For the last few days, as the anniversary of September 11 2001 approaches, I’ve noticed that a lot of my US friends are feeling incredibly depressed.
In very large measure, I blame the world-wide media for exacerbating a melancholy which most of the world was bound to feel next week anyway.
But we DO have a choice people. We CAN reclaim this day from the media and make it a personal day of rememberance, sadness, anger or whatever. Not one of us has to fit into the schedule the media moguls have so carefully planned for us.
There is ONE, and only one, scheduled media event I intend to watch that day. Just as I stayed up to watch the “towers of light” being turned on, I WILL watch the rememberance services from each of the crash locations.
But that is it. I’m not going to watch the rest of it.
So if any of you need someone to just sit with you that day, I’ll be contactable by email, through IRC or by phone.
Those of us who were not directly affected last year were there for you at the time. Trust me, we are well aware of that you might need us to be there for you even more this year - AND WE WILL.
Thank you, that’s a lovely sentiment and much appreciated.
The international outpouring of sympathy immediately after the attacks last you was both appreciated and unexpected. America is used to being the giver of aid and sympathy, not the recipient. And it was an enormous blow both in loss of life, suddenness, and omigosh, guess those two oceans to either side aren’t the protection they once were…
Frankly, I find it depressing not only for the fact that it’s the anniversary of a terrible crime and attack, but for the following:
My country is getting beat up in the international press, it seems. Now, I understand that this criticism is directed primarially at our government, specifically the Bush administration, but it still causes twinges. Especially what I hear from Europe sounds like finger-wagging “you barbarian Americans are uncouth and uncivilized and should be more like us”. You know, we don’t want to be Europe, anymore than Europe wants to be us. Don’t forget that we started as a European colony, fought a war to break free of that, and I for one don’t care for the European “we’re more civilized than you” approach to diplomacy. (Yes, we can be arrogant. They can be condescending. How about we all just admit we’re not perfect and try to do better?)
I don’t like much of what’s coming out of Bush’s mouth these days. He seems to be ignoring anyone who doesn’t agree with him 100%. Excuse me? Has he forgotten that he didn’t quite win the election, but more or less got the Presidency on a coin-toss? We did not elect a King George. He and his cronies are playing this tragedy and national crisis to political ends and I find it repulsive.
Bush wants a war. Guess he figured out that how members of his family get high popularity ratings. But, at least his daddy didn’t try to start a second war after the Gulf War but retired gracefully after failing to win re-election. Yes, Saddam Hussein is a Bad Bad Bad person - but that doesn’t give us a right to invade Iraq. If he’s got proof of something produce it, otherwise sit down, shut up, and watch the bastard very very closely.
Loss of civil rights. There are currently two US citizens being held indefinitely without trial, without charges, and without access to counsel of any sort. THIS IS WRONG WRONG WRONG! Oh, it makes me want to puke. I do not want this county to turn into a police state where people disappear never to be heard from again, but we’ve taken the first two steps in that direction.
Ashcroft. Who I like to refer to as Asscrap. This man is evil. In Missouri, he lost the governor’s election to a dead man. It says something when people would rather have the deceased in office over a live guy. This guy is a fascist. Don’t get me started.
Loss of freedom of movement. Wasn’t this something Bush said would be preserved? But the truth is we are NOT as free to move around as we were a year ago. This affects me more than most, since I’m a pilot as well as a citizen, but the whole category of “pilot” is being viewed with suspicion these days. Huh. We didn’t do that to drivers of rental trucks after Oklahoma City, now did we?
And let’s not forget - media exploitation of September 11. I think there is a place for media coverage of the event. However, it’s already gone past that. The only way to get away from it is to TOTALLY stop watching TV (there goes another Amercian past-time). Which I pretty much have done. I get my news from the radio, or the Internet where I can pick and choose what I look at.
Anyhow, thanks again for the sympathy. After all the politcal hash made in the past year and the way the media uses this obscenity to sell cornflakes I was beginning to feel that the fact that nearly 3000 people were murdered had been forgotten.
I, for one, plan to go to work (just like I did last year, come to think of it) because I do not want these evil people to disrupt my way of life. However, it is not an ordinary day and I will probably spend some time during the day in quiet contemplation. Most likely over lunch, outside, looking at the magnificent skyline of Chicago which is still standing. I will think of those I know who were in NYC and DC at the time of the attacks. I don’t really want to attend mass grieving ceremonies, I’m just not comfortable with them.
I remember September 11 last year as being a wonderously beautiful day, with a perfectly clear sky. It was such a beautiful day, mixed with such horror. I’m hoping this year it’s equally beautiful, but uneventful.
