Today is 11 September, the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack on the US, which killed thousands at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania.
I’ve traditionally posted back to pictures of the day, but I’m going to eschew that this time around.
One thing I’ve noticed over time since the event is that the meaning of 9/11 has changed. Immediately, of course, it was the attack, and the aftermath. Bravery. Sacrifice. Grief. Unity. Death. And, of course, anger.
That began to change almost immediately. 9/11 became an impetus for action — in Afghanistan, then Iraq. And at home, as security ramped up. Then up. Then up some more.
And where are we today?
Grief is still there. Looking at the pictures of that day can still move.
But 9/11 has been used so much, for so many reasons in the past nine years, it’s become, sadly, more of a catch-phrase that various people use to various ends, rather than an event of its own. The result blurs the cause.
So now 9/11 becomes a club to justify ever-more-intrusive security at our borders and within them. Search your laptop or cell phone? Gotta — remember 9/11. Ignore habeas corpus? We gotta — don’t want another 9/11. Let the government operate in secret, just because it says it needs to do something in secret? Well, they’re protecting us from another 9/11.
And 9/11 becomes now a social club. After the event, to its credit, the Bush Administration made it clear that we were not “at war” with Muslims (at least in our country, but also, ostensibly, with “moderate” Islamic regimes). But from a social standpoint, that’s now fallen to the punditry wayside. Now Muslims are the new Darkskinned People Who Speak Funny Who Are Seeking To Destroy Our Way Of Life (Mexicans remain on the list; Italians, I think you’re finally off the hook).
So 9/11 becomes an excuse to protest an Islamic Center that’s “too close” to the “hallowed ground” of the WTC (never mind all the other non-hallowed buildings there — those aren’t Pro-Religion-That-Was-Used-By-Terrorists-As-An-Excuse buildings. And never mind that the place is blocks away — it’s not enough blocks. And it wouldn’t make any difference anyway, because even mosques hundreds and thousands of miles away are being protested. Because, y’know … Islam! Muslims! They’re all out to kill us in our sleep! Just like 9/11!
(And, of course, there’s That President, who’s really One of Those, and who’s probably plotting another 9/11 even as we speak, because, y’know, he’s really One of Those.)
Meanwhile, 9/11 has gone from a date of solemnity and recollection, to a date when (mostly) conservative pundits and talking heads and political figures and rodeo cowboys “coincidentally” hold events to rally up the base and gin up the troops and turn out the supporters and gather up the moolah.
(How were folks reacting, I wonder, in December 1950? Or, for that matter, February 1907?)
So now it feels like 9/11 is less about what happened, or even dealing with the individuals responsible, and more about how people are using it. Or abusing it. Or invoking it for their own interests.
So I’ll just virtually lower the the flag to half-mast today, eschew the more public display and directed rallies, and remember (and resolve) in my own way. With friends. And some beer.