual suspects of familiar Tutherism that we have sadly become familiar with.
My girlfriend was a very perceptive
woman who read me like a book. I told her I had some things to attend to and would meet her upstairs. She didn't like the look
in my eyes and touched my cheek and said I am not going home without you. I knew I had lost as for whatever reason the notion of a brawl in front of a loved one is
more abhorrent than the worst of my anger. I went home as real men
know their duty to their loved ones always comes before things that really do not matter.
I do not blame the whole left for
what I heard that day. There are plenty of decent folks like yourself who are like me and understand that the ends do not justify the means.
I find myself amazed at the horrible things truthers say. There
were no Jews there and the zionists
told Jews to stay home. I remember telling one I missed the memo. They
said I was just an acceptable loss.
A look at the memorial shows a cross section of my city died and no community was untouched.
Just remember if you pass a truther
they really are not just asking questions. They are insulting the memories of many brave men and women including brave first responders. Over the years, I stopped being angry and learned that laughing at Truthers is better
than fighting with them. If you fight with them it plays into the persecuted paranoia that sustains the hate.
9-11 is a reflection of man's potential for both good, ordinary and not so good.
Parting wisdom from a fool... what's THAT worth?
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