nyc.

I just wanted to say something about the terrorism today...

NYC is the symbol of America. Fuck Washington DC. Fuck everything else. NYC. The original melting pot/salad bowl/whatever. Diversity. The good and the bad. The best and the worst. The bastion of capitalism and the stronghold of liberalism, at least on the East Coast. There's nothing like New York, New York.

As Chuck would say, there are cities...and then, there's The City.

They tore out the heart of the City today. There's never going to be another World Trade Center like this first one, even if they rebuild it. The innocence is gone, I guess. They tore out the heart of the City that's the heart of the United States, and they did it because they wanted to destroy our spirit.

They failed.

The World Trade Center might be gone. And I'm pissed about that. I'm really pissed. I don't care if New York City's crime rate is sky-high and a zillion people get murdered there every year. That's different. That's ourselves killing ourselves, and that's...allowed. Not good, but allowed. That's part of New York's imperfect, stained, macho glory. But THIS. This is a fucking outrage.

NYC is a city somewhere between heaven and hell, but it's OUR city.

It's our city, even if they blew the Twin Towers up. And all they've really done, is piss us off. All of us.

We're a tough breed. Those of us in New York City. Those of us in San Francisco. All of us. We're a diverse breed, and we don't always get along, but when shit hits the fan, we unite. E pluribus fuckin unum, assholes, so gloat while you can. We're coming after you.

And there's hope. There's always hope. Out of atrocities come beauty. I heard people say "I love you" today, and really mean it. There were rescuers rushing into the fray, ready to give their lives for others. There were volunteers heading into ground zero hoping to help somehow. Anyhow.

I saw the hospitals flooded with people willing to give their own life's blood to aid strangers. I saw people of every imaginable religion praying for the wellbeing of strangers. I saw young men and women still on the brink of life hold up candles in honor of the dead. We gather; we cry; we sing; we will pull through.

They can blow up all of New York. They can blow the whole fucking nation up. It won't make a difference. Those who survive will just come back twice as strong, twice as pissed.

This shout-out goes to New York City. For those who died, and to those who lived: rock on.