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WATCH: Omar Suggests She Was a VICTIM of 9/11

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Far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) refused to acknowledge on Sunday that her remarks trivializing the September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorist attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans were offensive and went so far as to suggest that she, herself, was a victim of the attack.

Omar, appearing on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” with host Margaret Brennan, was asked by Brennan about her description of the terrorist attacks as “some people did something.” . . .

Omar danced around the question, refusing to answer it while suggesting that she was a victim of 9/11: “I mean so, 9/11 was an attack on all Americans. It was an attack on all of us. And I certainly could not understand the weight of the pain that the victims of the- the families of 9/11 must feel.”

“But I think it is really important for us to make sure that we are not forgetting, right, the aftermath of what happened after 9/11,” Omar continued. “Many Americans found themselves now having their civil rights stripped from them. And so what I was speaking to was the fact that as a Muslim, not only was I suffering as an American who was attacked on that day, but the next day I woke up as my fellow Americans were now treating me a suspect.”

(Read more from “Omar Suggests She Was a Victim of 9/11” HERE)

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CNN Says ‘Right Wing Terrorists’ Are Worse Than Islamist Terrorists Who Attacked on 9/11 — and Gets Brutal Backlash; Al Qaeda Leader Cheers 9/11 Attacks, as Search to Bring Him to Justice Continues

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By The Blaze. CNN’s John Avlon faced a lot of backlash on social media after a bizarre segment where he tried to compare the attack on 9/11 to the threat of “right wing terrorism,” on the anniversary of the horrible attack.

“Here’s a startling statistic. Since 9/11, right wing terrorists have killed more people in the United States than jihadist terrorists,” Avlon said during the segment entitled “Reality Check.”

“There are some folks for who their, for their own political purposes would like to keep the focus on only one form of political violence over another, but that would be unwise because we don’t have the luxury of choosing which threats we face. And there’s a case to be made that these threats actually echo each other,” he continued. . .

“To mark the 18th anniversary of 9/11 is to reflect on how we’re all the children of 9/11. That attack unleashed destructive forces that we’re still wrestling with,” Avlon concluded. “But to truly learn the lessons of 9/11 is to resolve not to let hate win, or fear define us.” . . .

Many critics on social media replied that it was tone-deaf to try to twist the meaning of the 9/11 attacks on a different kind of terrorism altogether.

(Read more from “CNN Says ‘Right Wing Terrorists’ Are Worse Than Islamist Terrorists Who Attacked on 9/11 — and Gets Brutal Backlash” HERE)

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Al Qaeda Leader Cheers 9/11 Attacks

By NBC New York. Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri put out a video Wednesday to again cheer the slaughter of thousands of Americans on 9/11, 18 years ago.

The CIA and U.S. military is still trying to find the elusive Al Qaeda leader who is believed to be hiding in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Analysts believe he does not use cell phones and has little contact with the outside world in order to avoid being captured or killed. But al-Zawahiri is still releasing video and audio messages to try to inspire his thousands of followers, with three recordings released in just the last few weeks — including the one today.

In the tape released for 9/11, al-Zawahiri called the killing of 3,000 people in New York, the Pentagon and on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania “blessed raids.”

As minority leader, New York Sen. Charles Schumer is one of the few leaders on Capitol Hill to get regular intelligence briefings on the hunt for al-Zawahiri.

“He was number two. He has the blood of thousands of Americans on his hands,” Schumer said of al-Zawahiri’s role back in 2001. Schumer said he is hopeful progress could soon be made in finally bringing al-Zawahiri to justice. (Read more from “Al Qaeda Leader Cheers 9/11 Attacks, as Search to Bring Him to Justice Continues” HERE)

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Wow: Speaker at 9/11 Ceremony Calls out Ilhan Omar

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Today marks the 18th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, when Al Qaeda terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 people. Or, as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) likes to describe it, “some people did something.” She used that description while speaking at an event for the Council of American-Islamic Relations in California. The full quote is below:

“Here’s the truth,” she said. “For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen. Frankly, I’m tired of it. And every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it. CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.”

