What Got Left on the Editing Room Floor?

We watched “The Path to 9/11” last night. I thought it was an interesting and well-made movie. It definitely showed the Clinton administration for what we already knew about it — distracted and unwilling to take responsibility.

I wondered what had been cut from the movie. Libertas has the information on the “Crucial Scene in Path to 9/11 Edited/Butchered for Political Content.”

Kudos to Robert Iger at ABC for following my suggestion via e-mail that he should broadcast the movie despite threats from the Democrats. Actually, I asked him not to submit to their threats and cut scenes from the movie, but at least he showed the movie.

Remembering September 11, 2001

The Friday before that fateful Tuesday I was admitted to the hospital here in Scottsdale because of internal bleeding.   I spent three days in the ICU and once they got enough blood back in me I was scheduled for an endoscopy at 8 a.m. on the 11th.   I remember the night before Norm and a few of our friends were visiting me in the hospital room while I ate dinner.   I was starting to feel somewhat normal after several days of great discomfort.   My friends prayed with me that all would go well with my test in the morning.   Before I went to sleep that night I spent perhaps an hour or more in prayer.   I’m not known for my long praying sessions, and I really wasn’t all that scared, even though the doctor who was to perform the test had told me they would be looking for signs of cancer in my esophagus.   As I prayed that night there was an urgency in my prayers and a groaning in my spirit that I could not understand.

I woke early the next morning because of noise in the hallway outside my hospital room door.   The nurse came in to check on me and I asked her what everyone was talking about.   She turned on the TV and explained that an airplane had hit a skyscraper in New York City.   I was shocked and I couldn’t believe it.   At first I thought it was enemy airplanes and I couldn’t figure out how they could’ve gotten into our airspace without our military being alerted.   And then I saw the second plane hit the other tower and it did not seem real.   I was shocked and I couldn’t believe I was watching it.

Norm arrived and a hospital orderly took me downstairs to the surgery area where I was to have my procedure performed.   There were TVs on everywhere and Norm and I watched in horror at what was being shown over and over again on the news.   I went in for my test and they gave me something to knock me out for a while.   I don’t remember the procedure — which is good because who wants to remember something being forced down your throat.

I was groggy when they took me back to my room and I remember Norm saying goodbye because he had to deliver a van to the airport.   My friend Sarah came to visit me a short time later.   I was really sleepy and my throat was sore but I was glad for her visit.   Of course we talked about the events of the day.   It dawned on me that her son had only recently enlisted in the Marine Corps.   We talked about that and the certainty that we would probably be at war very soon.   My friend Sarah is a woman of great faith and she showed no signs of fear for her son.   She told me that this was something she knew could happen if he enlisted and that he was in God’s hands no matter what.   I’m happy to say that her son went to Iraq and came home in one piece.

Norm came back to visit me that afternoon and he said things were in chaos at the airport.   When he returned to the hospital he was searched at the entrance.   Things were definitely different now and we knew they would never be the same.   I don’t remember much of the rest of that day, probably because of the drugs.   My test results came back showing definite indication of a bleeding ulcer in my esophagus that was due to acid reflux, but no cancer.   I was prescribed medication and after a few more days I went home.

When I left the hospital Norm drove me home and I remember seeing American flags everywhere at half mast.   The reality of what happened began to sink in.   Even though I was watching the news at the hospital — I was not in the real world until I left the hospital.   The news was on all the time and I cried a lot.   That Sunday I wanted to go to church so bad to be with fellow believers to pray and mourn together for what had happened to our country.   Unfortunately I could not go because I was still very weak from being sick — I also had bronchitis during this bout of the bleeding ulcer.

During the next week or two I remember talking on the phone to my friend Stacy who was pregnant with her first child.   She was two months away from her due date and she was worried about the future.   We were all worried about the future, but I remember telling her that her baby’s upcoming birth was something we should all celebrate in spite of what had happened.   Somehow I knew the world would go on and that God would be with us no matter what.   Here we are five years later — life does go on.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day and I hope that our nation never does forget what happened so that we can fight to prevent it from happening again.

The Path to 9/11

I plan on watching ABC’s “The Path to 9/11” despite all of the hype over the past couple of weeks.   It turns out that the director, David Cunningham, is the son of a friend of my father.   Small world!

