 THE
VigilanceVoice
Dec.
21—Friday—Ground
Zero
Plus
101
DO
WE
NEED
A
PATRIOT
DAY
OR
A
VIGILANCE
DAY?
by
Cliff
McKenzie
New
York
City
Combat
Correspondent
I
was
concerned
when
my
wife
told
me
that
President
Bush
recently
signed
a
House
resolution
naming
September
11
as
Patriot
Day,
a
new
national
holiday
in
honor
of
those
who
were
killed
in
the
Terrorist
attack
on
the
Second
Tuesday
of
September,
2001.
The
House
approved
the
measure
on
Oct.
25
and
the
Senate
on
Nov.
30.
As
a
Citizen
of
Vigilance,
my
concern
about
this
new
National
Holiday
is
its
name,
not
its
intent.
Patriotism
itself
is
a
word
that
often
alienates
people.
Some
believe
it
means
to
“blindly
follow
government.”
Others
take
its
meaning
to
stand
ready
to
“revolt”
against
government,
as
the
common
Patriot
Day
does
when
it
signals
the
beginning
of
the
American
Revolution
against
the
oppressive
British
Rule.
Patriotism,
ultimately,
is
political
interpretation.
It
allows
people
to
be
pro
or
con
such
a
celebration
because
the
name
itself
cleaves
participants
into
two
camps—“I
am
either
a
Patriot
or
a
non-Patriot.”
That
is,
I
am
either
“for
or
against
America’s
political
institution.”
Sadly,
the
rush
to
make
September
11th
a
day
of
“patriotic
remembrance”
may
not
bode
well
in
America’s
fight
against
Terrorism.
The
word
“patriot”
has
controversial
meaning.
Webster
defines
is
as
“a
person
who
loves
his
country
and
supports
its
interests.
Some
of
the
synonyms
for
it
include
“nationalist,”
a
“patrioteer,”—flag-waver,
super-patriot,
or,
a
“partisan”—a
guerrilla,
irregular.
The
word
itself
creates
polarity
among
the
population—something
quite
different
than
what
happened
on
September
11.
On
that
day,
Americans
bonded.
They
threw
away
“partisan
differences”
and
blended
into
one
mass
of
humanity,
grieving
the
loss
of
America’s
innocence.
The
“family”
that
rose
out
of
the
ashes
of
the
World
Trade
Center,
the
Pentagon,
and
the
ill-fated
Terrorist
plane
en
route
to
the
White
House
was
not
one
who
condoned
necessarily
“government’s
actions.”
In
many
ways,
the
sadness
that
fell
over
this
country
was
the
awareness
of
its
collective
neglect,
its
complacency,
and,
most
important,
its
vulnerability.
Some
even
blame
government
for
the
lack
of
“vigilance”
to
protect
its
citizens
from
such
attacks.
However,
on
that
day,
Conservative
and
Liberals,
blacks
and
whites,
rich
and
poor,
all
became
one
sad
family
honoring
the
dead
victims
and
heroes
of
the
historic
event.
Patriotism
per
se
was
not
the
cause
of
the
union.
Family
was.
 |
America’s dysfunctions as a boiling pot country were put on
hold. The rift between classes, ethnicity, and political
opposites melted. We became that day, Citizens of
Vigilance, Parents of Vigilance, Grandparents of Vigilance,
Uncle and Aunts of Vigilance, Cousins of Vigilance.
In other words, we stopped finding fault in our family, and
all put our arms around each other and held our common interests
up so our disunion didn’t get in the way of our community.
Patriotism wasn’t part of that vigil—not if it meant agreeing
with government. What did overpower that vigil was
the awareness of the need for community—a vigilant community
that would never let something like September 11 happen again.
That’s why I think the House, the Senate and President Bush
ought to rethink and reevaluate Patriot’s Day. If
the intention of government is to create a day to salute government—which
is essentially what the word “patriot” implies—then it has slipped
one over on the people. It has tried to jingoize
a day of sadness. And, it should be corrected.
In my estimation, the correct name for September 11 should be
Vigilance Day!
Vigilance is what we lacked on the “day of tragedy.”
Our complacency grew thick, and our bellies were bloated on
the false sense of security we have enjoyed since our country’s
inception. That innocence was lost on September
11.
Vigilance is the state of being vigilant, according to Webster.
Its etymology from Latin is derived from vigilare—to
keep watch, stay awake. It also means alertly watchful
especially to avoid danger.
More to the point, it is non-partisan, non-political.
Under a Day of Vigilance, Americans need to be reminded not
to honor their government, but to honor their security.
Further, Citizens of this country need to be reminded of their
roles in protecting America rather than their acquiescence to
let government serve as the shield of protection alone.
A government for, of and by the people has a duty to remind
its citizens of their responsibility to keep an eye open for
Terrorism. Terrorism is a community problem, not a national
one. Terrorists walk onto buses with bombs
and blow up innocent people at random, or they release gas on
subways, or they send letter bombs in the mail, or anthrax messages.
It is the mother and father of a child who must become Parents
of Vigilance on those days, reminding themselves it is their
duty and obligation to help protect their children and their
children’s children from those who would indiscriminately attack
the child, the mother, the father, the neighborhood, the community.
Since September 11th, I have worn a black armband
with the words Semper Vigilantes, 11-09-01. In the middle
is an American Flag, and underneath it the words, “United, in
Death and Life!”
I support America’s families, its children, its parents, its
grandparents, its uncles and aunts and cousins and nephews and
nieces by wearing the armband. I wear it to remind
myself to be “vigilant,” ever watchful, non-complacent about
Terrorism and all its nefarious forms.
The use of the American Flag on the armband is not about “patriotism”
in the sense that I embrace government, or believe that nationalism
is loving your country to the extreme that your single viewpoint
is the “right one,” and all others are “wrong.”
I wear the flag as a symbol of the differences of the nation
of America, and the right we have under our Constitution to
revolt against government if it takes too heavy a hand in the
administration of our rights. I wear it because
I know the citizens of this nation are the government, and the
government is not in “charge” of its people, even though it
often thinks it is and acts like it is.
Vigilance to me, includes keeping a watchful eye on the Terrorists
within America as well as without. The Terrorists
within include government, and its tendency historically to
seize power from the people and abuse it.
Patriot’s Day is one such example of that misuse.
Changing Patriot’s Day to Vigilance Day, would correct the imbalance.
On such a day I have no problem with lowering the flags to half-mast.
I have no problem with a national holiday—in fact, if we convert
Patriot’s Day to Vigilance Day, and the speeches that ring across
the land are about keeping a watchful eye not only on the external
Terrorisms but the internal ones as well, then I believe Americans
will have honored those who died in the horror of September
11th with the greatest possible gift—a day to remember
to not forget.
Patriot’s Day can grow into another Fourth of July—a demanding
celebration of government, rather than a reflective day of taking
inventory on what actions need to be taken to protect our children
and their children’s children from future Terrorism
If we let Patriot’s Day stand, we aren’t being Vigilant.
We are turning over our rights one more time to government.
Vigilance, by its nature, invokes Courage. And the courageous
act for government to take it to change the name of Patriot’s
Day to Vigilance Day.
Go To
12-20 --Terrorism's Olympic Torch
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