This is the kind of art I like to see most. Full of expression with a strong impression, & not a slave to any singular school of technique.

I wondered how you would be able to capture the grief & horror with anything other than a pitch black canvas.

I wondered how you would be able to capture the humanity & the swirling thoughts of the collective without it being too grotesque or too colorful.

I wondered how you would deal with an all too familiar subject without it seeming trite.

I log on this afternoon, & there it is.

Fantastic work.

Peace be with us all.

The thing that really bothers me is that more and more it seems that the answer to the song "Have you forgotten?" is "Yes".

T:

You sure have a way with words, just like John has a way with art.

John:

I think your work is perfect for the occasion. I see the resolve and strength while feeling the grief and pain.

Mauser:

It is we who refuse to forget who must steadfastly stand as resolute reminders of this atrocity and in testimony of the innocents and those who died trying to save them.

On that day, we saw both the worst that evil could do and in response, the best of the American spirit and character.

We must also pledge to work to overcome the current malaise and funk our nation is in and return her to greatness yet again.

Hey GANG
Thanks for the positive words. When this day rolls around each year, we all must measure our character and reaffirm our allegiances. We ask the question, "Who are we?". There seems to be 280,000,000 different answers.

Thank you for reminding me my nationhood is important, not impotent.

Hey T:

Your words meant alot to me. Creating this kind of emotional work has many traps. Thanks for your encouraging interpretation. I was going for something stately without the mawkish jingoism. I feel very good about this one.

May American steadfastness reign.

Superior piece.

Excellent Take on it!

But, pisses me off that Nanny Bloomberg wouldn't let the firemen or policemen go to the ceremony! No clergy either! WTF!

And what an embarrassment that after 10 years we're still looking at a hole in the ground! Really? Really?

Yeah, Bloomberg has a lot to show for his ten years as mayor.

Beautiful piece, John.

On that day, four of my co-workers were sent in to look through the mess left behind by an act of cowardice wrapped in the banner of religion. My friends returned not like wounded, defeated soldiers, but as men who had witnessed a most profound victory. When the dust cleared, a US flag, torn and tattered, was flying at ground zero.

We will not forget.

We found the mutt responsible, and brought him to justice.

We will be watching.

Yesterday, I wanted to address each of your comments. I started writing an addendum to Mauser's comment, but that turned into an essay that at 11 pages still isn't finished. So--I guess I'll have to leave it at a heartfelt "Thank you."

I did a little bit of "surfing" when I logged on this evening, & I came across a "news" piece that inspired a little bit of sardonic humor regarding the banning of clergy:

Apparently, atheists are so bothered by the display of a cross-shaped remnant of steel beams they have filed a lawsuit claiming they are suffering from "mental pain & anguish" including "dyspepsia, symptoms of depression, headaches, anxiety, and mental pain and anguish from the knowledge that they are made to feel officially excluded from the ranks of citizens who were directly injured by the 9/11 attack."

In other words, atheists--who claim to have the most vigorous intellects of all of mankind--are so mentally weak they experience significant suffering caused by a mere symbol of something they insist doesn't exist--& they insist the only way they can "enjoy" their secular humanist "expression" is by squelching the expression of everyone they disagree with. Pantywaists.

One notable insolent jerk piped up with some bilge about Norway & Christian "holy wars" (which, by the way, modern Christians denounce).

To that numb-skull I say this:

If you want to play "pin the blame on the extremists," take a look at the regimes of Stalin & Chairman Mao; between their two "tolerant" atheist socialist societies, they slaughtered somewhere around a combined 60 or 70 million people (give or take a few million)--& some of your cohorts cite Chairman Mao as a favorite "political philosopher." How long have you been trapped in that wet paper bag?