I know, it's now the 12th of September and this is a little late. But, I wanted to wait a day to simmer down so's I don't say anything too harsh or critical.

First thing yesterday morning, I lowered my flag to half-staff to honor those who lost their lives in the attack and also to honor those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. I also wore a red, white and blue ribbon affixed to my shirt as a reminder. I had expected to see plenty of expressions of patriotism in memory of this solemn occasion. To my chagrin, I saw very few. Even our "local" daily paper (it's from a town 35 miles away) had only one small blurb about it. And to boot, it wasn't even on the front page, and it dealt with the President's plan to turn the day into a "day of service" rather than a day to remember those who died. My emotions quickly went from sadness, to disbelief, to anger. Have we forgotten those that died that day? Have we forgotten those who continue to fight and die in the desert so that this doesn't happen again? Have we forgotten the brazen attack on our lives and freedom by those who hate this country and what we stand for? Unfortunately, I believe we have, and it breaks my heart that this has happened. This is a pain nearly as deep as I felt the day the attacks happened.

Please, somebody tell me that this was just an anomaly here in my little corner of the world. Tell me that your part of the country paid fitting tribute to the innocent lives that were lost and honored those fighting to protect our freedom. Tell me that partisan politics were put aside and speeches were made affirming our committment to never let this happen again. I'd love to know that somewhere, these sorts of things happened. But, in my heart of hearts, I know better...