DraftRudy.com Newsletter #6: Unity on the Eighth Anniversary of the September 11th Terrorists Attacks

Today is a sad day -- the eighth anniversary of the day when we were attacked by terrorists and the world changed forever. Although all Americans shared in the tragedy and the burden of September 11th, it was our state and our city that was targeted and it was largely our fellow citizens, our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, and neighbors that lost their lives on that day. Today is a day we remember and mourn -- a day when we try to console those whose loved ones perished, and a day where we try to imagine the grief that has plagued those whose families were no longer whole when those towers fell. Finally, New York, today is also a day when we can reflect on how far we have come in ensuring that such an event never happens again, and ask ourselves what that day, September 11, 2001, meant to us and continues to mean to us even now.

Last Sunday, NBC’s “Meet the Press” Mayor Giuliani was a guest and was asked some of these questions – given a chance to answer himself, are we now, eight years after the attacks of September 11 and the subsequent war on terror, any safer (http://www.draftrudy.com/news/1258).   As a country, we have come a long way in securing ourselves against future threat. “Thousands of terrorist operatives have been killed or captured. Terrorist safe havens and training grounds in Afghanistan where operatives were trained have been destroyed. Military forces largely have shattered al-Qaeda's leadership in Iraq. Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden and top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, who once closely managed al-Qaeda's day-to-day operations, have been driven into seclusion” (http://tinyurl.com/muo7jh). But, future terrorism is still a real fear. After all, terrorist attacks are still being planned against us. “Since 9/11, over 23 attacks have been publicly foiled” (http://tinyurl.com/mxkdam). Proven leadership in times of crisis will be necessary for our state and our nation to survive and flourish.

We can all remember the days after 9/11. In those dark days, it was Rudy’s voice on radio and his image on television, reassuring New Yorkers that all would be well. He worked at the site and organized our firefighters and police officers, New York’s bravest and finest (really, two groups that cannot be praised enough for the incredible job they did for us, going above and beyond the call of duty).  In the days after the tragic attack, it was his voice that called on us to rise up and move forward, saying “Tomorrow New York is going to be here. And we're going to rebuild, and we're going to be stronger than we were before…” (http://tinyurl.com/2heahq). More than anything else, Mayor Giuliani was the man who, in the wake of tragedy, brought us together like no one else could. What we know most assuredly about Rudy Giuliani is that he is “a man who could be counted on to unite a city in the midst of its greatest crisis. Thus historian Vincent J. Cannato concluded in September, 2006, ‘With time, Giuliani's legacy will be based on more than just 9/11. He left a city immeasurably better off -- safer, more prosperous, more confident -- than the one he had inherited eight years earlier, even with the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center at its heart’” (http://tinyurl.com/lqjsdc).

As each of us remembers 9/11 in our own ways, we should remember the feeling of unity that came after. We were no longer divided by the petty differences that had driven us apart, but were united as Americans and New Yorkers, standing together.  This is what Rudy Giuliani offers as our next Governor -- unity. He hasn’t even declared and already he’s bringing people together! It’s true! Mayor Giuliani is unifying New Yorkers, once again. In addition to our humble efforts, here at DraftRudy.com, to bring the Mayor back into New York politics, which began late last year, just this past week it was announced that a “a bipartisan ‘Draft Rudy’ committee has been formed, headed by former Village Voice publisher Bartle Bull and onetime mayoral deputy Tony Coles” (http://www.draftrudy.com/news/1376). Not even a declared candidate and already Rudy is changing the political landscape -- unifying Democrats and Republican behind common goals.

On this September 11 -- the anniversary of one of the most disgusting events to ever occur on our soil, let us rededicate ourselves to rebuilding and to making sure that “we’re going to be stronger than we were before.”

We’re going to draft and elect Rudy Giuliani Governor of New York in 2010 and unify New Yorkers once again.

Until next time,

Your Friends at DraftRudy.com