Ray Berry
A Personal 9/11 Message
Personal 911 Anniversary Message
As a person who actually stood on the street corner on September 11,
2001, and watched the World Trade Towers fall down, after making
bush-toons for the internet about the newly Selected President GW
Bush being on vacation at his Texas ranch for four weeks during the
month of August, 2001, I was utterly disgusted watching the shameless
Republicans at the GOP Convention somehow claim the -GOOD- of 911 as
political gain for the radical NeoCon Bush Republicans! (??? What
Good I Ask???)
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*A Personal Story About Witnessing The WTC Attack On 911 From A
Manhattan Street, And The Political Aftermath On September 12.
Tomorrow is the third anniversary of September 11, and I must tell
you deep in my soul I am still traumatized from witnessing the
horrible terrorist's attack in real time from 8th Avenue in
Manhattan. In my night-and-day-mares I can still smell the awful
stench of the WTC fires incinerating plastic and human flesh that
burned over three long tragic months post attack.
I still can recall the unreal serendipitous moment on the afternoon
of September 12, when walking by the Hudson River Heliport (34th
Street), I saw six huge black helicopters circling overhead and
wondered who on earth was landing nearby. Soon I witnessed US
Senator Hillary Clinton, Rudolph Gulianni, Governor Pataki, US
Senator Charles Schumer, the director of FEMA, and other political
dignitaries get off their black birds and hold an impromptu press
conference right beside me on the bank of the river at sunset. This
was the critical historic moment in time when the power-base
politicians of New York State first came to see the WTC tragedy on
the ground on the day after the attack.
As I stood a mere three feet from Senator Hillary Clinton and the
other polticians by the river on the warm Indian Summer afternoon,
while we all kept gazing at the massive WTC fire downtown, I noticed
that everyone in this small group of citizens and politicians started
crying quietly or began fighting back the tears. Each politician in
the circle spoke soft words in kind about the terrorist attack that I
cannot remember. Then at the end of the press conference Governor
Pataki decided to say a tearful, yet earnest prayer while all the
politicians held hands and bowed their heads.
Unable to close my artist's eyes from my own tears during the prayer
I watched the unearthly scene with surreal conflicting emotions
raging in my heart. To the west across the Hudson River the sun was
setting with a burst of a thousand exquisite colors demanding
attention, sporting the extraordinary beauty of nature in her finest
form. As I gazed downtown I could see a massive blue-black cloud of
death, mayhem, and destruction depicting man at his lowest murdering
animal level of human behavior imaginable. The contrast of the two
opposite views of our fragile world, as the politicians cried and
prayed on that fateful afternoon, still sings the saddest song of
life I have ever heard in my sensitive artist's mind. Within minutes
after Pataki finished his tearful prayer the politicians all bit
their lips, got into a lineup of ten jet black vans and headed off
downtown on the West Side Highway escorted by streams of NYPD and
NYFD official cars with their blue lights spinning frantically.
I remember standing there by the great river thinking it was the
loneliest moment of my entire life. Seeing in real time, that the
so-called all-knowing political leaders of my society knew no more
than I did about how to deal with the awesome national tragedy on our
doorstep in our midst downtown.
As the black van funeral dirge headed downtown I noticed a lone wet
Kleenex tissue left sitting on the ground where the politicians had
prayed. I stood there in silence for a great while looking at the
crumpled tissue, looking at the exquisite sunset, and watching the
black line of vans along the river disappear into the equally black
smoke downtown.
Finally I was able to move and begin to walk home slowly. I remember
vividly thinking that, "I just witnessed an incredible piece of
tragic American history only two blocks from my home. In the last
two days I had seen for myself the frightening outcome of the wrong
choices of little politicians who often think more selfishly about
their careers in their political decisions rather than the greater
good and safety of the American people. I saw major politicians turn
into mere crying scared mortal souls for a brief moment in time, when
their own emotions and doubts about their own actions overcame their
stature as our stern public leaders. I saw politicians who
momentarily questioned their ability to lead while sincerely quaking
in their boots over the tragic outcome of their militant political
decisions made years ago over the misuse of American power
inappropriately on Islamic cultures halfway around the planet on the
world stage. I saw Hillary Clinton and Rudy hold hands and cry equal
tragic fearful tears together. For a brief moment I saw the immense
doubt on both sides of the political aisle over what we have done as
a nation to make people hate us so fiercely to attack the World Trade
Towers so violently, causing so much death and destruction on our own
shore. For a brief moment, lost to history now, I saw our national
leaders question their actions briefly and witness their lack of real
power to make things right again.
*I wrote about this serendipitous press conference I witnessed on
September 12, 2001, in my Yahoo newsletter, and I remember crying the
entire time the painful words flowed from my mind. On this third
anniversary of September 11, tomorrow, for this artist, who was
unfortunately there in Manhattan to witness the WTC attack, the tears
are still just a moment away from my very scarred eyes and very
saddened soul. In my heart as well as my careful political mind, I
sincerely believe the tragic WTC attack is the result of the
unworkable political outcome of Gulf War One by the ignorant militant
President George H. W. Bush. No one can tell me that the crimes of
the father do not fall on the son. We all know better than that now.
