oh i almost forgot!

ah, 9/11.

the day we remember an act of external terrorism, committed on u.s. soil. not only did it take around 3,000 lives then, it’s still taking lives today in the form of long-term effects. aside from that, it birthed waves of islamophobia and conspiracy theories (which, of course, are a form of anti-semitism). fucked the united states up. at the time, it seemed like things “got back to normal” but that’s debatable.

and yet, remembering the horrible loss of life caused by that act of external terrorism amid internal terrorism that the u.s. government both sanctions and participates in? seems a little callous. especially when that internal terrorism is so multi-faceted: a non-response to a global pandemic, resulting in an uncountable number of unnecessarily lost lives; a refusal to get even the slightest grip on the outsize violence committed by american police departments and then turning those same, unhinged thugs on the people protesting their acts; a tacit collaboration with cowardly losers calling themselve patriots as they spray bear mace at protestors and shoot them in defense of property.

i lost a loved one when the north tower collapsed, so i’m very wary of anyone trying to compare casualties. one death makes an event awful, whether you brand that death unnecessary or otherwise. so the first person to die in 9/11 made it awful. the first person to die from covid-19 made that awful. while it is by no means the starting point of police violence against black people, breonna taylor’s death makes it awful. the first person to die in the protests.

if you know your history, there’s a point (possibly in the 80’s or early 90’s) where we could have prevented the 9/11 attack. but trying to assign that blame is tricky, even with all we know about the mujahideen fight against the soviets and its aftermath. and 9/11 sparked all kinds of problems that can be laid at the feet of george w. bush for sure.

but the current u.s. president, on the other hand, is directly responsible for all the things i used as comparison. donald trump has, either through his own person or through orders carried about by his administration, intentionally infected millions of americans with a serious virus for no real reason. he’s indicated no concern for the actions of law enforcement officers who kill american citizens, nor for their outlandish budgets or lack of de-escalation skills. and then he turned around and sent unbadged assholes into some cities to incite conflict and make it seem like the protests were riots.

i distinctly remember his calls into tv shows, spreading misinformation and gloating about the size of his building. so, even though next year will mark 20 years, this feels like as good a year as any to make the following known: i wish donald trump had died in the 9/11 attacks. as that didn’t happen, i hope he contracts the covid-19 virus and dies, painfully and slowly while intubated. if not that, then maybe the american people somehow prevail over his blatant efforts to rig the upcoming election and some secret service agents shoot him an obscene number of times when he refuses to leave office. failing either of those outcomes, i hope ivanka overcomes the trauma he inflicted on her in her preteen and early teenage years, sprays him with some mace, and chokes him out like jabba the hutt.