Every September 11 in New York City, the victims’ loved ones read aloud the names of their brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, husbands and wives who perished that day. This year, one speaker did not let Omar’s shocking comment go unaddressed. Nicholas Haros Jr., who lost his mother, Frances Haros, in the attack, showed up to today’s ceremony with a shirt that read, “some people did something” and a message for the congresswoman.

“‘Some people did something,’ said a freshman congresswoman from Minnesota, to support and justify the creation of CAIR, [The Council on American-Islamic Relations],” Haros said after reading his mother’s name. “Today I’m here to respond to you exactly who did what to whom. Madam, objectively speaking, we know who and what was done. There is no uncertainty about that. Why your confusion?”

(Read more from “Wow: Speaker at 9/11 Ceremony Calls out Ilhan Omar” HERE)

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9/11 Victim Fund Is Almost Depleted. Here’s What That Means for Survivors.

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The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which provides ongoing financial support for those who fell ill due to the 2001 terrorist attacks, is running out of money, officials said on Friday. As of now, the fund has paid out $5 billion in benefits out of its $7.3 billion budget.

According to the Associated Press, around 40,000 people have applied for financial assistance, with 19,000 of those claims still pending. The fund’s special master Rupa Bhattacharyya said they’re having to cut the amount a claimant receives to make sure there’s at least some assistance for every one who should be supported. . .

Because fund organizers knew they’re on the verge of running out of funds, they established a new practice: the fund would pay 50 percent of qualified claims submitted by Feb. 1. Qualified claims received after Feb. 1 would be paid at 30 percent of their value. . .

Part of the reason so many claimants have come forward is because of the number of first responders who worked in soot without proper respiratory protection. Many of those who developed respiratory or digestive-system ailments did so almost immediately. Other issues, like brain cancers and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, take longer to develop.

According to Bhattacharyya, the volume of claims has increased over the past year, with more than 8,000 claims filed in the last four months. Some of those claimants are people who lived or worked near the World Trade Center but weren’t actively involved in recovery efforts. (Read more from “9/11 Victim Fund Is Almost Depleted. Here’s What That Means for Survivors.” HERE)

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U.S. Has Spent Nearly $6 Trillion on War Since 9/11

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. . .America spends a lot of money on so-called “entitlements,” which are actually the programs that make America America: Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, unemployment and welfare. Most Americans are OK with that. Few object to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, America’s largest hunger safety net.

But Americans are right to be wary of the U.S. war operation, which, according to a new study, doled out some six trillions on war since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. That’s $6,000,000,000,000, and that’s a lot of scratch.

Just last month we hit another milestone: The U.S. has now been at war in Afghanistan for 17 years. That makes it the second longest in U.S. history, after the Vietnam debacle, which ran for 20 years.

The numbers in the new study are higher than what the Pentagon reports. “The annual analysis from the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University far exceeds Pentagon estimates because it looks at all war-related costs — including the Pentagon’s war fund, related spending at the State Department, veterans care and interest payments — for military operations in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere,” The Hill reported. . .

“It’s important for the American people to understand the true costs of war, both the moral and monetary costs,” Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) said in a statement, The Hill reported. “Our nation continues to finance wars and military operations through borrowing, rather than asking people to contribute to the national defense directly, and the result is a serious fiscal drag that we’re not really accounting for or factoring into deliberations about fiscal policy or military policy.” (Read more from “U.S. Has Spent Nearly $6 Trillion on War Since 9/11” HERE)

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911 Operator Recounts Taking Rabbi’s Call During Shooting

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The 911 operator who responded to the call from Tree of Life’s rabbi during the shooting has been hailed for saving the rabbi from the murderous rampage.

Allegheny County 911 operator Bruce Carlton gave instructions to Rabbi Jeffrey Myers as a gunman allegedly slew 11 people in Myers’s synagogue and reportedly kept the rabbi alive. Gunshots and screams could be heard in the background as Carlton tried to keep Myers away from the gunman, according to Carlton. It was the first call that left the responder physically shaken.

