Patriots Day?

by: Carla Augustad

Tue Sep 11, 2012 at 18:45:11 PM MST

Our hearts were busted open or shut eleven years ago when we witnessed the Largest National Security Failure in the history of man collapse on thousands of innocent people.  We watched it happen over and over on a repeating and inescapable video loop.

Although there are some who cling to the memory of a shared tragedy they still mistake for shared purpose, September 11 2011 changed us individually and collectively it has not been for our best America yet.

Why have some decided to celebrate Patriots Day, and what does it have to do with veterans other than the fact that our military was unable to protect us?

It was only last fall that Congress including our own Denny Rehberg voted against funding healthcare for the first responders who gave everything a person can offer their country.  What is patriotic about that?

I understand that our veterans are struggling, many have not been made whole and that 18 of them are commiting suicide every day, but the only thing the military can say about September 11 2011 is that they were not here when we needed them.

That is not the fault of our veterans or any  reason to make this day all about them.  Making everything about glorifying our troops only seems to make it easier for our country to avoid honoring our commitments to them.

I don't see anything patriotic about that at all.