Ok, so I've never actually been a classic "swing voter" so this diary may not be actually "on message" but I feel the need to post it. After all, these are called "diaries" not "talking points" and I always prefer the ones that talk about their personal stories.
I work for a telecommunications company and had been visiting a client located in tower II of the World Trade Center multiple times during the summer of 2001.
The morning of September 11, 2001 I lingered over the newspaper a few extra minutes before leaving my hotel room and boarding the train to the WTC from Times Square.
When I arrived at the station and began to enter the mall at the World Trade Center, there was security telling people to leave the area. I was puzzled, thinking it was a bomb scare, until people started running. I thought maybe there was a gunman. People yelled "don't run" so I calmy walked to the nearest exit to the street. When I got to the street I noticed everyone was looking up.
I couldnt believe the hole in the building with papers and things flying out. People said a plane had hit the tower. I was dazed until I heard someone say "don't jump, stay there and burn." It made me sick to hear and see that and I have never been one to rubberneck at an accident so I decided it was time to leave and try to get back to my hotel. Hell, I thought, who knows if there was some kind of chemical or biological weapon in that plane or if something is going to explode.
So I started walking away, and the police were out telling people to "keep moving."
All of a sudden I heard a loud "BOOM" and I looked up to see a fireball raining down on me. I thought my goodbyes to my family and friends and prayed for their safety. I then quickly ducked behind the corner of a building and asked the guy next to me "what was that" as the fireball landed a block or so away.
Yes, I was just outside the World Trade Center the morning of September 11. I made it back to the hotel, contacted family and friends over the internet (tv, phones and cell phones were all out), and realized we were at war.
It took me 3 days to be able to leave Manhattan, rent a car and drive back to Atlanta. Planes were not flying out of NY or NJ and I couldnt get on any flights out of Philly either.
On the drive home to Atlanta I listened to the radio and saw American flags waving from bridges through big towns and small ones. America had been attacked and we were all coming together. I felt good that our country will soon be taking the fight to the terrorists in Afghanistan.
Once safe at home my anxiety turned to anger and rage and I wanted to see Osama Bin Laden killed (tortured?!) for what he did to this country.
It's been 3 years since that happened.
September 11 could have easily turned me into a Bush supporter.
I supported going into Afghanistan and taking out the Taliban and I REALLY wanted to see Bin Laden captured or killed.
I wasn't quite sure that Iraq was the right thing to do with Afghanistan unfinished and all the concerns about that struggle, but I trusted Collin Powell when he went before the UN and pointed to where the WMD were.
But Iraq didn't go like they said it would and there were no WMD there and then Abu Ghrab happened and I was disgusted that the Bush Administration was mismanaging the war. Now the missing explosives really pissed me off because it seems like our soldiers are getting killed because of them.
And now this Bin Laden video. Why after 3 years do we have to be subjected to seeing this barbarian all over the tv screens again? It's like they are showing the trade center towers being attacked again and again and the memories of Sept 11 come flooding back.
But this time my rage is not so much at Bin Laden but at President Bush for not taking him out. While our soldiers die in Iraq, Osama Bin Laden is making political campaign ads in Pakistan?
I dont understand why people think Bush is better on terror. Is it because he's a Republican and a war hawk? Coming out guns blazing and going after the wrong target doesnt seem like a better strategy to me.
It seems to me John Kerry is exactly the man this country needs as President. He has experienced war from combat to protest. He is a strong leader who can bring this country together so we can fight the terrorists not each other.
I grew up watching the casualty figures from Vietnam mounting on tv every nite. I do not want my daughter to grow up seeing that in Iraq. I trust that John Kerry is the better commander in chief to make the right choices in Iraq. Bush has bungled too much for me to trust him. Honestly, I have wanted to trust Bush, for the sake of my country and my family and my life. I believe that John Kerry is who this country needs right now.
I am confident that on Tuesday John Kerry will win and I will have reason to feel good about the direction of America again.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and thank you Kos for making me feel a part of something.