Thanks, Reprise. I don’t plan to turn on the tv on September 11; I don’t know what the various networks have planned, but I don’t need any help remembering.
Broomstick, on 9/11 I felt a chill thinking about how the current administration would respond. Everything I was afraid of has been happening, but I think a backlash is slowly starting.
Indeed. Thanks for starting this, reprise - this next week is going to be an extraordinarily sad and painful time for a lot of people
I don’t know what to say, except that I wish there was some way to turn the clock back and have it all undone. If there was some way to ease your pain by sharing in it, I’d gladly be first in line to offer.
Let me just add that the whole world is, I am sure, with you as we lead up to the anniversary. As a Brit (and believe me, we hardly see ourselves as European, although the condescending thing certainly applies) it is refreshing to hear a thoughtful analysis of events subsequent to the atrocities visited on the USA. I think your point 1 is the very effect of the way the world perceives your points 2, 3, 4 and 7 particularly.
Hey, there is ONE good thing. Every Single One of our tacky, tabloid journo’s and newscasters have left Downunder to spend the next week in NY…it’s just a shame that you guys have to play host to them for the duration.
My biggest fear for the upcoming September 11th, is that I will become cynical. I’m already hearing about “shock jock” plans for the day, like Mancow sending up all of his staff on different planes and calling in to talk about how safe it is…and some station playing U2’s ONE all day…and I can just tell, that at some point…
I’m going to roll my eyes. When really, I shouldn’t.
And I don’t want to. If this is how these people are going to remember the horrible day, then that’s their perrogative and I have to ignore it.
My boss has closed the office for the morning, and I think I’m going to have to do NOTHING. Maybe watch a remembrance from New York, but then turn the media OFF.
My other fear is triggering the sheer panic and terror that I felt (and woefully expressed over dramatically through the SDMB) following the attacks. I don’t want to be broken down AGAIN.
My opinion of the Aussies goes all the way back to the mid-1970’s. Some United Nations Subcommittee Dedicated to Examine Some Issue, Or Maybe It Was Something Else was deciding on the assignation of geosynchronous orbits for communications satellites. There were two sides to the argument:
A: Information should be accessable to everyone.
B: Governments should be allowed to decide what gets transmitted to people residing within their borders.
Final tally (there were several abstentions):
A: 2
B: 157
The countries voting for option (A) were the United States of America and Australia.
The countries voting for option (B) included the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China and abot a hundred little (tinhorn dictatorships).
But if it could ease the pain of any one of the people and families affected by what happened the morning of September 11, 2001 I’d gladly suffer much worse than I have (which, actually, was very little) and much worse than I likely will suffer on the aniversary.
I’m glad we got the WTC site cleaned up much faster than expected. I don’t mind the arguing over what to do with the site because that’s such a normal thing, arguing over what to do with big city real estate and God knows NYC could use some normality once in awhile. I’m glad we got the Pentagon rebuilt. I’m glad no one on the ground was hurt in PA. We’ve got lots of stuff to do in regards to the victims, survivors, their families, etc but that’s no surprise compensation is moving slowly. Let’s get real - most victims of violent crimes (and their relatives) are NOT compensated. It won’t replace a life, but I’d like to see at least the children grow up with some financial security, and preferably the spouses having means to keep their homes after the sudden loss of a family income.
I am REALLY glad that my co-workers are taking fire drills seriously now - and we’re calling them “evacuation drills” now. I remember some of the NYC office (yes, they were WTC folks) visiting a few years ago and a fire drill going off during a conference/meeting. Some folks wanted to ignore it, but the NYC group not only got up and went, they INSISTED everyone else do, too. They had been through the 1993 attack on the WTC, you see, and took those drills very seriously. On September 11 last year, out of the 1900 employees at the WTC offices all but 3 got out alive. And they credit knowing what to do when all hell broke lose. Yeah, it’s an incentive to really take safety seriously. If we had to have a September 11, then at least we are learning from it. Maybe we’ll learn something that will save lives at some future time.
Anyhow - we Americans do appreciate the sympathy we get from the outside world. We don’t expect everyone to like our government (hell, a lot of us aren’t real happy with it right now) but, with our economy teetering, all sorts of unresolved psychological issues still percolating, and the knowledge that those people are still out there, still plotting, and would like nothing more than to kill even more of us… hearing that other folks feel for the American people (as distinct from the government) is a real boost.
I might not have the strength to watch the ceremonies. I started looking through the Life magazine special in the grocery line, and had to put it down before I started crying.
