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The Anniversary of 9/11

By Jeralyn, Section War on Terror
Posted on Sun Sep 10, 2006 at 11:06:42 PM EST
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Steve Gilliard of the News Blog writes at Firedoglake about his recollection of being in New York on 9/11. And the media aftermath:

The people rebroadcasting their 9/11 broadcasts are no better than vermin. Matt Lauer should be placed on a glue trap in the sun.

This doesn't belong to America. It isn't some grand national cause. It is a tragedy some get to live with forever. You can remember the dead, but because you became scared of brown people or of someone blowing up your mall or of airplanes, you can share in it. You cannot and if you were smart, you wouldn't want to. No one should want to carry the burdens of another because they feel they should.

As to our government officials, particularly Bush and Giuliani:

Bush used 9/11 to prove himself a man and, as he had his entire life, failed miserably, killing thousands in the process. The dead of 9/11 deserved justice, not torture and a pointless, losing war in Iraq. Not Rudy Giuliani making money off the one good day in his miserable life. They have gotten so much less than they deserved, with ABC piling on top. [my emphasis]

I was not in New York on 9/11. I will be flying there today, the fifth anniversary of the attacks. Words of wisdom from Steve:

I'll do what I do every year at this time, avoid anything to do with this and hope it ends soon.

Me too. 9/11 is not a national holiday. We shouldn't glorify it or treat it as such. I'm not even going to spend the $5.00 on the plane to watch live tv, it will be wall-to-wall 9/11 coverage. Instead, I'll be watching dvds of BBC's "Prisoners of Katrina" that TL commenter Oscar Wilde sent me from England, and From the Big Apple to the Big Easy, the Concert for New Orleans, which I got from Buzzflash.

I'll also be reading Arianna Huffington's new book, On Becoming Fearless.

< Nightline on the Search for Bin Laden | U.S. War Dead Exceed 9/11 Deaths >

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    • The Anniversary of 9/11 | 20 comments (20 topical)
    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 12:11:43 AM EST
    I SAW THE ACTUAL FILM FOOTAGE OF 911 JUST ONCE. THAT WAS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR ME. I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#2)
    by jarober on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 12:11:43 AM EST
    Yeah, the last thing we should do is remember the enemy, and what the enemy does when we aren't paying attention. Better to go back to sleep and worry about non-issues....

