Monday
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9/11/03
9/11...
I’m actually rather wary of expressing any thoughts about September 11… either the day itself or any of its subsequent anniversaries. What is there to be said that hasn’t already? There will be heartfelt remembrances on op-ed pages across the nation. There will be human-interest stories about how the victim’s families are coping. There will be Lifestyle pieces written about how our society has been forever changed. When they show up in print, all of these pieces will cover the emotional and political spectrum; from maudlin to touching, from the obvious to the insightful, and from the nakedly opportunistic to the selflessly revealing.
For my part, I know that I don’t have anything particularly coherent to say about that day’s events because of the ambivalence I feel about the social and political fallout that has overshadowed everything else since. In two years, September 11 has become much larger than the four airliners, three buildings, and three thousand-plus lives that were wiped out that morning.
On that day, of course, it all seemed very simple. Bad terrorists. Innocent civilians. Really, really, bad luck. But where have we gone in the two years since? This very day the air is swirling with accusations, responsibilities are being avoided, lies are being told, and political hay is being made. From the few documents making their way to the light of day, we know that on the day of the attack the White House scrambled to find a connection with Iraq. We now know that before the attacks occurred, one of Dick Cheney’s infamous closed door national energy policy meetings involved a map of the mid-east and discussion of the impacts of a "post-war Iraq". And yet, somehow, everything is still Clinton’s fault. And yet, we’ve all seen the picture of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam. And we know who sold Saddam his weapons in the first place during the 80’s. And yet, that’s all irrelevant because Bush has given up even trying to find a link between Saddam and September 11.
So, selfish guy that I am, I wonder, "where does all this leave me?" I guess I just have to go back and separate all the pieces. Sure, previous administrations of each party engaged in incredibly foolish and shortsighted policies… but the attacks remain as unjustified as they are heartbreaking. For the victims, I’ll leave a candle burning in my living room window tonight. And the people in power who continue to exploit the tragedy to drive their own agenda? Well, that’s just going to have to be a fight for another day.
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.
9/11/03
9/11...
I’m actually rather wary of expressing any thoughts about September 11… either the day itself or any of its subsequent anniversaries. What is there to be said that hasn’t already? There will be heartfelt remembrances on op-ed pages across the nation. There will be human-interest stories about how the victim’s families are coping. There will be Lifestyle pieces written about how our society has been forever changed. When they show up in print, all of these pieces will cover the emotional and political spectrum; from maudlin to touching, from the obvious to the insightful, and from the nakedly opportunistic to the selflessly revealing.
For my part, I know that I don’t have anything particularly coherent to say about that day’s events because of the ambivalence I feel about the social and political fallout that has overshadowed everything else since. In two years, September 11 has become much larger than the four airliners, three buildings, and three thousand-plus lives that were wiped out that morning.
On that day, of course, it all seemed very simple. Bad terrorists. Innocent civilians. Really, really, bad luck. But where have we gone in the two years since? This very day the air is swirling with accusations, responsibilities are being avoided, lies are being told, and political hay is being made. From the few documents making their way to the light of day, we know that on the day of the attack the White House scrambled to find a connection with Iraq. We now know that before the attacks occurred, one of Dick Cheney’s infamous closed door national energy policy meetings involved a map of the mid-east and discussion of the impacts of a "post-war Iraq". And yet, somehow, everything is still Clinton’s fault. And yet, we’ve all seen the picture of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam. And we know who sold Saddam his weapons in the first place during the 80’s. And yet, that’s all irrelevant because Bush has given up even trying to find a link between Saddam and September 11.
So, selfish guy that I am, I wonder, "where does all this leave me?" I guess I just have to go back and separate all the pieces. Sure, previous administrations of each party engaged in incredibly foolish and shortsighted policies… but the attacks remain as unjustified as they are heartbreaking. For the victims, I’ll leave a candle burning in my living room window tonight. And the people in power who continue to exploit the tragedy to drive their own agenda? Well, that’s just going to have to be a fight for another day.