“It all seemed so surreal like it wasn’t happening. Time seemed to speed up, time seemed to slow down. Maybe after I disconnected with the rabbi and I was able to fully digest what I was reading because I was trying to keep the rabbi on the phone. One, for his safety and two, for officers’ safety.

“I tried to give as many updates as I could without compromising the police’s position. I tried to keep him on the phone without revealing his position. I didn’t want him to speak. I tried not to speak. I didn’t want the gunman to hear him. I didn’t want the gunman to hear me,” Carlton told CBS Pittsburgh.

(Read more from “911 Operator Recounts Taking Rabbi’s Call During Shooting” HERE)

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Left-Wing Protester Who Harassed 9/11 Widow Runs for His Life When Confronted

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Video of a left-wing protester telling an alleged 9/11 widow that her late husband should “rot in the grave” has gone viral.

The harassment of the woman took place in Portland, Oregon, during clashes between Antifa and pro-Trump factions.

The protester screamed at the woman in the video and looked to be ready for a physical confrontation. After the woman said “My husband died in 9/11,” the protester yelled “Good for him! Good. Good. NYPD were a bunch of sodomized — f***ing sodomizing immigrants with their bully sticks. Your husband should probably f***ing rot in the grave.” . . .

There was a standoff between the leftist and far-right protesters, but when a large group of Trump-supporting activists looked to confront him, the man who insulted the widow suddenly lost his nerve.

Extra footage posted on Twitter shows the same man who was harassing the woman earlier running for his life down the street as fast as he could. (Read more from “Left-Wing Protester Who Harassed 9/11 Widow Runs for His Life When Confronted” HERE)

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What I Don’t Like About Life in Post-9/11 America

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Life in a post-9/11 America increasingly feels like an endless free fall down a rabbit hole into a terrifying, dystopian alternative reality in which the citizenry has no rights, the government is no friend to freedom, and everything we ever knew and loved about the values and principles that once made this country great has been turned on its head.

We’ve walked a strange and harrowing road since September 11, 2001, littered with the debris of our once-vaunted liberties.

We have gone from a nation that took great pride in being a model of a representative democracy to being a model of how to persuade the citizenry to march in lockstep with a police state.

Osama Bin Laden right warned that “freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in — and the West in general — into an unbearable hell and a choking life.”

These past 17 years have proven Bin Laden right in his prediction.

What began with the passage of the USA Patriot Act in October 2001 has snowballed into the eradication of every vital safeguard against government overreach, corruption and abuse.

The citizenry’s unquestioning acquiescence to anything the government wants to do in exchange for the phantom promise of safety and security has resulted in a society where the nation is being locked down into a militarized, mechanized, hypersensitive, legalistic, self-righteous, goose-stepping antithesis of every principle upon which this nation was founded.

This is not freedom.

This is a jail cell.

Set against a backdrop of government surveillance, militarized police, SWAT team raids, asset forfeiture, eminent domain, overcriminalization, armed surveillance drones, whole body scanners, stop and frisk searches, roving VIPR raids and the like—all of which have been sanctioned by Congress, the White House and the courts—our constitutional freedoms have been steadily chipped away at, undermined, eroded, whittled down, and generally discarded.

Our losses are mounting with every passing day.

Free speech, the right to protest, the right to challenge government wrongdoing, due process, a presumption of innocence, the right to self-defense, accountability and transparency in government, privacy, press, sovereignty, assembly, bodily integrity, representative government: all of these and more have become casualties in the government’s war on the American people, a war that has grown more pronounced since 9/11.

Since the towers fell on 9/11, the American people have been treated like enemy combatants, to be spied on, tracked, scanned, frisked, searched, subjected to all manner of intrusions, intimidated, invaded, raided, manhandled, censored, silenced, shot at, locked up, and denied due process.

In allowing ourselves to be distracted by terror drills, foreign wars, color-coded warnings, underwear bombers and other carefully constructed exercises in propaganda, sleight of hand, and obfuscation, we failed to recognize that the true enemy to freedom was lurking among us all the while.