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 02:57:50 AM EST
    This is Jon Stewart's first show after 9/11. A time when we were united, and we were one. We shared our grief, and the world shared our grief. It was a time when the world also shared our goal to find those who were responsible for the death of our friends, our neighbors, our husbands and wives, and of our brothers and sisters.
    A very emotional Jon Stewart, bless him, and hard not to join him in his pain. I feel so old today.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#7)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 06:10:09 AM EST
    JR - Good point. Laurie - Good for you. Glad you have an excellent memory. Others, however, don't have your powers of recollection, and a not so subtle reminder of what was done, who it was done to and who it was done by is needed. et al - Can anyone tell me why we are "afraid of brown people" if we acknowledge 9/11 and he fact that the terrorist are Moslem? That's just nonsense.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 06:40:39 AM EST
    Post Script. There is a little clip from Weeds, below Jon Stewart, if you (guys) want to lighten up.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#6)
    by cpinva on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 06:40:39 AM EST
    Yeah, the last thing we should do is remember the enemy, and what the enemy does when we aren't paying attention. Better to go back to sleep and worry about non-issues....
    i'd have to agree with you JR. now, if only we could get the administration on board. instead, what we are being inundated with is essentially republican propaganda. were this administration at least competent about their activities, one might be able to forgive the chest thumping. alas, as has been proven time and again, the only area this crowd has demonstrated any measure of eptness at is being incredibly inept. the bush administration has managed to totally squander the goodwill generated towards america, by the events of 9/11/2001. if anything, the level of dislike for us, around the world, is possibly higher than it was on 9/10/2001. the loss of that goodwill might be tolerable, if it bought us greater national security. it hasn't. so, not only do more people dislike us, but we're no safer today than we were on 9/10. in an earlier, less enlightened era, such massive incompetence would have gotten a leader ridden out of town on a rail, after being tarred and feathered. being a more civilized society, we have to wait until the next election. not a legacy most presidents care to leave.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#11)
    by Repack Rider on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 08:26:19 AM EST
    Can anyone tell me why we are "afraid of brown people" if we acknowledge 9/11 and he fact that the terrorist are Moslem?
    Because Tim McVeigh was neither "brown," foreign, nor Moslem. Because the modern era of terrorism started with white Europeans, such as the German terrorist group, Bader Mein Hof and the Irish Sinn Fein. By your thesis then, we should be afraid of EVERYBODY. Sorry. I have better things to do than cower in fear of Moslems. And Germans. And Irish.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#12)
    by soccerdad on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 08:28:34 AM EST
    Remembering the lessons of 9/11 Bush style a partial list 1. OBL who? 2. letting the Taliban come back strong 3. creating a terrorist training ground in Iraq 4. Together with Israel turning all "liberal" Muslims into what appear to be collaborators thus marginalizing them 5. Continuing "shock and awe" policies instead of winning hearts and minds thereby feeding into terrorist recruitment. 6. Rejecting opportunities for negotiation in order to continue failed polices in Gaza. 7. Allowing Israel to destroy the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon thereby strengthening the position of hizbulah and making the Lebanonese government irrelevant. 8. Proving OBL correct, that our intentions in the ME are not honorable 9. failing to improve safety around chemical and nuclear plants in the US 10. failing to improve in any realistic way response to potential attacks in the US. 11. supressing reports of the poor air quality about the WTC after the attacks 12. fighting to prevent the formation of a 9/11 commission and then ignoring any of its ideas. Or to put it more simply, working to make the terrorist threat greater not smaller.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#13)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 09:44:50 AM EST
    RePack - I though McVeigh and friends were caused by Talk Radio. BTW - Strawmen aside, we all know that McVeigh wasn't Moslem and didn't fly an airliner into the WTC. Well, most of us do....

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#15)
    by Sailor on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 09:54:31 AM EST
    Facts about 9/11: Like the fact that bush doesn't care about capturing the man responsible for the attacks? like the fact that bush disbanded the crew dedicated to finding him. like the fact that bush has let port security, emergency response, explosive detection, radios that have x-com capability ... and about every other item that would actually make America safer lag for 5 years.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#19)
    by Repack Rider on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 12:21:05 PM EST
    The Moslem era of terrorism, and that is the group in question, was started 12/79 after Jimmy Carter, home builder and worst President in history, abandoned the Sha.
    The Shah of Iran was a CIA puppet installed during the Eisenhower administration and crooked as a dog's leg. It is not surprising that the locals did not want him in power, nor that they resented the United States for what Allen Dulles had done to them 25 years earlier. Carter also had to deal with the fact that the Reagan team was making overtures to the Ayatollah Khomeni to prevent the hostages from being released before the election. It is not a coincidence that they were released the day after Reagan's inauguration, that Ollie North went on secret missions to appease the Ayatollah with personal gifts from Reagan (including a cake shaped like a key and a bible[!]), and that Reagan sold Iran arms outside the knowledge of Congress. Remember that? Ronald Reagan secretly dealt with and supplied arms to our sworn enemy, violating the Constitution in the process. But I guess the fact that he was selling poison gas to Saddam at the same time shows his softer side. Carter's biggest problem is that he was an honest man, and the Reagan team did not feel constrained by honesty.
    And are you seriously suggesting that if we acknowedge that the current group of terrorist are Moslem, and (so far) brown, that we will be afraid of all Moslems and all brown people.
    If that is not the point of identifying the terrorists as brown Moslems, what IS the point? You agree that not all terrorists are brown and Moslem, and that not all brown, Moslem people are terrorists, so why bother with the distinction?

