December 7, September 11, and I’m Sorry, WHEN?

We should, and will, never forget what happened on September 11th, 2001, nor the people who were killed and those who did their best to save them.

For different reasons, we should also be careful never to forget certain remarks by our inspiring Vice President, Kamala Harris. The video below is from 2022, but it seems especially worth remembering a day removed from 9/11:

Yes, the Vice President actually included– in a rare moment of adequate diction and apparent lucidity– January 6th, 2021 in a list of some of the most devastating attacks in American history.

I am slightly less incensed knowing this speech was from the one year anniversary of The Worst Thing to Ever Happen on American Soil (that time a bunch of nerds were ushered into the Capitol Building and took some selfies) and not, as I had initially understood, yesterday. But only slightly– and I started at levels so profound I will not provide details out of fear of detainment by the FBI and/or my local authorities.

The dates that hold “a place in our collective memory” that Harris mentions are December 7th, 1941 (Pearl Harbor) and September 11th, 2001 (I’m not telling you what this is in reference to). Let’s be really clear about what happened on those days.

On December 7th, 1941, Japanese aircraft bombed a naval base in Honolulu and killed 2,403 Americans, injuring a further 1,178. Some sailors were trapped in sunken vessels for 16 days before they perished. This prompted the US to declare war on Japan– the last time, by the way, that we as a country have technically been at war.

And who were we at war with? Well, first off, the Japanese, whose brutal wartime atrocities include things like the Rape of Nanking and Unit 731 (I do not recommend clicking that link unless you have a particularly strong constitution). But also, Nazis. No, not like, any person who disagrees with Elizabeth Warren, but the ACTUAL, ORIGINAL Nazis. The ones who systematically exterminated 11 million people in death camps. Keep that in mind.

September 11th, 2001? 2,977 innocent lives lost to al Qaeda’s fanatical religious terrorism, to say nothing of the ongoing health complications of people affected by the fallout, for the crime of being American. Not long after, the US military moved into Afghanistan, and, well, history can speak for itself there.

January 6th, on the other hand, saw only one death that, in any other context, would’ve been considered an example of police brutality and no major hazards to the safety, security, or future of the country. How do I know? Because it’s been two years and guess what, we’re all FINE (except for the participants who are still locked up awaiting trial OR serving ridiculously hard sentences).

After December 7th, the nation went to war with some of the most brutal and evil regimes in modern history. After 9/11, the military invaded Afghanistan. But after January 6th? They went to war with you.

We need to do our politicians the solid of listening closely when they speak. When you do that here, we hear Kamala saying that politicians feeling uncomfortable is just as bad as people like you and me dying violently to people who hate us.

Don’t you forget it.