A Lack of Love or "Let's Roll"

For the past week, I had only one cable “news” option -- CNN.  Jane Fonda would be proud of her ex-husband’s creation.  The big story for CNN that week: Rudy Giuliani said that he didn’t think Obama liked America.  The only “proof” CNN offered was that Obama said he did.  Almost unbelievably, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, like Giuliani, most Americans don’t think Obama loves America either.  Can you imagine that is being said about a sitting US president?  Less than half (47%) of the Americans polled think Obama loves America.  An astonishing 69% of Republicans say he doesn’t.

Although it may not be regarded as “history” yet, there was an event that took place on September 11, 2001 or 9/11 as it’s commonly known, that is well worth remembering. On that eventful September morning, Todd Morgan Beamer found himself the unelected leader of a   group of Americans aboard United Airlines Flight 93.  Coincidentally, Giuliani’s leadership surrounding that same event earned him the title of “America’s Mayor.”  

The parable of that plane has been on my mind for months now.  There are two aspects to that flight that are pertinent.  First, the plane had been taken over by those who don’t like America.  Secondly, there was a point in time where the passengers’ actions could, and could not, prevent the plane from plowing into that Pennsylvania field.  

For whatever reasons, my mind views Obama and his cronies at the controls of the levers of power in Washington, as dangerous to America as those terrorists were at the controls in the cockpit of that Boeing 757.   If not for the intervention of Todd Beamer and some of his fellow passengers, the airliner would likely have smashed into the Capitol of the United States.  If Obama and his ilk continue on their current flight path, it’s my conviction that investigators will soon be looking for the America’s Black Box to ascertain what caused our destruction.

Beamer and the boys of Flight 93 had some insight into their likely fate if they failed to act.  Their flight departed 42 minutes late due to runway delays. Six minutes after their takeoff, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower. Fifteen minutes after that, United Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower.  Flight 93 was over Ohio when the pilot radioed Cleveland to ask about an alert to "beware of cockpit intrusion."  Three minutes later, Cleveland controllers heard screams from the cockpit's open microphone. The radical Islamist hijackers had taken over the plane's controls and were overheard telling passengers, "Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board."

Beamer tried to make a call using the GTE airphone but ended up connected to GTE supervisor Lisa Jefferson. As FBI agents listened in, Beamer told Jefferson that hijackers had taken over and the pilots and one passenger were dead.  Based on cell phone accounts, Beamer and three others developed a plan to take back control of the plane from the hijackers.

 

Beamer told Jefferson that they were going to "jump on" the hijackers to thwart their plan. Beamer, a Christian college graduate, Sunday School teacher, husband, father of two young sons and with a daughter on the way, recited the Lord's Prayer and the 23rd Psalm with Jefferson as others joined in. Beamer told Jefferson, "If I don't make it, please call my family and let them know how much I love them." She then heard Beamer say, "Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll." 

According to Flight 93's voice data recorder, there was pounding and crashing sounds against the cockpit door.  A passenger screams in English. "Let's get them!"  A hijacker shouts, "Allahu Akbar!"   Minutes later a hijacker orders, "Pull it down! Pull it down!" The plane turned hard to the right, rolled on to its back, and plowed into an empty Shanksville, Pennsylvania field at 580 miles an hour, killing everyone on board. 

There were two points where this all might well have been prevented.  Thorough intelligence of the radical Islamists training and intentions could have prevented them from boarding, making Beamer’s actions unnecessary.  The second point was after they realized the hijackers had seized control. 

Barrack Obama is now in control of the cockpit.  Most Americans have concluded he really doesn’t care for his country or its passengers.   His unwillingness to obey, abide by, preserve and protect our Constitution has caused a lot of concern in the cabin.

Wondering whether it’ll be impact or “Let’s Roll” that happens next. 

"Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?"

I’m a boomer.  Not the Cold War submarine or Islamic terrorist type, but a post–World War II baby boom person -- born between the years 1946 and 1964 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Growing up as a boomer, the adults in our lives used the assassination of JFK as an event that no one could forget where they were when they first got the news.

For boomers, that unforgettable event was 9/11.  Sadly, many of the boomers saw the second plane slam into the second tower on live TV.  Of course, that wasn’t the end of it -- the twin towers were followed by the Pentagon and Flight 93 plowing into that Pennsylvania field.

Georgia-native and country music artist, Alan Jackson wrote a great song shortly after the tragic events of that day – musically asking the question, “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?"

Well, it’s been 15 years and I’m certain that for those of us of a “certain age” we can still clearly recall the answer to Alan’s question.  Yes, the incidents of that day, brought to our shores by Islamic terrorists were terrible, but what makes the day so memorable?  Why can we remember where we were?

Was it the fact that well-educated, Muslim men, most from Saudi Arabia, took objects of America’s global prominence, i.e. large passenger aircraft, turned them into flying torpedoes, and used them to destroy other objects of our global prominence, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon?  What kind of sick religion can produce adherents that attain martyrdom in destroying buildings packed with peaceful employees?  

Was it the sheer senselessness of the events of that day?  People forced to decide between leaping to their death and being incinerated in their own office.  Massive buildings reduced to rubble. 

Was it the courage of the first-responders that selflessly went into those burning buildings to try to help?  They took their training and their chances as they went to the aid of their fellow man.  Compare that to the terrorists who took flight training so they could visit tragedy on the twin towers.   

It has been 15 years since the events of that day and our Nation’s ability to attain moral clarity is more muddled than ever.  We now have a president who sees us (conservatives and this country) as the problem.  There is confusion about the meaning of marriage and the inability to distinguish between man and woman.  When it comes to college, our dear leaders think illegal aliens deserve in-state tuition rates – charging a fellow citizen from a neighboring state more than a student that illegally came from another country.  No wonder they hate us – we’re stupid.

Let’s quickly take stock of the last 15 years and look forward to the next 15 years.  Our nation is at a crossroads.  Fifteen years of war and nothing to show for it but monuments of marble, mentally and physically scarred veterans, a mountain of debt, and a bitterly divided nation.  Most recently, we’ve seen multi-million dollar football players who will not even stand for the national anthem.

Twenty-five percent of Americans alive today aren’t even old enough to remember the events of 9/11.  The liberals aren’t smart enough to remember what happened on 9/11.  Obama may want to empty GTMO, bail from Afghanistan and blame America, but the ideology of radical Islam is anything but done.  

If the radical Islamic terrorists had complete freedom, there’d be one-hundred more 9/11s.  If ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab or countless other radical Islamic groups had their way, there’d be dirty bombs and disaster delivered on our nation daily.  If Islam had its way, every American infidel would be forced to convert, pay tribute (jizya), or die.

What if Jesus Christ had His way?  His desire is for people to find salvation and eternal life in Him.  In the Gospel of John Jesus put it this way, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…”  Jesus offers an entirely different program than jizya or jihad.

That Alan Jackson song that asked, “Where were you” eventually topped the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for five weeks and earned Jackson a Grammy Award for Best Country Song.  The chorus to that song reminds us of the only enduring hope there is:  

“I'm just a singer of simple songs.  I'm not a real political man.

 I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran.  

But I know Jesus and I talk to God, and I remember this from when I was young. 

Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us, and the greatest is love.”