When the first jet loaded with terrified and confused passengers was crashing into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11th, I was on the highway and about ten minutes out from pulling into the parking lot at the high school where I taught English to six classes of juniors and seniors. As I was walking into my classroom a short while later, a colleague asked if I had heard about the plane crash in New York City. I had not, and I continued on my preoccupied way.
By the end of that 50-minute class period, the world had changed, and “Islamic terrorism” had entered the lexicon of our language and embedded itself in our consciousness as we mourned the many thousands of deaths and injuries that resulted from this traumatic attack on our nation and people.
After the death and wreckage of that horrific day, New York City developers spent years rebuilding the site, with One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the United States, being the centerpiece. However, in a spasm of historical ignorance and insensitivity that spits on the graves of those who perished on that day, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has now decreed that One World Trade Center will be lit up as part of the celebration of Muslim American Heritage Month throughout the entire state.
Although this bizarre act could perhaps be considered a gesture of forgiveness or closure, one cannot help but wonder if this is simply the latest manifestation of the amnesia that regularly afflicts Democrats.
After all, this is the same Party that embraced the insane propaganda of the so-called “1619 Project” that blamed the founding of America for causing the many thousands of years of world slavery that preceded it. Neatly ignoring the historical reality that human slavery was pioneered in Africa and the Middle East (need anyone be reminded that Hebrew slaves built the pyramids roughly 4,000 years ago?) and the inconvenient fact that America, along with Britain, shed the blood that finally erased the scourge of slavery from much of the world, this and other attempts to rewrite history to support a narrative of so-called white supremacy are foundational ideological goals of forgetful fools who daily strive to spread hatred of America while justifying claims of ongoing victimization that twist our national and personal dialogues into knots.
It was difficult to escape the same worries about the memory problems of Democrats while listening to New York City Mayor Mamdani gushing about “the warmth of collectivism” in his Inaugural speech, which could perhaps be the most oblivious and ironic line ever uttered by a politician. Communism/Socialism is a governing philosophy that has spread famine, poverty, and terror on a global scale for over a century, and it is estimated that 100 million people died during the 20th century under Marxist regimes (while those who survived were ruthlessly stripped of their most basic freedoms and human rights). Singing the praises of Communist collectivism in a city that grew and flourished thanks to Capitalist work and initiative—but which has been slowly strangling for decades thanks to enlightened “Progressive” (read: Communist/Socialist) policies that have impoverished many while enriching the insular and grasping political class—is the clearest sign that New York City is now being run by Marxist minds encumbered by ideology and devoid of good judgment.
New Yorkers are in for a rude awakening when this supposedly comforting collectivist warmth turns into a less-than-comforting dumpster fire of joblessness, crime—and finger pointing. Somebody will have to be blamed for the failures just over the horizon, and you can be certain that it won’t be Mamdani and his wrecking crew of extremists.
While New York City is slipping beneath the shadow of Socialism, in another part of our hemisphere, a long-suffering nation and its people finally have some reason to hope—thanks to the resolve of President Trump. Venezuelans, who have been forced to struggle for their daily existence thanks to the warmth of collectivism over the past two decades of shockingly incompetent Socialist rule—this despite having the largest reserves of oil in the world—don’t seem all that unhappy about the arrest of Nicolás Maduro by the United States military in a stunning lightning raid.
Although the usual cast of Democrat Socialists, headlined by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, are appalled (their collective amnesia has apparently allowed them to forget the Biden-Harris administration put a $25 million dollar bounty on Venezuelan President Maduro), it would have been nice if at least one Democrat leader remembered to recognize the amazing planning, professionalism, and bravery of our nation’s military men and women, who carried out their mission to extradite Maduro for trial as a narco-trafficker without a casualty among themselves. We must never forget those who put their lives on the line to serve our nation and people.
Moreover, having somehow forgotten that our nation’s security is guaranteed by purposeful action and not their endless social media outrage over the policies of President Trump and his Republican allies, Democrats should also remember that this military strike might begin to chip away at our historic high of roughly 100,000 people a year dying of opioid overdoses every year, a figure that is shockingly unmentioned by Democrats, who often forget that America exists outside of their ideological bubble.
Democrats should also remember to thank the men and women of our nation’s police forces who patrol and serve despite the crude insults thrown their way—not to mention ICE agents who are working to clean up the mess left behind after the Biden administration forgot to protect our borders.
Unfortunately, this is likely too much remembering for Democrats, whose brand is built on forgetting our nation’s history, our nation’s security, and the needs of Americans who are not cheering for a Communist takeover of our country. The short (or non-existent) memories of Democrats are, obviously, politically expedient—but divorced from any discernible reality.