I haven't posted in ages, but in light of the terrorist attack, I came to the Sinister List looking for comfort, some sense of solidarity, a feeling that people around the world understand the pain we feel at this time, and send their prayers. I will thank God every day for all of you on the list, and the fact that you care about us, no matter where we are. You are the only reason the voice in my head that is saying, "The world has gone to Hell" isn't taking over my entire thought process. I'd like to thank all of you who have offered your condolences to those of us on the east coast of the U.S. As a born-and-bred eastcoaster, a former college student in NY and a resident of D.C., my entire life - family, friends - is located within Washington D.C. and NYC. I am positive I am not the only one who can claim this story. I am not the only person who spent agonizing hours trying to track down family and friends, only to be met with tied up phone lines and the rebroadcasting of TV footage I needn't see more than once. Even once was one too many. By the grace of God, all of my friends who worked within a block of the Pentagon are safe, and all I know in Manhattan who were forced to flee their buildings are safe and accounted for at this time. I am VERY lucky. My father is stuck in St. Louis and won't be able to leave until Thursday. A friend, and employee of the NSA, is stuck in Seattle on a business trip. As this sort of thing is in the NSA's jurisdiction to prevent, my heart goes out to her and her coworkers. They do the best they can every day defending our country. Ubfortunately, they are vulnerable to error. It is indescribable how much those of us who were affected by this tragedy appreciate the kind words from fellow Sinisterees. From the bottom of my heart - thank you. The other main reason I write is to address the fears stated on this list of WWIII, etc. To start: yes, I am angry because someone has attacked U.S. soil, and my understanding that the U.S. is not particularly popular around the world does nothing to temper that anger. The fact remains that this is my country, and hundreds of thousands of innocent people have been injured, killed, or otherwise affected by an act of blatant, calculated cowardice. We will fear for our lives for weeks. We will jump at the slightest touch and we will instinctively duck at the sound of aircraft. I am not an advocate of violence. I was angry and disappointed when President Bush took office. But never have I, nor any of my friends who have always held the same political sentiments I have, been more consoled by the fact that we have a world leader willing to do whatever he must to ensure our national safety. We find ourselves turning to our leaders for solace, whether we voted for them or not. A military jeep drove up my street earlier today on patrol. I have never in my life been so happy to see what I normally condemn as "a symbol of our ability to bully half of the world." No one wants WWIII, and that includes the United States. We will do what we have to do to avoid it, but I plead with you as a U.S. citizen -- please support us and our government as we, the American people, have sworn to do. Criticism of U.S. politics and foreign relations doesn't do a bit of good. One of my best friends is a staunch member of the Communist Party. He has always expressed his discontent with America and our governmental officials. Today, in an act signifying the insurmountable nationalism we are able to muster, he gathered information for enrollment in the U.S. Navy and will be signing up tomorrow. It is a sad state of affairs that we have been pulled into a fight out of which we have previously tried to stay. Though retaliation is inevitable, we are STILL a nation focused on laws and human decency. It is difficult to maintain our composure as we harbor anger and overwhelming fear, but I am confident that our leaders will not lash out and add senseless insult to an injury felt around the world. Had you asked me yesterday what I think of our highest political officials, I would have made a "Texan inbreed" joke, to quote another Sinisteree. But in the light of the events of the past 12 hours, I am ready and willing to support my government in whatever they choose to do. The rescue workers will be on call for days. We will be cleaning up the aftermath for weeks. We will still be in shock for months. I am personally terrified to move in a week to a suburb of D.C., as I have been planning to do for several months now, because our new apartment is closer to the federal and financial districts of D.C. I send my sincere condolences to those who live directly in NYC and in the inner workings of D.C. None of our lives will ever be the same. Please, when posting to the list, which reaches many natives of American soil, remember that in theory, it is easy to condemn acts of defense and/or retaliation as excessive, or damaging to the idea of world peace. But it is not so easy to entertain rhetoric when every five minutes, another military vehicle flies over your house, when you break down in tears because you have finally tracked down an old friend who works three blocks down from the NYC World Trade Center, when family and friends were scheduled to fly today and all you can do is thank God they weren't on one of those four planes that met such a horrible fate this morning. Though it is small comfort, I will continue to replay in my mind the scene of our members of the U.S. Congress gathered on the Capitol Building steps, singing "God Bless America." It is this unity of purpose and nationalism that gives me the only comfort I can find. We as a nation will do what is necessary to ensure the safety of our citizens, as dictated by our national leaders. It is unfair for anyone to ask us to do otherwise. Again, thank you for your support, and may all of you be kept safe. Sincerely, K. Girton Washington, D.C. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. 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