The U.S. government now poses a greater threat to our freedoms than any terrorist, extremist or foreign entity ever could.

While nearly 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government and its agents have easily killed at least ten times that number of civilians in the U.S. and abroad since 9/11 through its police shootings, SWAT team raids, drone strikes and profit-driven efforts to police the globe, sell weapons to foreign nations, and foment civil unrest in order to keep the military industrial complex gainfully employed.

No, the U.S. government is not the citizenry’s friend, nor is it our protector, and life in the United States of America post-9/11 is no picnic.

In the interest of full disclosure, here are some of the things I don’t like about life in a post-9/11 America:

I don’t like being treated as if my only value to the government is as a source of labor and funds.

I don’t like being viewed as a consumer and bits of data.

I don’t like being spied on and treated as if I have no right to privacy, especially in my own home.

I don’t like government officials who lobby for my vote only to ignore me once elected. I don’t like having representatives incapable of andunwilling to represent me. I don’t like taxation without representation.

I don’t like being bullied by government bureaucrats, vigilantes masquerading as cops, or faceless technicians.

I don’t like being railroaded into financing government programs whose only purpose is to increase the power and wealth of the corporate elite.

I don’t like being forced to pay for wars abroad that serve no other purpose except to expand the reach of the military industrial complex.

I don’t like being subjected to scans, searches, pat downs and other indignities by the TSA.

I don’t like VIPR raids on so-called “soft” targets like shopping malls and bus depots by black-clad, Darth Vader look-alikes.

I don’t like fusion centers, which represent the combined surveillance efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement.

I don’t like being treated like an underling by government agents who are supposed to be working for me. I don’t like being threatened, intimidated, bribed, beaten and robbed by individuals entrusted with safeguarding my rights. I don’t like being silenced, censored and marginalized. I don’t like my movements being tracked, my conversations being recorded, and my transactions being catalogued.

I don’t like free speech zones, roving bubble zones and trespass laws that restrict Americans’ First Amendment rights.

I don’t like laws that criminalize Americans for otherwise lawful activities such as holding religious studies at home, growing vegetables in their yard, and collecting rainwater.

I don’t like the NDAA, which allows the president and the military to arrest and detain American citizens indefinitely.

I don’t like the Patriot Act, which opened the door to all manner of government abuses and intrusions on our privacy.

I don’t like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has become America’s standing army in direct opposition to the dire warnings of those who founded our country.

I don’t like military weapons such as armored vehicles, sound cannons and the like being used against the American citizens.

I don’t like government agencies such as the DHS, Post Office, Social Security Administration and Wildlife stocking up on hollow-point bullets. And I definitely don’t like the implications of detention centers being built that could house American citizens.

I don’t like the fact that police departments across the country “have received tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft.”

I don’t like America’s infatuation with locking people up for life for non-violent crimes. There are thousands of people in America serving life sentences for non-violent crimes, including theft of a jacket, siphoning gasoline from a truck, stealing tools, and attempting to cash a stolen check.

I don’t like paying roughly $29,000 a year per inmate just to keep these nonviolent offenders in prison.

I don’t like having my hard-earned taxpayer dollars used against me.

I don’t like the partisan nature of politics today, which has so polarized Americans that they are incapable of standing in unity against the government’s abuses.

I don’t like the entertainment drivel that passes for news coverage today.

I don’t like the fact that those within a 25-mile range of the border are getting a front row seat to the American police state, as Border Patrol agents are now allowed to search people’s homes, intimately probe their bodies, and rifle through their belongings, all without a warrant.

I don’t like public schools that treat students as if they were prison inmates. I don’t like zero tolerance laws that criminalize childish behavior. I don’t like a public educational system that emphasizes rote memorization and test-taking over learning, synthesizing and critical thinking.

I don’t like police precincts whose primary purpose—whether through the use of asset forfeiture laws, speed traps, or red light cameras—is making a profit at the expense of those they have sworn to protect. I don’t like militarized police and their onerous SWAT team raids.

I don’t like Department of Defense and DHS programs that transfer surplus military hardware to local and state police. I don’t like local police dressing and acting as if they were the military while viewing me as an enemy combatant.

