Then, and now: Continuity of behavior and attitude

Then: October 2, 2001

Two pages of the N Y Times
Were filled with images of men and women who tried
Bravely to rescue others; and many did so
Before as did all those they could not rescue,they died.
It would be a good thing if the USPS
Developed postage-stamps honoring rescuers individually
But short of that, stamps honoring their respective occupations
A good idea would seem to be.

We take for granted the services of folks
Whose job it is to protect us from harm,
And give little attention to the cop on the beat
Or little heed to a distant fire alarm.

“Our God and soldiers we alike adore
E'vn at the brink of danger, not before;
And after deliverance both alike requited:
Our God, forgotten, and our soldiers, slighted.”

Nor do we think very long
About the folks who voluntarily fight in our name--
Anywhere, any time—when a wanton entity
Breaks basic rules of the international game.


10.06.2001

An otherwise uneventful Sunday morning
Was marked by news that folks fighting in our name
Were delivering a load of destruction on wanton entities
Who’ve broken the rules of that game.

We, here at home in New Jersey,
Saw no change in our daily routine
But imagined some change in and around, say, Kabul
When cruise missiles arrived rained on the scene.

The taped spiel from O. bin Laden and his lieutenant
Was sufficient to once more make it clear
That he thinks along paranoid lines
And hates folks in the western hemisphere.

Were it not so deadly serious
It would ludicrous that we need to use such might
To counteract the actions of a benighted man
Who’s on the human race a blight.

Nineteen of his henchmen, with primitive weapons
And no (direct) expenditures for delivery systems at all
Have slaughtered thousands and shaken the world,
But in replying we upon complex systems we must call.

It is scary to realize what could ensue
If other Muslims with bin Laden’s view
Should come to entertain
The notion that a commercial plane
As a guided missile will equally well do.

It is equally scary to have to recognize
That many Muslims appear to see us through “bin Laden” eyes
Thus tend not to see
What we know the U.S. to be
Hence would seem to relish prospect of our demise.
So at 7:29P, after a vegetable soup main course
We ponder the question raised frequently before
As to why some cultures have been associated with advancement
While others seem no more advanced in this century than they were the century before.

A brief look at Compton’s “Islam” entry
Serves to refresh memory as to how frequently Muslim’s pray,
And acknowledging the temporariness of memory, albeit refreshed,
What was read, to repeat, was that it was five times a day.

We must agree that a culture engaged in mandating such frequent pauses for prayer
For encouraging intensive entrepreneurial enterprise would have little flair
And adherents would not, e.g., take a shine
To work on an assembly line,
Which after all is a non-stop productive affair.

Special K must, again, acknowledge that he’s had a dim view
Of what he’s seen of the Arab/Muslim way of life
Which appears to be characterized mainly
By backwardness, lack of progress, and a penchant for strife.
However, that only illustratively serves to show
That to obtain a balanced view Special K's got a way yet to go
(And very likely will find
No real change of mind
Is in the offing, and he has none in escrow!)

And now, nine years later, only one current illustration of continuity….
in uncivilized attitudes and behaviors involving Muslims, and Special K's (parenthesized) self-assessment


Faisal Shahzad: 'War With Muslims Has Just Begun' (sic) emphasis added
Times Square Bomber Says 'Allahu Akbar' After Being Sentenced To Life In Prison
20 comments
By AARON KATERSKY and RICHARD ESPOSITO
Oct. 5, 2010
Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to detonate a car bomb in New York's Times Square on a crowded Saturday night, was sentenced to life in federal prison today.
Shahzad said "Allahu Akbar" after hearing the sentence, and said he would "sacrifice a thousand lives for Allah."
"War with Muslims has just begun," said Shahzad, who then predicted that "the defeat of the US is imminent, god willing."
Shahzad also said he was happy with "the deal" God had given him. "We have laws made by Allah. We don't need laws made by humans."


So .... it appears that despite all that has ensued
in the nine years represented by the foregoing
nothing really has changed --
and if it ever will, there's, today, no way of knowing.