Responding to the terrible deeds of Sept. 11, our leaders have united in support of a war against terrorism. Additionally, in the wake of the worst attack in our nation's history, they have encouraged us to "get back to normal."
But what is normal? And how can we get back to this standard when the very nature of our existence has changed so dramatically?
Members of the media, local politicians and most notably, President Bush himself, have all urged us to continue going to shows, shop at malls and carry on at work. For the most part, we have tried to oblige them. School is back in session. The World Series will be played soon. Yet something is most definitely "off."
Everyday we hear reports from Afghanistan about our progress, while at the same time we cannot escape the fact that our homes are the Front. The war is nearly omnipresent. And therein lays the paradoxical nature of our task.
We are being urged to carry on and hunker down at the same time. Which message are we supposed to listen to? In the absence of proper guidance and genuine leadership, we are becoming exhausted from relentless psychic bouncing.
We are buoyed by the courage and leadership of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle when he refuses to close the Senate in the face of an anthrax scare. However, during the same day, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert reminds us of the dichotomy in our current leadership as he closes the House of Representatives in the face of a similar threat.
Inevitably some of us will remain cautious or even afraid despite any leaders' urgings to the contrary. But when thousands of people show up at charity events to raise support for the victims of the Pentagon and World Trade Center attacks and our own elected officials fear going to work, the message seems to get lost.
Simply put: We are at war. Our way of life is being threatened and it is our obligation and right to defend ourselves. So let's get the bad guys and move on. Acknowledging that there are bad people out there who want to kill me for no reason other than that I am not one of them is a frightening prospect. But realizing this fact is the first step in overcoming the paralyzing effect that can accompany that fear.
And because I am an American and would never want to be anything else, my options are limited. I may be in the position to do no more than what a courageous firefighter did at a concert in Madison Square Garden; paraphrasing, "Osama, you can kiss my American ass." And while this act itself does little more than make me feel better, that unambiguous and unequivocal defiance appears to be in short supply among too many of our leaders right now.
Leadership demands the courage to act consistently on one's convictions. When America and the civilized world declared war on terrorism everywhere, we did not carve out an exception for Palestinian terror against Israel. What is the message when, after telling the Taliban it must turn bin Laden over to America or have us "smoke him out," the State Department asserts that Israel is not equally entitled to pursue the murderers of one of its cabinet ministers when Arafat refuses to arrest them or turn them over to Israeli authorities? Is this message hypocritical or just confused? Moral ambiguity is an attitude that easily rubs off on others.
Yet our nation has inaugurated a staunch anti-terrorist agenda, established a new cabinet-level position and massed troops around the pariah Taliban nation of Afghanistan. Clearly, we will not be returning to the "status quo;" we are living in a world that has just gotten scarier. We face multiple attacks of bioterrorism every day by people who are happy to poison our little kids and joyfully make widows and orphans. This is not a time to "pussy-foot" around.
If we really want people to return to some sense of normalcy, then let people behave normally. If we are to carry on, but with a constant consciousness of the war, then let's do that. But pick one. Although one might argue that seeing our President dressed up in an internationally coordinated polka-dot silk shirt at an Asian trade conference helps portray a sense of normalcy, there are others - and probably quite a few - who would want him to ask the Chinese leadership why they do not condemn in absolute and unequivocal terms the murder of Americans.
He is our leader. We need him to be deliberate, strong and definitive. In their unprovoked and cowardly attacks, bin Laden and other representatives of radical Islam have already attacked our government, our servicemen and our homes; they have killed our children, our siblings and our parents. We have nothing to apologize for or to be circumspect about.
Our national leaders, including those in the State Department, must be clear. There can be no ambiguity in the message we send out to the rest of the world. They must state and demonstrate with clarity of purpose and no obfuscation that America will not tolerate terrorism. We will act to defend ourselves and America will unequivocally support the self-defense efforts of every other freedom loving country.
Then, and only then, will our Homeland Security mean something. While there are no guarantees, Americans with sound and courageous leadership can be counted on to do their part to banish the fear of everyday living in a very dangerous world.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.