I don’t like government programs that reward cops for raiding homes and terrorizing homeowners.

I don’t like being treated as if I have no rights.

I don’t like cash-strapped states cutting deals with private corporations to run the prisons in exchange for maintaining 90% occupancy rates for at least 20 years. I don’t like the fact that American prisons have become the source of cheap labor for Corporate America.

I don’t like answering to an imperial president who operates above the law.

I don’t like the injustice that passes for justice in the courts.

I don’t like prosecutors so hell bent on winning that they allow innocent people to suffer for crimes they didn’t commit.

I don’t like the double standards that allow government officials to break laws with immunity, while average Americans get the book thrown at them.

I don’t like cops who shoot first and ask questions later.

I don’t like police dogs being treated with more respect and afforded more rights than American citizens.

I don’t like living in a suspect society.

I don’t like Americans being assumed guilty until they prove their innocence.

I don’t like technology being used as a double-edged sword against us.

Most of all, I don’t like feeling as if there’s no hope for turning things around.

Now there are those who would suggest that if I don’t like things about this country, I should leave and go elsewhere. Certainly, there are those among my fellow citizens who are leaving for friendlier shores.

However, I’m not giving up on this country without a fight.

I plan to keep fighting, writing, speaking up, speaking out, shouting if necessary, filing lawsuits, challenging the status quo, writing letters to the editor, holding my representatives accountable, thinking nationally but acting locally, and generally raising a ruckus anytime the government attempts to undermine the Constitution and ride roughshod over the rights of the citizenry.

Our country may be in deep trouble, but all is not yet lost.

The first step begins with you.

1. Get educated. Know your rights. Take time to read the Constitution. Study and understand history because the tales of those who seek power and those who resist them is an age-old one. The Declaration of Independence is a testament to this struggle and the revolutionary spirit that overcame tyranny. Understand the vital issues of the day so that you can be cognizant of the threats to freedom. Stay informed about current events and legislation.

2. Get involved. Become actively involved in local community affairs, politics and legal battles. As the adage goes, “Think nationally, act locally.” America was meant to be primarily a system of local governments, which is a far cry from the colossal federal bureaucracy we have today. Yet if our freedoms are to be restored, understanding what is transpiring practically in your own backyard—in one’s home, neighborhood, school district, town council—and taking action at that local level must be the starting point. Responding to unmet local needs and reacting to injustices is what grassroots activism is all about. Getting involved in local politics is one way to bring about change.

3. Get organized. Understand your strengths and weaknesses and tap into your resources. Play to your strengths and assets. Conduct strategy sessions to develop both the methods and ways to attack the problem. Prioritize your issues and battles. Don’t limit yourself to protests and paper petitions. Think outside the box. Time is short, and resources are limited, so use your resources in the way they count the most.

4. Be creative. Be bold and imaginative, for this is guerilla warfare—not to be fought with tanks and guns but through creative methods of dissent and resistance. Creatively responding to circumstances will often be one of your few resources if you are to be an effective agent of change. Every creative effort, no matter how small, is significant.

5. Use the media. Effective use of the media is essential. Attracting media coverage not only enhances and magnifies your efforts, it is also a valuable education tool. It publicizes your message to a much wider audience.

6. Start brushfires for freedom. Take heart that you are not alone. You come from a long, historic line of individuals who have put their beliefs and lives on the line to keep freedom alive. Engage those around you in discussions about issues of importance. Challenge them to be part of a national dialogue. As I have often said, one person at a city planning meeting with a protest sign is an irritant. Three individuals at the same meeting with the same sign are a movement. You will find that those in power fear and respect numbers. This is not to say that lone crusaders are not important. There are times when you will find yourself totally alone in the stand you take. However, there is power in numbers. Politicians understand this. So get out there and start drumming up support for your cause.

7. Take action. Be prepared to mobilize at a moment’s notice. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re located or what resources are at your disposal. What matters is that you recognize the problems and care enough to do something about them. Whether you’re 8, 28 or 88 years old, you have something unique to contribute. You don’t have to be a hero. You just have to show up and be ready to take action.

