Real, 9-11 Vs. Political 9-11

I had worked late the night before.  Out chasing bandits.  We had only been in this house a month.  Still kind of settling in.  The kids were in school LONG before I woke up.

By the time I woke up, Deb said her sister, Sandy had called her and said a plane ran into the World Trade Center.  Wow!  Turn on CNN.  I'm sitting there in my bathrobe, watching this when it happens again.

Well THAT, can't be a coincidence.

So at this point, I figure I probably better go to work, cause some weird shit is happening.  But I had NO idea how weird it was going to get.  And how weird folks in SLC were going to get about it.

I took my time, don't get me wrong.  Long shower.  Had some breakfast.

But instead of the usual Levis and Polo shirt with the department badge embroidered on the front, I picked the shirt with, "POLICE" on the back, and wore the bullet, "resistant" underwear under it, and the gun BELT instead of the shoulder holster I would cover in a restaurant or court room.

I had no idea what I was walking into at the office.

If you know nothing about Mormons?  Know this.  They think they are the center of the entire UNIVERSE!  I got to the office just in time to be called, as an FTO, into a meeting with the powers that be in the office, who were, and I shit you not, discussing how we could help in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on Salt Lake City.

They decided that the metal detector that was in the hallway where we lead probationers/parolees into the meeting rooms, should be moved to the front door.  After all, we don't want a terrorist bomb getting inside the building.

Bullshit.

I guess I should explain who the guy in charge of our office was at the time.  It was Phil Kirk.  His previous job was as a motorcycle Cop for Salt Lake City and he wrote traffic tickets for them for a while, then he married, Nadine Whimmer from KSL, became SLCPD's, Public Information Officer.

Damn, he was a good looking Mormon who was on TV ALL the time.

The problem with him was?  The only thing sharp about him was his suits.  He's as dumb as the day is long.  And when his buddy, "Mr. Potato Head" who was in charge of Corrections at the time made him the boss in our office?  He was in WAY over his head.  He had no idea what Adult Probation and Parole did.

I have FORGOTTEN more about Corrections, than Phil Kirk ever knew.

So the morning of 9-11, Phil Kirk was in the, "Well, they attacked New York and went after Washington DC.  Salt Lake City MUST be next!  We need to prepare!" mode.

Yep, lets lock down everything, and I'll shoot a 747 our of the air before it crashes in to, The Temple, as that's their next LOGICAL target, with my .40 Calibre Glock.

This guy was totally delusional.

Everyone knows the rest of the story.  "W" used it as an excuse to attack a country that didn't attack us, but had LOTS of oil.  We didn't learn anything from the Russians spending 10 years in Afghanistan, and we are still there.  The, "Molympics" went off without a hitch cause of all the Federal Money spent on law enforcement.

I spent two months teaching FBI Agents from Florida how to pull off their gloves with their teeth and draw a gun from under a coat.  But the overtime the FBI paid me paid off my truck.

So today, I think about and honor the 263 brothers and sisters behind the badge that died that day.  And all the regular folks who did.  I won't forget.

But I won't get fooled again, either.