# The Onion's coverage of the 9/11 attacks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 11, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410 "2010-09-11T15:32:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/1 "2010-09-11T15:32:09Z")
This morning I am commemorating the 9/11 attacks by re-reading The Onion’s coverage of the attacks. After those planes hit those buildings, we all seemed to be holding our collective breath and we were unsure when it was ok to laugh again. Mayor Rudy famously came out before the first new SNL after the attacks and told Lorne Michaels that it was “Ok to laugh again.” I remember Letterman finally breaking that tension as well (Letterman may have been the first national person to start making jokes again.) Anyway, here is a link to [The Onion’s 9/11 issue](http://www.theonion.com/issue/3734/). I’m sure this has been posted before but I think it’s a good way to lighten things up on this sad anniversary. I remember the huge headline on the front page that just said “HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!” I think that summed up how most of us reacted on that morning. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/2 "2010-09-11T16:14:38Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Mayor Rudy famously came out before the first new SNL after the attacks and told Lorne Michaels that it was “Ok to laugh again.” I remember Letterman finally breaking that tension as well (Letterman may have been the first national person to start making jokes again.) Michaels: Can we be funny? Guiliani: Why start now? LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT! ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/3 "2010-09-11T16:15:13Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > This morning I am commemorating the 9/11 attacks by re-reading The Onion’s coverage of the attacks. > > After those planes hit those buildings, we all seemed to be holding our collective breath and we were unsure when it was ok to laugh again. Mayor Rudy famously came out before the first new SNL after the attacks and told Lorne Michaels that it was “Ok to laugh again.” To be more accurate, Lorne asked Rudy if “it was OK to be funny.” “Why start now?” ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/4 "2010-09-11T16:58:05Z")
My favorite article is the one describing how to talk to your children about the WTC attacks: > [@The Onion](#): > > As your child may or may not know, much of modern Islamic fundamentalism has its roots in the writings of Sayyid Qutb, whose two-year sojourn to the U.S. in the late 1940s convinced him that Western society and non-Islamic ideologies were flawed and corrupt. Over the course of the next several decades, his writings became increasingly popular throughout the Arab world, including Afghanistan. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/5 "2010-09-11T17:43:36Z")
I just wanted to point out that the Onion waited until fifteen days after the attacks to post a 9/11 edition. Another bizarre sign of seriousness I recall hearing about - the staff of Naked News remained fully clothed while reporting about 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/6 "2010-09-11T18:16:23Z")
That issue is so brilliant. One of my favorite bits is _[American Life Turns Into Bad Jerry Bruckheimer Movie](http://www.theonion.com/articles/american-life-turns-into-bad-jerry-bruckheimer-mov,220/)_: > [@](#): > > “I always thought terrorists blowing shit up would be cool,” Martin continued. “Like, if the Pentagon was bombed, I figured they’d mobilize a special elite squadron of secret-agent ninjas, and half of them would be hot babes. How could I ever think that? This is actually happening, and it’s just not cool at all.” _“Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.”_ - Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/7 "2010-09-11T18:21:44Z")
This isn’t about 9/11, but I feel I must mention the amazingly prophetic January 2001 article: [Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over’](http://www.theonion.com/articles/bush-our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-pros,464/) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/8 "2010-09-11T20:29:38Z")
I always liked [this story](http://www.theonion.com/articles/not-knowing-what-else-to-do-woman-bakes-americanfl,221/) from that issue of the Onion: “Not Knowing What Else To Do, Woman Bakes American-Flag Cake.” ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/9 "2010-09-11T20:41:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I always liked [this story](http://www.theonion.com/articles/not-knowing-what-else-to-do-woman-bakes-americanfl,221/) from that issue of the Onion: “Not Knowing What Else To Do, Woman Bakes American-Flag Cake.” This one actually choked me up a bit. It really summed up how I felt stuck in my super heated apartment in Brooklyn unable to open any windows. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/10 "2010-09-11T21:18:36Z")
I think my favorite was “Massive attack on Pentagon page 14 news”. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/11 "2010-09-11T21:37:30Z")
report on memorial > **[Construction Complete On 9/11 Truther Memorial](https://www.theonion.com/construction-complete-on-9-11-truther-memorial-1819571760)** > > UNDISCLOSED—On a remote patch of Kansas prairie believed to fall outside the range of U.N. spy satellites, construction is finally complete on the long- awaited 9/11 Truther Memorial, sources confirmed Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/12 "2010-09-11T21:47:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think my favorite was “Massive attack on Pentagon page 14 news”. Oh, I forgot about that! Still very funny to me, if only because it’s _still_ an afterthought (to everybody but the conspiracy theorists, who don’t get that if you wanted to fake something even the stupidest people would get you would have made a Bugs Bunny-style plane cutout in the wall.) ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/13 "2010-09-12T00:18:11Z")
The Dopers didn’t do too bad a job with their own Onion headlines: [link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=87707) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/14 "2010-09-12T00:33:22Z")
Of course, we in the Bay Area had our own [real life Onion headline](http://editdesk.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/memorable-headlines-bastards/). ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/15 "2010-09-12T00:53:34Z")
My favorite was published in the next issue: [A Shattered Nation Longs to Care About Stupid Bullshit Again](http://www.theonion.com/articles/a-shattered-nation-longs-to-care-about-stupid-bull,216/) ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onions-coverage-of-the-9-11-attacks/553410/16 "2010-09-12T01:30:13Z")
“Not Knowing What Else To Do, Woman Bakes American Flag Cake” might be my favourite Onion article that I’ve ever read. > [@](#): > > “It’s beautiful”, Cassie said. “The cake is beautiful.”