8. Be forward-looking. Beware of being so “in the moment” that you neglect to think of the bigger picture. Develop a vision for the future. Is what you’re hoping to achieve enduring? Have you developed a plan to continue to educate others about the problems you’re hoping to tackle and ensure that others will continue in your stead? Take the time to impart the value of freedom to younger generations, for they will be at the vanguard of these battles someday.

9. Develop fortitude. What is it that led to the successful protest movements of the past headed by people such as Martin Luther King Jr.? Resolve. King refused to be put off. And when the time came, he was willing to take to the streets for what he believed and even go to jail if necessary. King risked having an arrest record by committing acts of nonviolent civil disobedience. A caveat is appropriate here. Before resorting to nonviolent civil disobedience, all reasonable alternatives should be exhausted. If there is an opportunity to alter the course of events through normal channels (for example, negotiation, legal action or legislation), they should be attempted.

10. Be selfless and sacrificial. Freedom is not free—there is always a price to be paid and a sacrifice to be made. If any movement is to be truly successful, it must be manned by individuals who seek a greater good and do not waver from their purposes. It will take boldness, courage and great sacrifice. Rarely will fame, power and riches be found at the end of this particular road. Those who travel it inevitably find the way marked by hardship, persecution and strife. Yet there is no easy way.

11. Remain optimistic and keep hope alive. Although our rights are increasingly coming under attack, we still have certain freedoms. As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we can still fight back. We have the right to dissent, to protest and even to vigorously criticize or oppose the government and its laws. The Constitution guarantees us these rights. In a country such as the United States, a citizen armed with a knowledge of the Bill of Rights and the fortitude to stand and fight can still be a force to be reckoned with, but it will mean speaking out when others are silent.

Practice persistence, along with perseverance, and the possibilities are endless. You can be the voice of reason. Use your voice to encourage others. Much can be accomplished by merely speaking out. Oftentimes, all it takes is one lone voice to get things started. So if you really care and you’re serious and want to help change things for the better, dust off your First Amendment tools and take a stand—even if it means being ostracized by those who would otherwise support you.

It won’t be easy, but take heart. And don’t give up. (This post originally appeared HERE)

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Viral Video: Bald Eagle Lands on Firefighters’ 9/11 Display

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By Daily Wire. In a video that has amassed nearly 3 million views in less than 24 hours, Fire Chief Jerry Streich of Andover, Minnesota shows the “unbelievable” moment when a bald eagle landed on his fire station’s tribute to memorialize 9/11.

The eagle perched atop one of the two aerial trucks Andover fire fighters were using to hang a massive American flag — and right around the time of the national moment of silence. Chief Streich caught the “phenomenal” moment on camera and shared it on Facebook.

“Look what landed on top of the aerial on 9/11,” Streich says in the video. “Isn’t that unbelievable? This eagle just landed on the aerial while we were doing the 9/11 memorial. Phenomenal.” (Read more from “Viral Video: Bald Eagle Lands on Firefighters’ 9/11 Display” HERE)

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‘Doesn’t Get Much More Symbolic Than That.’ Bald Eagle Lands on Fire Truck During 9/11 Ceremony

By Time. A moment of striking serendipity was captured in a now viral video Tuesday when a bald eagle landed atop a Minnesota fire truck that was part of a ceremony commemorating the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The video shows the eagle perched at the end of a fire truck aerial that was being used to suspend an American flag along a highway in the northern Minneapolis suburb of Coon Rapids. . .

Across the country, Americans held somber ceremonies to mark the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, where four hijacked planes were used to kill nearly 3,000 people, the deadliest terror attack on American soil. (Read more from “‘Doesn’t Get Much More Symbolic Than That.’ Bald Eagle Lands on Fire Truck During 9/11 Ceremony” HERE)

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Leftists Are Putting Us at Risk of Another 9/11

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The 19 Islamic terrorist hijackers didn’t just attack our Pentagon building, bring down the Twin Towers, crash all four planes and kill nearly 3,000 people in the process — they also stole from every man, woman and child in America some of the everyday freedoms we once took for granted prior to Sept. 11, 2001.

