# 9/11 Anniversary B.S. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 12, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708 "2003-08-12T19:25:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![benthames](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58f4c7/32.png) [@benthames](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benthames)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/41 "2003-08-13T04:22:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*Not to sound callous, but I was over 9/11 by 9/18. I don’t want to diminish the way anyone else feels about it, especally people who lost friends or loved ones in the attack… but I didn’t. I don’t know a single person who died in the WTC. I don’t even know anyone who knows anyone. And, much as I hate to say it, there have, are, and will be much worse tragedies in the world. Should I care more about a bunch of people I don’t know who died in New York than I should care about a bunch of people I don’t know who died in Rwanda? > > That said, I don’t begrudge anyone else their media grief. Looks like 9/11 is going to be another movie night for me this year. \*\* I don’t think that’s callous. Its pragmatic. ---
**Author:** ![Publius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Publius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Publius)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/42 "2003-08-13T04:30:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Read\_Neck \* > \*\*rjung,Let me congratulate you. You just went to the head of the class as the Ultimate Bush-bashing Demonrat Motherfucking SorryAssed Prick. \*\* Why? Because **rjung** happened to get the [year](http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/907379.asp) wrong? > [@](#): > > The White House is delaying the Republican nominating convention, scheduled for New York City, until the first week in September 2004—the latest in the party’s history. That would allow Bush’s acceptance speech, now slated for Sept. 2, to meld seamlessly into 9-11 commemoration events due to take place in the city the next week. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/43 "2003-08-13T06:55:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Publius \* > \*\*Why? Because **rjung** happened to get the [year](http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/907379.asp) wrong? \*\* No, because you’re an ass as well. This is a thread about whether or not we should continue to mourn the events of 9-11-01, and if so how much. Partisan sniping has nothing to do with this thread you fucking asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Publius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Publius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Publius)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/44 "2003-08-13T07:18:23Z")
Ah. Forgive me, Asylum, for I had no intention of taking part in any “partisan sniping”. For the record, I consider myself a Republican. I do, however, feel very strongly that we must always keep the events of September 11, 2001 close to our hearts and minds. I also feel very strongly that such events should never be exploited for political gain, and I am extremely annoyed that a political party - worse, my _my_ political party - . I should expect such things, of course, but that does not mean I have to like it. I visted the former World Trade Center site last year, and I was absolutely disgusted by a certain carnival-like atmosphere I encountered in a few tourists and more than a few street vendors. If I see another merchant preying on the likeness of the World Trade Center and American patriotism to make a profit, I hope I will not be so desensitized that I am unable to puke. If my own political party takes part in that same sort disgusting grandstanding, I will be personally ashamed. Of course September 11 will always be with it. I had another nightmare about being on one of the hijacked planes last night myself. I’m not sure if this sort of thing is healthy, but it’s inevitable, and it ought to compel all of us to do everything we can to make the United States stronger as a nation so that it, in turn, can make the world a better, freer, safer place to live. The idea that September 11 ought to serve as a show in political or consumerist bread and circuses, like so much patriotic bunting around the political stage, is an insult to this nation and its dead. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/45 "2003-08-13T07:55:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Publius \* > The idea that September 11 ought to serve as a show in political or consumerist bread and circuses, like so much patriotic bunting around the political stage, is an insult to this nation and its dead. Well said, which is why I find it both disappointing and predictable that the Administration is planning to turn the anniversary into a glorified re-election campaign issue. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I predict the Bush 2004 campaign theme will be “Re-elect George to protect American from the evil terrorists,” despite the denial of the naysayers. (And I didn’t get 2003 and 2004 confused. I expect 9/11/2003 will be the _unofficial_ start of Bush’s campaign, with 9/11/2004 as the _official_ start, and the terrorism fear-mongering won’t let up until mid-November, 2004) ---
**Author:** ![Publius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Publius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Publius)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/46 "2003-08-13T08:02:46Z")
Thanks for the kind words, **rjung** , and sorry for the remark about you getting the date wrong - that was largely tongue-in-cheek. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/47 "2003-08-13T08:04:38Z")
