On Sept. 11, 2001, Joe Scarborough was publisher emeritus of the Independent Florida Sun, one of the many names for our weekly newspaper. He wrote this column while our community was coping with the terrorist attacks on our nation.
From The Pub
By Joe Scarborough
Independent Florida Sun, 9/14/01
In the end, it was a really stupid thing to do.
Forget the moral dimensions of this tragedy for a second. Put aside your anger, the heartbreaking human loss and the visceral need for revenge. Instead, view this military attack from the eyes of our enemies.
They hate America and American capitalism. They dream of the day when our empire is reduced to dust and our worldwide influence fades. They pray to their god for the death of the great Satan.
So, some genius in our enemy’s camp got the bright idea that they could achieve their goals by ramming a few airplanes filled with innocent civilians into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. After completing the bloody deeds, their allies took to the streets to shout “Glory to God.â€
Lessons of History
But I respectfully submit that instead they should have been cursing their leaders for sticking their finger in Uncle Sam’s face.
Maybe these martyrs should have taken time out from reading their Arabic pilot’s manual to glance at some history books. If they’d only given me a call last week, I would have recommended Gibbons’ “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,†or a biography on Napoleon.
The French military genius once said that when your enemy is destroying himself, don’t interfere.
America’s always been at its materialistic, self-indulgent worst during the best of times. Economic wealth has always softened our resolve and made us wary of sacrifice. The true strength of America’s character has always been shown through a time of crisis, during depressions and world wars.
Just as the Roman character sustained that great empire against the unceasing attacks of Hannibal, the American character has always sustained our great republic in the face of epic challenges.
After their successful attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese military officials who executed the operation celebrated their crushing surprise victory over the United States. But one who held his applause was Admiral Yamamoto. Grim-faced, the leader of the Japanese attack looked at his cheerful compatriots and said simply, “I’m afraid we have awakened a sleeping giant.”
An Angry Giant
Two years later, Yamamoto was dead, and four years later, the Japanese empire was reduced to rubble.
I suspect it will take far less than four years of our 21st century enemies to learn that their actions will bring horrific consequences.
I’m not being nationalistic, I’m simply reporting the facts that history will bear out.
We are Americans. We will awaken from our sleep. We will awaken from our sleep and we will rebuild these three buildings. We will be bigger, better and more secure. And we as a nation will rise from the ashes to begin building the next American century.
And may God help those who find themselves in the path of an angry giant awakened from his peaceful sleep.
– Joe
What is it about politicians that they can effortlessly discharge fiction as though it is fact? Admiral Yamamoto’s purported quote about awakening a sleeping giant is actually a line from Tora! Tora! Tora, not a verified quote from the Admiral himself.
In his column, Joe cites a Hollywood script as fact. Imagine that: A political leader confabulating a movie with his own reality? Defeating terrorism requires unity of national focus, bi-partisan commitment to strategy and responsible legislative oversight (This prevents abuses of power by the executive branch.), not ready quotations of classic war movies.
Neither Joe nor his successors delivered. Rather than heal and protect America, they have harnessed social media and cable news to divide and alienate Americans from one another.
After 9/11, America needed unity, wisdom and responsible use of national power. Sadly, Joe abandoned the people and values that sent him to Washington in 1994. I expect that our current Congressman will eventually do the same. People like Joe Scarborough, Joe Biden and our current Congressman have made careers and fortunes peddling outrage disguised as intellect.
America needs unity, wisdom and leaders who respect the truth (historical facts) enough to learn it.
The evils of the world will always target the American people and undermine the ideals for which so many of us have fought. The greatest threat to America is not a terrorist or a foreign nation-state. The greatest threat to our Nation is the fact that we permit the Joes and Matts of the world to exercise political power.
Not so prescient. Especially since the perpetrators were Saudi.