Long gone are the days when we could lightheartedly arrive at an airport to excitedly embark upon a much-anticipated trip without running the risk of being subjected to a full body scan and/or a pat down that could easily be viewed as a sexual assault if it wasn’t coming from trained TSA agents who are merely doing their job in the manner they must in order to keep us all safe from harm.

We will never again enjoy the simple pleasures of writing a silly email or making a playfully intimate phone call without the accompanying awareness that our communications are being electronically monitored by governmental agencies who are being entrusted to detect potential terrorists in our midst.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Fort Hood shooter, the Boston Marathon bombers, the Pulse night club shooter in Orlando, the San Bernardino husband-and-wife attackers; the car, truck, knife, and acid attacks; as well as the far too common sexual assaults against women, children and men have been a steady reminder that America’s slight loss of freedom is absolutely necessary in order to maintain even a modicum of personal security against this ongoing threat.

Our lives will never be the same again and it’s not just because of the ever-increasing Islamic terrorism that is taking place both in America and throughout the globe. It’s also significantly due to our nation’s liberal politicians and leftist judges who continue to push indefensible open-borders immigration policies and who refuse to acknowledge the grave risk that travelers can pose to America when they are allowed to fly into the United States without being subjected to an extreme vetting process beforehand.

That said, we shouldn’t single out primarily Muslim countries for extreme vetting and potential future travel bans. That’s a simple-minded solution that would be both completely unwarranted and highly ineffectual because the problem has now spread and has gone far deeper.

First, let’s acknowledge that there truly are many wonderful, kind, caring and loving people of the Islamic faith who should be able to travel into our country without any close scrutiny whatsoever. Just like there are also many American citizens who should be able to write an email, make a phone call or fly on an airplane without any close scrutiny whatsoever — but that’s just not the world we are currently living in.

Is it fair? No.

Is it necessary? Yes.

The reason we shouldn’t single out mostly Muslim countries for extreme vetting has to do with the fact that potential terrorists can come from anywhere around the world and could possibly belong to any faith, race or political belief system.

Even if our leaders ever did wish to institute a future Muslim travel ban, we would then need to also closely scrutinize the people coming into America from other Western countries, such as our good neighbor Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Those countries’ questionably chosen immigration policies came with a wide variety of unintended consequences as they are now well aware — even if they do continue to publicly declare, “diversity is our strength.”

We need to positively know the identities of everyone seeking to enter our country along with their arrest records, potentially problematic affiliations and their actual likely purpose for desiring entry into the U.S.

Every single one of us needs to accept the fact we are going to be suffering these unfortunate indignities as long as there are potential terrorists and criminals from all faiths and countries who are plotting to travel or migrate into the United States to do us harm.

What we don’t need are liberal, bleeding-heart politicians and leftist, judicial-activist judges impeding our ability to keep us safe from those whom President George W. Bush once aptly described as “evil doers,” whose greatest desire is to destroy our country and to steal every last bit of freedom we are still able to enjoy.

Islamic terrorists succeeded in bringing down the Twin Towers, and in taking well over 3,000 lives in the United States since 9/11 — but the battle is ongoing and is far from over.

We must never forget Sept. 11, 2001, and the many people who died that day. We must also continue to give our thanks and material support to our U.S. military personnel and also to the many volunteers who have subsequently lost their lives as a result of their brave and selfless efforts in helping to save others and to clear out the rubble and the debris left from the Twin Towers collapse.

Americans are winners by our very nature. We weren’t just handed our American privilege — it continues to be earned by every American soldier and by the American citizens who wake up each day committed to do their very best to create and perpetuate the beauty and dignity we have uniquely created throughout this portion of the Western world.

Despite our loathsome enemies’ best efforts, the United States of America remains as President Ronald Reagan once described it, “a shining city on the hill.”

Some things will never change. (For more from the author of “Leftists Are Putting Us at Risk of Another 9/11” please click HERE)