**Publius** , there are certain people on this board who will wander into threads and shamelessly spout rhetoric that has nothing to do with the OP. I’m so fed up with it I avoid political threads almost entirely, and when I see it in threads where there is no call for it I get a mite bit pissy. Although it might be a legitimate diversion for the thread to discuss whether or not it is appropriate for Bush to use 9-11 in such a context as to gain points for his campaign for reelection (although I honestly believe that the majority, if not all, political parties in the country will do something similar, although hopefully with a bit more subtlety) it really has little to do with the OP, and if you review the comments preceding **rjung’s** you’ll see that the thread was not heading in that direction overall. **Rjung** came in and made a comment that was callous and far below the behavior that had so far been exhibited in the thread. Also, I generally don’t feel that it is appropriate to name call or be condescending when in an argument or debate, and shortly after my last posting I felt bad for doing so, seeing as how I don’t really know anything about you or your posting habits. You have my sincere apologies for that; I let my temper get the best of me. And on preview, **rjung** , you’re behavior is atrocious and you’re a fucking asshole. If you want to discuss Bush’s behavior why don’t you start a thread instead of hijacking this one? Oh, that’s right, you’re so fucking partisan you’ve disabled the right-hand turn signal on your car so people don’t get the wrong impression. Twit. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/48 "2003-08-13T08:13:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jodi \* > \*\*I won’t be watching the media hype because I feel it diminishes the very event they are attempting to memorialize, and because I still find much of it too painful to watch. But I don’t want to put it behind me; until the day I die, I will remember and, in my own quiet way and within the confines of my own experience, I will bear witness. \*\* Ditto. I don’t like “national days of mourning” because I sense something dishonest and artificial about them. 24 hour TV coverage, TV specials, staged events…don’t like 'em. But that’s just me. I won’t harp on anyone who needs them. But let me say this. Over it or not, no one (NO ONE) will forget about 9/11. The memory of that day will outlive us and our children and our grandchildren. Some things simply cannot be forgotton. ---
**Author:** ![Publius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Publius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Publius)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/49 "2003-08-13T09:47:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Asylum \* > \*\*Also, I generally don’t feel that it is appropriate to name call or be condescending when in an argument or debate, and shortly after my last posting I felt bad for doing so, seeing as how I don’t really know anything about you or your posting habits. You have my sincere apologies for that; I let my temper get the best of me. > \*\* Quite all right. We are in the Pit, after all; I’d be concerned if there weren’t at least a little profanity in play. And as to this > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by spooje_ > **I don’t like “national days of mourning” because I sense something dishonest and artificial about them. 24 hour TV coverage, TV specials, staged events…don’t like 'em. But that’s just me. I won’t harp on anyone who needs them.** I couldn’t agree more. It seems as though the news media is always in need of an earth-shattering, round-the-clock-coverage sort of story. We were inundated with them even before September 11; I’m sure we all remember that summer’s incessant coverage of Gary Condit and more aquatic varieties of shark. Such stories are blown completely out of proportion to their global significance (or lack thereof). When soap opera journalism is treated as though it were to radically alter the course of history, it cheapens the media’s coverage of events that really do matter on such a large scale. The September 11 attacks were probably the most significant and destructive single assault that this nation has ever been subjected to. They killed three-thousand people, every one of whom meant the whole world to somebody. They may have marked the beginning of the end of the nation-state as the fundamental unit of human history. I don’t want to see them treated like an annual television special. That said, I’ll watch all the coverage again this year, and I don’t mean to offend anyone else who will. As others have said, I think some people feel a personal need to immerse themselves in the event as a way of dealing with it, and others feel a similar need to shut it out entirely. If there’s an easy way of coping with something of this magnitude, I haven’t found it. I have not yet met anyone who genuinely did not choose to remember September 11, but I think all those who choose to remember September 11 do so in their own way. I would also venture that, as much as we might like to escape it, September 11 stays with us far more than one day of the year. