{"id":18499,"date":"2010-09-11T10:35:57","date_gmt":"2010-09-11T16:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=18499"},"modified":"2010-09-12T12:30:08","modified_gmt":"2010-09-12T18:30:08","slug":"thoughts-on-911","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/09\/11\/thoughts-on-911.html","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on 9\/11"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

I’ve traditionally posted back to pictures of the day, but I’m going to eschew that this time around.<\/p>\n

One thing I’ve \u00a0noticed over time since the event is that the meaning of 9\/11 has changed. \u00a0Immediately, of course, it was the attack, and the aftermath. \u00a0Bravery. Sacrifice. Grief. Unity. Death. And, of course, anger.<\/p>\n

That began to change almost immediately. \u00a09\/11 \u00a0became an impetus for action — in Afghanistan, then Iraq. \u00a0And at home, as security ramped up. Then up. Then up some more.<\/p>\n

And where are we today?<\/p>\n

Grief is still there. \u00a0Looking at the pictures of that day can still move.<\/p>\n

But 9\/11 has been used so much, for so many reasons in the past nine \u00a0years, it’s become, sadly, more of a catch-phrase that various people use to various ends, rather than an event of its own. \u00a0The result blurs the cause.<\/p>\n

So now 9\/11 becomes a club to justify ever-more-intrusive security at our borders and within them. \u00a0Search your laptop or cell phone? \u00a0Gotta — remember 9\/11. \u00a0Ignore habeas corpus<\/em>? \u00a0We gotta — don’t want another 9\/11. \u00a0Let the government operate in secret, just because it says it needs to do something in secret? \u00a0Well, they’re protecting us from another 9\/11.<\/p>\n

And 9\/11 becomes now a social club. \u00a0After 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). \u00a0But from a social standpoint, that’s now fallen to the punditry wayside. \u00a0Now 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).<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0And never mind that the place is blocks away — it’s not enough blocks. \u00a0And it wouldn’t make any difference anyway, because even mosques hundreds and thousands of miles away are being protested. \u00a0Because, y’know … Islam! Muslims! They’re all out to \u00a0kill us in our sleep! \u00a0Just like 9\/11!<\/p>\n

(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.)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

(How were folks reacting, I wonder, in December 1950? \u00a0Or, for that matter, February 1907?)<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0Or abusing it. Or invoking it for their own interests.<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0With friends. \u00a0And some beer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u00a0noticed over time since … Continue reading “Thoughts on 9\/11”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-9-11"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/flag-at-half-staff.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":612,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2001\/09\/11\/pictures_for_th.html","url_meta":{"origin":18499,"position":0},"title":"Pictures, for those who want them","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 11-Sep-01 2:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Pictures, for those who want them Rey has been pulling together various sites showing pictures of the WTC attack. It is grotesque, fascinating, dismaying, terrifying, engrossing. The ultimate \"car wreck...","rel":"","context":"In "9-11"","block_context":{"text":"9-11","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/9-11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32911,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/03\/25\/grief-and-the-right-words.html","url_meta":{"origin":18499,"position":1},"title":"Grief and the Right Words","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 25-Mar-13 2:35pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The occasion of someone's death shouldn't be an opportunity to get into a big debate over the existence (or non-) of an afterlife (or questions about the Elect, about Universalism, or other such debates that get into fundamental speculation whether Uncle Fred is simply worm food, holding up the bass\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29962,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/08\/25\/great-grief.html","url_meta":{"origin":18499,"position":2},"title":"Great Grief!","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 25-Aug-12 1:43pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Actually, Snoopy McFly\u00a0works awesomely, too.Reshared post from +Mark MeansAwesomesauce!\"Great Grief!!!....er, I mean Good Scott!!!\", said good, ole, Doc Brown....Just for the record, my birthday is January 5th.... ahem Embedded Link Geek Gear: Back To The Future\/Peanuts \u2018Doc Brown\u2019 Shirt | Geeks of Doom The $10 t-shirt deal of the day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31268,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/11\/07\/the-five-stages-of-fox-news-grief.html","url_meta":{"origin":18499,"position":3},"title":"The Five Stages of Fox News Grief","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 7-Nov-12 11:36am","format":false,"excerpt":"While I sympathize with the, like, normal people I know who are\u00a0unhappy with last night's results, I have no such sympathy for the Fox News team. \u00a0I did hop over to see how things were going there a few times last night, but couldn't stand more than 30 seconds of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":159876,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2022\/11\/14\/movie-review-black-panther-wakanda-forever-2022.html","url_meta":{"origin":18499,"position":4},"title":"Movie Review: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (2022)","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 14-Nov-22 1:01am","format":false,"excerpt":"A movie that allayed fears and more than fulfilled expectations.","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)"","block_context":{"text":"Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/marvel-cinematic-universe"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black Panther Wakanda Forever poster","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Black-Panther-Wakanda-Forever-poster.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Black-Panther-Wakanda-Forever-poster.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Black-Panther-Wakanda-Forever-poster.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12897,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/09\/11\/remembrance_3.html","url_meta":{"origin":18499,"position":5},"title":"Remembrance","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 11-Sep-08 6:07am","format":false,"excerpt":"Seven years ago today. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. In honor of a day that brought us together in grief, support, and determination, I will eschew posting about...","rel":"","context":"In "9-11"","block_context":{"text":"9-11","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/9-11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}