Obama: America does not give in to fear

President Barack Obama speaks at "A Concert for Hope" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In front of the podium is a limestone angel which broke off the National Cathedral during last month's East coast earthquake.

/ AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

Ten years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, America has emerged stronger and its character remains unchanged, President Obama said Sunday.

"These past 10 years have shown that America does not give in to fear," the president said at a concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, the last in a series of events Mr. Obama attended to commemorate the anniversary of the attacks. " Our people still work in skyscrapers. Our stadiums are filled with fans, and our parks full of children playing ball."

The president spoke of young girls who lost their father in the attack on the Twin Towers and said their hopeful future is the "ultimate rebuke" to the terrorists who took their father's life.

Mr. Obama spoke of the two million Americans have gone to war since Sept. 11, who have demonstrated the nation's resolve to carry out justice. Their burden, the president said reminds the nation that war is never glorious, and that "our strength is not measured in our ability to stay in these places; it comes from our commitment to leave those lands to free people and sovereign states, and our desire to move from a decade of war to a future of peace."

More than monuments, Mr. Obama said, the legacy of Sept. 11 will be the memories of soldiers who signed up to serve the nation, workers who raised the new towers and citizens who faced down their fears.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama joined President George W. Bush and other dignitaries at the sites of the terrorist attacks: Ground zero in New York, the Pentagon, and near Shanksville, Pa.

In an interview for CBS' "Sunday Morning" this weekend, Mr. Obama recalled where he was when he heard of the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

N.Y.C.: Moments of silence at ground zero
Obama lays wreath at Pentagon Memorial
9/11 Videos
9/11 in Photos

[finkfurst4]

AOCGUY - This question goes to the ABSOLUTE core of the difference between me and you. Are you willing to have a serious discussion about it, or are you still afraid?

[jdev789]

Obama keeps saying - America does not give in to fear, really? So having TSA grope people and question them just for wanting to fly an airline violation of the 4th and 5th Amendments? Having DHS with warnings videos at Walmart Facilities warning people of the boogie man that could be living right next door of you .. see something, say something.. spy on your neighbors. DHS planning to be at bus stations, train stations, and have mobile car / body scanners on highways to x-ray you and your family while in the car ... they sure seem to use fear effectively in order to execute police state operations without any Federal, State, or Municipal Legislative Law... fear is a great tool when used properly. I think Americans have the intelligence to discern situations and most of the time they are the ones that act and the police mop up and have fun writing reports.

[catmomtx]

I believe the TSA and all of the fear mongering started under George Bush and was used to keep the gullible American people afraid and vulnerable. It was used politically to get George Bush elected in 2004. If you recall, leading up to the election in 2004 we had terrorist threats every other day. The alert system was out of control. How interesting that we never had another terrorist threat after the election.

President Obama did his part when he gave the orders to capture and kill Bin Laden. President Obama was not the one who dropped the ball. President Obama is following through with his promises and has not used the fear and scare tactics Republicans have been using to control the American people for the past 30 years.

[finkfurst4]

Ms_enza - That IS giving in to fear, and in the WORST way!!!
--------------------------------------
by Ms_enza September 12, 2011 6:49 AM EDT
America NEVER gives into fear; America will not cower. Instead it lashes out in hysteria.

[finkfurst4]

Ms_enza - Are you a fool, playing the fool, or are you too subtle for any Americans to ever understand what you're saying?

[finkfurst4]

No, I don't think you're being subtle. I suspect you're just being cryptic to try to mask a lack of intelligence and morals. To prove me wrong, you can simply say plainly whether you think America HAS given in to fear and why. I don't think you will, or maybe you don't even understand the concept....

You can of course ask me anything you like and I will answer honestly and to the best of my ability, but Americans almost never do that, because you might have to be honest about yourselves..... and THAT is what scares you most!

[JarHeadVet64]

Some fear is a good thing. It keeps us from doing stupid reckless things. It also should help us to do preventative things to insure our own safety. Most of the time our fears are unfounded. When that fear becomes irrational that's when it becomes a problem.
We have lots of fear mongering out there to try to control us.
It's up to us to sort it out and identify it for it's validity or just dismiss it.
Most of it out there, I just dismiss it.
I cannot bother living my live on fear that paralizes my life.
I have no time for worring either.
I just take it one day at a time.

[Lerianis4]

True on that 99% of the time (especially when you are talking about fear of another human being for various reasons) our fear is unfounded.

Hell, a lot of the people who are called 'dangerous' today and are marginalized aren't really dangerous when you take into account their one bad act is one time in an otherwise good life or that 'bad act' is society trying to dictate things to people that they shouldn't because they are causing no physical harm to someone else without their permission.

[skeezix06]

Does not give in to fear? I would refer you to the recent "brain eating amoeba" and "small plane to attack U.S." stories on CBS for an example of how fear is promoted every day.

[finkfurst4]

AOCGUY - This question goes to the ABSOLUTE core of the difference between me and you. Are you willing to have a serious discussion about it, or are you still afraid?

[smirk5]

America pats down infants before they get on a plane. When you do that, you've gone way beyond giving in to fear.

[smirk5]

Ha ha ha. America wasted thousands of soldiers lives and up to a trillion or more invading Iraq to save ourselves from fictional WMD. America does give in to fear. The military industrial complex depends on that fact daily.

[RichZubaty]

Does not give in to fear? Preposterous. Then get rid of the Homeland Security department right now and save hundreds of billions of dollars a year on do-nothing spycraft.

[ZunarJ59]

Of course we've given into fear. We just spent 100 million strip searching squirrels in NY and DC B/C of some chatter we over-heard in some-where-istan. That would be major cold sweat fear. Thx Libs.

[tiredofeverything]

thnx libs? man are you clueless

[stupidrules3]

Yeah I guess the "libs" are the ones who passed the "Patriot" act and invaded 2 countries and then wouldn't do "war" properly. Get over yourself Zunar, conservatives are no better on this one than the liberals.