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/50 "2003-08-13T10:10:46Z")
I’m a rank outsider, yet the events of that day affected me deeply. I have no comprehension of how it must have affected Americans generally, and New Yorkers, and those who lost loved ones, specifically. I recall the utterly moving concert for the victims of the Omagh bombing that was held on the anniversary of that tragedy in Ireland. Who could deny the people affected the chance to mark the day? Sure, I hate the glurge, and being a furriner, I find American televised memorial events schmalzy, but I promise you, if something the scale of 9/11 happened in my - or anyone else’s - country it would not be forgotten so soon. It was less than two years ago, for goodness’ sake! Maybe in 10 or 11 years’ time it might be marked in a less obvious way, but there’s still a hell of a lot of healing to be done. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/51 "2003-08-13T10:53:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > \*\*This is America, they won’t let that rest while theres still at least five bucks to make off it. \*\* A hearty FUCK OFF to you, my friend. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/52 "2003-08-13T10:56:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zuma \* > \*\*A hearty FUCK OFF to you, my friend. \*\* I’d just like to remind dopers that the above post is now available as a bumper sticker from **jjimm enterprises, inc.** , for only $9.99 while stocks last. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/53 "2003-08-13T11:02:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*I’d just like to remind dopers that the above post is now available as a bumper sticker from **jjimm enterprises, inc.** , for only $9.99 while stocks last. \*\* Do I get my 5 bucks royalty? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/54 "2003-08-13T11:02:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zuma \* > \*\*A hearty FUCK OFF to you, my friend. \*\* Good Lord, why? His observation is, unfortunately, very accurate. There will those who will try to profit from this for years to come. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/55 "2003-08-13T11:06:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*Good Lord, why? > > His observation is, unfortunately, very accurate. There will those who will try to profit from this for years to come. \*\* No, it is not accurate. You’ll find a few bottom-feeders selling 9/11 t-shirts, sick and disgusting craven beings they might be, but his gernalisation was way out of line. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/56 "2003-08-13T11:06:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zuma \* > \*\*Do I get my 5 bucks royalty? \*\* That $5 was a one-off universal licence fee, I’m afraid. Check the small print of your contract (the stuff written backwards, in invisible ink. My lawyers rule.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/57 "2003-08-13T11:49:13Z")
I’ll be flying that day (all be it, inside Europe). I’m hoping it will be carthartic. (Speaking as a Brit) it’s way too early to pretend that “we” should be “over it”, but I don’t “understand” mass-grieving (or mass-events in general), they make me uncomfortable. I think I’ll personally notice the date every year for the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/58 "2003-08-13T12:06:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zuma \* > \*\* You’ll find a few bottom-feeders selling 9/11 t-shirts, sick and disgusting craven beings they might be, but his gernalisation was way out of line. \*\* You say it’s innaccurate, then say this? It was these bottom dwellers that I think he was refering to. ---
**Author:** ![AmericanMaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@AmericanMaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmericanMaid)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/59 "2003-08-13T12:33:48Z")
I choose not to participate in the national Day of mourning not because I want to put 9/11 behind me and forget about it as **Edlyn** claimed I do. I will probably never forget 9/11. I have lost several loved ones over the past couple years and I grieved. However, I think focus on the 9/11 tragedy is just fueling a lot of American’s hatred and need for revenge. The New York Times had a nice editorial last week about America’s history of using revenge linking Hiroshima and the war on terror. I’ll try to find the link. 9/11 is as important as the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, and the Jakarta bombing. Last year I watched the specials and I felt sad. Now, a year has almost passed with the Iraq War, Halliburton getting a nice fat contract, the shoe bomber getting tried, and America’s own concentration camp still existing. Bush has twisted the thousands of casualties into a political catalyst and it sickens me, profanes the dead. So, I’m not going to participate in the Bush regime’s manipulation of America’s fear and xenophobia. And I’m looking into Canadian citizenship. Big WORD to **World Eater, Miller, Avalonian, and Boo Boo Foo** ---
**Author:** ![Aries28](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Aries28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aries28)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708/60 "2003-08-13T12:34:55Z")
If I live to be 100 I’ll never forget that day. I didn’t know anyone personally involved and I’ve never even been to New York. I don’t think 2 years is long enough to “get over” something of that magnitude. I don’t think I’ll be over it ever. And I don’t want to. I plan to always remember the events of that day and make sure my children remember them also. There were countless men and women who gave up their lives just doing their jobs and to forget them would be a dishonor. If it made that kind of an impact on somebody all the way in Alabama I can only imagine how people in NY or people who lost loved ones must feel on a daily basis. I plan to visit New York in 2005 and one of the first things I plan on doing is visiting the site. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-anniversary-b-s/194708.md?page=4)