I’m not one for marking annual occasions much on this blog whether good, bad or otherwise. Or tragic. But I will today.

The terrorists actions on Sept. 11 in the United States were awful.

We should take time to remember all the victims, direct and indirect.

But for me, the real tragedy is how the event has been misused, in ways that do not honor the dead, the hurt, and their families.

The real tragedy is how the event has done far more to mire this country in debt and blood, and to further polarize an already polarized nation.

It should have brought us together, and the real tragedy is that it continues to be used to divide. To divide who is truly patriotic from who is presumably not. To divide the suspicious types from the trustworthy ones. And so little of that with any basis in reality.

We should remember. We should remember those who suffered directly, who truly bear the scars, and we should remember how much time, money and goodwill we’ve squandered over petty shit when we should have been rebuilding not just broken buildings but broken relationships.