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 01:17:55 PM EST
    Soccerdad... This fantasy is followed by the usual condescending insults Yes...that is exactly what your post did! PPJ made a statement...(terrorism in it's present Islamic 'crazies'form got a good foothold in the 70's under Carter)... If you have anything of substance to add (besides personal attacks you are so good at) please respond to what was posted. You want real BS...read the next post by Repack.... the Reagan team was making overtures to the Ayatollah Khomeni to prevent the hostages from being released before the election. Where do you guys come up with this stuff? I'm amazed daily on how you will all eagerly follow the most insane conspiracy theory when it comes to your own Government, but continue to give just about every person picked up as a suspected terrorist a pass. Why is that?

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 01:28:37 PM EST
    BB:
    I'm amazed daily on how you will all eagerly follow the most insane conspiracy theory when it comes to your own Government, but continue to give just about every person picked up as a suspected terrorist a pass.
    Yeah BB, why is that??? Can you explain it for us? ---edger

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#3)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 04:25:37 PM EST
    How soon the wingnuts forget. This enemy was created by our CIA and our tax bucks to fight our other enemy, the Soviet Union. Of course, they neeeever thought that planting dragon teeth all across the world would ever result in any blowback, but then again wingnuts aren't known for having much foresight.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#8)
    by ScottW on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 04:25:37 PM EST
    Does anyone think there would be a minute of this 9/11 non-sense if there were not profits to be made or votes to be won ? It's sickening, "Let's gather the family around the TV to watch 3000 people die, and countless others suffer, again." is just morbid. Folks, this is not a holiday, we should morn, but maybe we should do it a whole lot less publicly. No one has forgotten. I just want to get through this day with the least amount of reminders as humanly possible. I morn my grandmothers death, but I don't know the date, nor would I care to get the family together to remember it.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#18)
    by kdog on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 04:25:37 PM EST
    I remember my first thought that morning..."Those poor people downtown". And I remember my second thought..."Those poor people in Afghanistan." I just never thought of Iraq...I must admit I underestimated their murderers and ours.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#22)
    by soccerdad on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 04:25:37 PM EST
    BB Does your mommy know that you stayed home from school and used the computer today. Now thats being condescending smuck.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#25)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 12, 2006 at 05:11:50 AM EST
    If ever a man's star was in ascension undoubtedly it is Keith Olberman's. I say, and I say it without one iota of doubt, Olberman will be the next giant in television broadcasting. Listen to his broadcast at C&L and dare to tell me I'm wrong. The man is a pearl among swine. And with this in mind I humbly offer this advice. Mr Olberman, please stop going after oRielly, show your viewers what you truly are, a man that stands head and shoulders above these shameless collaborators.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#26)
    by Al on Tue Sep 12, 2006 at 08:39:39 PM EST
    I saw the line that 9/11 was a "tragedy." 9/11 was not a tragedy; it was a slaughter by a crazy group of people who used metal cylinders filled with fuel and innocent people to kill other innocent people. The word "tragedy" is much too soft.

    Re: The Anniversary of 9/11 (none / 0) (#27)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 12, 2006 at 08:54:05 PM EST
    I think it is important to remember 9/11/01 because of the only good thing to come of it: our unity as people, not only in this nation but in the world. It is still too painful for me to watch much footage of that day, but I don't condemn other people's watching it. I think that seeing that again can help reset our brains to the time when "9/11" hadn't been repeated ad nauseum for Republican political gain, to the time when we could wave our flag with humble and honest love of country and look at Ground Zero with open grief, and not feel that we were part of a Bush administration infomercial. So much partisan political crap has been laid onto the memory of 9/11/01 that it actually feels like a healing process to remember the day itself, before the sullying began. Whether we lost friends or family or not, we were all wounded that day, in ways that I don't think we yet fully understand.

    The Anniversary of 9/11 | 20 comments (20 topical)