Rob's Soapbox - Emblem Of Now

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>With a plethora of possible topics, I found myself struggling for a tone or direction this week.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It’s the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and there are endless things to be said, especially with the backdrop of America’s disastrous Afghanistan pullout last week. Countless false stories are being written about how America “pulled together,” after 9/11, and how different we’ve acted in the face of Covid. Obviously, those writers didn’t actually live through the events in 2001, lest they’d remember that less than a month after the Towers fell, we were back at each other’s throats. Absolutely nothing about America’s reaction and response to Covid is surprising nor dissimilar to 20 years ago. Additionally, the entire world is at each other’s throats disagreeing over the virus; let’s not pretend we’re special.</p><p><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/09/03/911-vs-covid-19-us-responses-unity-divison/5695433001/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/09/03/911-vs-covid-19-us-responses-unity-divison/5695433001/</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Speaking of Afghanistan, the Taliban is going door-to-door hunting for Americans to slaughter. Good times. <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/taliban-soldiers-door-executions-110701194.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://news.yahoo.com/taliban-soldiers-door-executions-110701194.html</a></p><p><a href="https://nypost.com/2021/09/05/california-woman-in-kabul-says-taliban-hunting-americans/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://nypost.com/2021/09/05/california-woman-in-kabul-says-taliban-hunting-americans/</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Covid remains never-ending and divisive. More and more Americans are obediently wearing masks again for no rational reason, especially since cases of the delta variant have peaked. Not to worry, though, there’s plenty of doom and gloom to come as we head towards another dark winter. The flu will miraculousl