The massive fourteen-acre hole of the World Trade Center still sits
silently as a testament to the misguided policies of the militant
Bush Family Oil Dynasty. We the people will pay an immense price for
the next century for their actions and warring attacks on the world
stage in the Islamic oil rich kingdoms of the Middle East.
The Bush Family Dynasty represents the worse example of everything I
hate about my own American WASP culture. -The militant use of power
for power's sake. -The love of empire. -The love of war. -The
addictive inescapable love of money and greed. -The shameless
political use of Christianity as a tool to attain personal goals.
-The un-American love of a "holier than thou, better than thou"
class-baiting mentality. -The Freudian need to be an "important
somebody" at the calculated selfish cost of destroying many other
people's lives who get in their way on their journeys to the
ultimate thrones of male dominated power. -The absolute need to rule
over other lessor appearing souls as a permanent underclass. I am
very ashamed of my own WASP American tribe that the Bush Family
Dynasty depicts with great clarity. The Bush Family should not have
the mantle of power any longer. We must peacefully vote the Bush
Family Dynasty out of office and put this very dark time of America's
history behind us.
Over the last four years in this work I have stated many times that
everyone I knew in New York City on that fateful day in December
2000, (when the US Supreme Court gave the presidency to the Bush-Boy)
said this:
"Now the World Trade Center is going to be attacked and the Bush Boy
is gonna start a new war in Iraq! America is in a very dangerous
hellish situation now!"
No matter how much our recent history is being rewritten by the
extremist Right Wing controlled national media, the NeoCon smear
machine, and the Bush Family Dynasty today, I tell you folks once
again. It did NOT take a Manhattan soothsayer to know what horrible
national events were coming when the Bush-Boy was given the
presidency. No matter how the terrorist's attacks have been
positively "spun" in the GOP media camp now, or Bush's current script
of lies about conquering the oil rich country of Iraq as a "necessary
war" for our national security.
The new GOP version of history is quite far from the actual truth!
The Repugs current mistruth propaganda script reveals the massive
mind control GOP talking-point objective to SCARE the WITS out of the
American people to retain power. On the New York Street we call this
kind of lying GOP double-speak language, BULLSHIT from the word GO!
Grrrr! American National Security was quite safe under the rule of
the Democrats for eight long years during the Clinton
Administrations. Do not forget that people worldwide did not hate
America when the Democrats utilized power with a measured hand in the
Oval Office in the 1990s. Even to a political simpleton like myself,
all these horrendous problems we are having domestically and around
the world with terrorism land directly in the Bush Family Dynasty's
lap. No matter how many times the Bushies project that they can
protect you from the terrorists which they actually created, this
simpleton knows it is a clear case of Freudian projection! They are
actually the cause of the increasing level of terrorist's harm facing
my once great nation. The more terrorism the Bushies create is NOT a
validation that they should retain power. It is just the opposite.
They should be thrown out of office on their butts in November at the
voting booth by our citizenry, and we should give America a fighting
chance for a peaceful future with the Democrats back in charge of the
Oval Office.
As voices of the loyal progressive opposition it is time for us and
Kerry/Edwards to get in the gutter with the Repugs when necessary
and point out their lies to the voting public blow for blow. We do
not have a choice in this election if we are going to win back the
Oval Office. The Repug propaganda machine knows no limits or shame.
Progressive political blow-back is the only answer to fight these
divisive warmonger's words and actions, blow for blow. In my case as
the artist, fight them toon for toon. Grrr!!!
And now the dark character VP Dick Cheney is trying to scare the
American citizenry to death by saying that if he is not elected in
November America will be attacked by terrorists again! Cheney's
imagined threats are shameless un-American below-the-belt behavior.
In the next 50 days I put nothing past these ugly street sniper- TAKE
NO PRISONERS Bush-Cheney types across the board of the GOP! Power
begets power and they will do ANYTHING to keep power over the
majority of the American people who never elected them to the Oval
Office to begin with! Get ready for more extremely dirty tricks
coming out of the Bush-Cheney smear machine. "Anything Goes Tactics"
is how the NeoCons stole power in 2000, and it is their methodology
to try to keep it. Stay aware and on your guard folks!
Well, the loyal progressive opposition to the NeoCon Repug Smear
Machine now says this: "Turnabout is fair play little boys! If you
want to get in the political gutter then the street fight will be in
the damn gutter!"
We must work even harder now in the next 50 days because the GOP
media owned PHONY POLLS are now showing Kerry ten points down from
Bush Junior as their newest propaganda tool.
Do Not Trust The General Electric Corporation, (Owner of the massive
media organizations of NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, and the biggest
Military-Industrial-Intelligence Complex Supplier to the US
Government) "We bring good nukes and phony Bush polls to life!"
Rayberry ©, 21st Century Progressive American citizen- and fine
artist at large.
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