Anyhow, I think the Democrats’ calls for editing of the film, etc. and all of their threats to pull ABC’s license are a clear example of the hypocrisy on the Left.   I don’t recall anyone suggesting Michael Moore or his film company or any company that sponsored his movie lose their rights to free speech when he produced a film that was full of lies.   Sure, we didn’t like it, but he had the right to show himself for the fool that he is by producing such garbage.   And yet the Clintons, Democrats and liberals of every stripe are outraged by this movie because they don’t agree with the message or the scenes or any of it for that matter.   It is a docudrama.   Everyone knows that when you make a movie about historical events you can’t believe everything you see and hear because you never know when artistic license is being employed.

Even if ABC does bow to threats and intimidation by the Democrats we certainly know who really protects free speech in this country!

Star Trek 40th Anniversary

I was so busy with my own life yesterday that I totally missed the 40th anniversary of Star Trek, my absolutely all-time first ever favorite TV program.

Yes, I am a Trekkie, but I’ve never been to any conventions and I don’t own any memorabilia. Star Trek was probably into its last season before I started watching it, but I do remember as a very young child, maybe 5 or 6 years old, watching Star Trek and being thoroughly enthralled with the program. There was something mesmerizing and exciting about space travel and technology that captured my attention from an early age. I would venture to guess that I have seen every single episode of Star Trek the original series at least 10 times. Looking at the episodes today the technology and the costumes are rather hokey, but the storylines are timeless and still entertaining.

Those 40 years sure went by fast!

25 Minutes of My Life Wasted

That is until Rush came on the air.   Let me back up — I was watching (gulp) Katie Couric (gulp) on the CBS evening news. 😡   I never watch the evening news, unless Norm makes me, and he never watches the CBS version.   He usually watches NBC.   Anyhow, I heard on the radio and via Matt Drudge that Rush Limbaugh would be doing a 90 seconds spot tonight during the “free Speech” segment.

I should’ve gone with my first instinct to record the program so I could just fast-forward until Rush came on.   But I was too lazy to set up the DVR.   So there we are watching and I’m getting sicker by the minute. 😥   One story after another berating President Bush on everything under the sun.   Same old CBS evening news — yuck!   I still couldn’t figure out how they came up with the story line that President Bush’s current series of speeches have been made less effective by the fact that Al Jazeera has aired an old Al Qaeda tape showing bin Laden in a training camp with the 9/11 hijackers.   How is that bad news for the president?

On to better things — Rush Limbaugh got 90 seconds and it was worth the 25 minutes I wasted watching Couric and others with useless stories that attempted to make me think a certain way.   That’s why I don’t watch the evening news unless Rush Limbaugh is going to be on.   😀

Rush is right when he says that when you negotiate with evil, evil wins and peace comes after victory, not through discussions.

BTW — Katie don’t wear white — it makes you look very pale.

The Disabled Just Can’t Get a Break

I learned today, via Pat’s Pond, that Pluto is no longer a planet, at least according to “leading astronomers” who have created new guidelines as to the classification of planets. They have determined that Pluto is a dwarf planet. So does that mean that dwarf people are not really people? I know a few who might beg to differ that point!

However, it would seem that being disable and funny does get you a break now and then. Case in point — Josh Blue who has become the Last Comic Standing. I must admit that I did not watch the show, but learned about it through secret Internet sources. Josh lives with the challenges of cerebral palsy and describes his comedy as “spastic and engaging.” He is quoted as saying, “I realize that people are going to stare so I want to give them something to stare at.” LOL 😆

Throughout my life of dealing with the challenges of limited mobility I have come to appreciate a healthy sense of humor. Both my parents gave me the gene! Fortunately I married a man who appreciates my wackiness. I never want people to laugh at me but I always want them to laugh with me.

This reminds me of a presentation I had to give in graduate school while earning my MBA at San Diego State University. Don’t recall what the class was about, but I remember doing a presentation on modifications in the workplace to help employees with disabilities. I showed a video of people with disabilities using special equipment in the workplace such as computer screen readers for the visually impaired. To keep it from being boring, I ended my presentation with the phrase “hire the handicap — they’re fun to watch!”