Before I delve into this any, I want to make it very clear that I'm not trying to make light of either tragedy. Lives were lost and families were shattered during both horrific events. However, based on living through both and being a keen observer to the political world throughout these past 11 years, I can't help but be struck by some amazing similarities and differences I've noticed between the two.
The question always seems to be - "Do you remember where you were on 9/11?" Most people seem to remember where they were when word came that the Twin Towers had been struck in an apparent act of terrorism. A decade from now, will that same question be asked regarding Benghazi? "Where were you when the Benghazi attacks occurred?" While it'd be impossible for me to see into the future and provide an accurate report on the matter, I'm pretty confident that it's not going to happen. I only ask this because of the drastically different demeanor amongst politicians in response to the two tragedies.
The first question I always ask when it comes to 9/11 is not where a person was situated when the attacks took place, but if they remember the temporary coming together as a nation - including those in Washington. Our homeland had been struck. Many of us were in fear, not knowing if the attacks were over or if there were more to come. Most of us were simply in a state of shock and in need of some leadership. Sadly enough, as is so often the case, fear and tragedy brought this nation - this family - together. No longer did people care about another's age, gender, ethnicity, orientation, religion, party affiliation, etc. All of those labels, prejudices, and fears were temporarily pushed to the side. This was even the case in Washington. Just like average everyday people across the fifty states, the men and women in this nation's capital were fearful as well, were shocked to their core, and no longer cared about the next election - they simply cared about the safety of the people here at home. Republicans and Democrats actually worked together in light of this. Even other nations across the globe were showing us great support in light of the attacks. On the other side of this, perhaps due to the immense level of fear that had been instilled in them, not many members of Congress on either side questioned any moves made by then President George W. Bush. If anyone spoke out against going to war in the Middle East, he or she was typically referred to as a terrorist-sympathizer, that or the informal fallacy know as the false dilemma was put into place, where the following statement was made - "You're either with us or against us!" Until Bush's second term, however, not many members of Congress questioned his actions following the 9/11 attacks. This was four years after the fact.
That brings me to Benghazi. Like 9/11, Americans were killed in these attacks - four to be exact. While we can't measure individual lives according to a single number, we can measure the overall destruction and brutality of an event through numbers. Close to 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks. While the four individuals whom lost their lives in Benghazi were just as significant as any of the 3,000 whom died on 9/11, it's difficult to not compare the two events through numbers. The Benghazi attack registered approximately one-tenth of one percent of the deaths that occurred on 9/11. Regardless of the numbers, though, both events were significant tragedies. Referencing something I said earlier - one reason why I doubt we'll be asking ourselves where we were ten years from now when the Benghazi attacks occurred is because it wasn't on our home soil. There's something significantly different about being attacked abroad and being attacked at home. This may be on reason why it has been a much rarer occurrence for the Benghazi attacks to have had a unifying result as the 9/11 attacks did. At the same time, though, the behavior of people in Washington is substantially different now than in 2001. It appears as if Republicans in Washington are attempting to make Benghazi Obama's 9/11. They've criticized and questioned him more over the past few weeks concerning an attack that resulted in four dead Americans than Democrats questioned former President Bush for four years following the 9/11 attacks that resulted in nearly 3,000 Americans lives lost.
While I don't believe members of Congress should be as doe-eyed as they were following the 9/11 attacks, and not question any of the president's actions, I also don't think the excessive use of talking points and hyperbole is the way to go either. It would be nice if Congress could have come to the middle during both of these tragedies, where they questioned, investigated and attempted to find all the necessary answers to both hold people accountable and make certain something like it never happened again, while still being respectful to the person in office and showing more genuine concern for the country's safety than of winning news cycles to improve one's approval ratings.
The question always seems to be - "Do you remember where you were on 9/11?" Most people seem to remember where they were when word came that the Twin Towers had been struck in an apparent act of terrorism. A decade from now, will that same question be asked regarding Benghazi? "Where were you when the Benghazi attacks occurred?" While it'd be impossible for me to see into the future and provide an accurate report on the matter, I'm pretty confident that it's not going to happen. I only ask this because of the drastically different demeanor amongst politicians in response to the two tragedies.
The first question I always ask when it comes to 9/11 is not where a person was situated when the attacks took place, but if they remember the temporary coming together as a nation - including those in Washington. Our homeland had been struck. Many of us were in fear, not knowing if the attacks were over or if there were more to come. Most of us were simply in a state of shock and in need of some leadership. Sadly enough, as is so often the case, fear and tragedy brought this nation - this family - together. No longer did people care about another's age, gender, ethnicity, orientation, religion, party affiliation, etc. All of those labels, prejudices, and fears were temporarily pushed to the side. This was even the case in Washington. Just like average everyday people across the fifty states, the men and women in this nation's capital were fearful as well, were shocked to their core, and no longer cared about the next election - they simply cared about the safety of the people here at home. Republicans and Democrats actually worked together in light of this. Even other nations across the globe were showing us great support in light of the attacks. On the other side of this, perhaps due to the immense level of fear that had been instilled in them, not many members of Congress on either side questioned any moves made by then President George W. Bush. If anyone spoke out against going to war in the Middle East, he or she was typically referred to as a terrorist-sympathizer, that or the informal fallacy know as the false dilemma was put into place, where the following statement was made - "You're either with us or against us!" Until Bush's second term, however, not many members of Congress questioned his actions following the 9/11 attacks. This was four years after the fact.
That brings me to Benghazi. Like 9/11, Americans were killed in these attacks - four to be exact. While we can't measure individual lives according to a single number, we can measure the overall destruction and brutality of an event through numbers. Close to 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks. While the four individuals whom lost their lives in Benghazi were just as significant as any of the 3,000 whom died on 9/11, it's difficult to not compare the two events through numbers. The Benghazi attack registered approximately one-tenth of one percent of the deaths that occurred on 9/11. Regardless of the numbers, though, both events were significant tragedies. Referencing something I said earlier - one reason why I doubt we'll be asking ourselves where we were ten years from now when the Benghazi attacks occurred is because it wasn't on our home soil. There's something significantly different about being attacked abroad and being attacked at home. This may be on reason why it has been a much rarer occurrence for the Benghazi attacks to have had a unifying result as the 9/11 attacks did. At the same time, though, the behavior of people in Washington is substantially different now than in 2001. It appears as if Republicans in Washington are attempting to make Benghazi Obama's 9/11. They've criticized and questioned him more over the past few weeks concerning an attack that resulted in four dead Americans than Democrats questioned former President Bush for four years following the 9/11 attacks that resulted in nearly 3,000 Americans lives lost.
While I don't believe members of Congress should be as doe-eyed as they were following the 9/11 attacks, and not question any of the president's actions, I also don't think the excessive use of talking points and hyperbole is the way to go either. It would be nice if Congress could have come to the middle during both of these tragedies, where they questioned, investigated and attempted to find all the necessary answers to both hold people accountable and make certain something like it never happened again, while still being respectful to the person in office and showing more genuine concern for the country's safety than of winning news cycles to improve one's approval ratings.
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