# When do we stop wallowing in 9/11? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523 "2011-09-07T18:07:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/1 "2011-09-07T18:07:15Z")
Do we really need a couple weeks of 9/11 reminiscences from the media? It’s been 10 years. When can we stop wallowing in this event? Dwelling on this attack does our nation no good, and in my opinion, a lot of harm. It only reinforces a paranoid bunker mentality. In fact, by dwelling on it, we are allowing the terrorists to win: we are demonstrating to the world just how effectively (and apparently, _lastingly_) we have been terrorized. Let it go already. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/2 "2011-09-07T18:14:07Z")
I also resent those who force me to read articles and watch TV specials about 9/11, as well as everyone who puts a gun to my head and compels me to remember the fall of the Soviet Empire, apartheid, the war in Vietnam, the Korean War, WWII, the Holocaust, the Depression, the stock market crash of '29 and (for the next four years!) the Civil War. I thought we lived in a free country where we could ignore stuff, but apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/3 "2011-09-07T18:15:35Z")
People will commemorate what they will. Pearl Harbor Day isn’t a national holiday or anything - this doesn’t stop it from being important to many people. I suggest not worrying about it so much. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/4 "2011-09-07T18:16:30Z")
Huh? Oh yeah, I guess it is almost 9/11. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/5 "2011-09-07T18:21:08Z")
If we DON’T commemorate 9/11, the terrorists will have won because we will have let those murders dictate what we should and should not say or do. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/6 "2011-09-07T18:21:30Z")
Humans like to wallow. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/7 "2011-09-07T18:21:59Z")
Hey, I would love to just ignore it. Please direct me to an American news outlet that is not featuring 9/11 coverage. You can’t escape this crap. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/8 "2011-09-07T18:25:40Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Hey, I would love to just ignore it. Please direct me to an American news outlet that is not featuring 9/11 coverage. You can’t escape this crap. Then do what I did shortly after 9/11, and turn the news off. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/9 "2011-09-07T18:27:53Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Hey, I would love to just ignore it. Please direct me to an American news outlet that is not featuring 9/11 coverage. I don’t think you understand what the word ignore means. To illustrate, if someone puts various people on his ignore list on this board, it does not actually silence those people. It just means that the person no longer pays attention to what is being said. Your version of ignore is to have everyone else shut up. That’s not right. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/10 "2011-09-07T18:29:32Z")
Sorry **Ravenman** , were you saying something? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/11 "2011-09-07T18:38:31Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Do we really need a couple weeks of 9/11 reminiscences from the media? It’s been 10 years. When can we stop wallowing in this event? This is probably the wrong year to ask that question, because round-number anniversaries of any notable event tend to get more attention. But given that bin Laden’s body is feeding the fishes, and a a whole bunch of other top al-Qaida types have met their reward or been captured lately, I’d hope that we’ll pay a bit less attention to the whole thing on September 11, 2012. Oh, it’s an election year, nevermind - the only question is which party will be trying to exploit it more. Maybe September 11, 2013. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/12 "2011-09-07T18:40:33Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > This is probably the wrong year to ask that question, because round-number anniversaries of any notable event tend to get more attention. I dunno. We recently passed the 10th anniversary of the 2000 Bush-Gore election debacle without so much as a whisper from the media. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/13 "2011-09-07T18:45:23Z")
It does make you wonder, though - to what extent did the media, politicians, etc. talk up the 10th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks in 1951? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/14 "2011-09-07T18:45:48Z")
If we ignore 9/11, then the terrorists have won because we will have allowed them to dictate what we can and cannot ignore ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/15 "2011-09-07T18:45:49Z")
Oh yeah? Just wait until the 911th anniversary. Plus, it’ll be in some kind of MegaMambo HD. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/16 "2011-09-07T18:53:07Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I dunno. We recently passed the 10th anniversary of the 2000 Bush-Gore election debacle without so much as a whisper from the media. What I’m saying, applied to this instance, is that the 10th anniversary of Bush-Gore should have gotten more attention in the media than the 8th or 9th anniversaries. The problem is, that still doesn’t mean it would have gotten enough attention to notice. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/17 "2011-09-07T18:57:42Z")
Saying “turn it off” is too glib of an answer. It’s so pervasive and ubiquitous that it takes a Herculean effort to shut it out. It’s also a perfectly fair commentary on our culture at large to observe that we have spent way to much time looking up our own asses about this event. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/18 "2011-09-07T18:58:36Z")
100 years from now, used flying car dealers will be holding 9/11 sales, with jets flying into the twin bars on dollar signs. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/19 "2011-09-07T19:00:30Z")
Eh, people remember things in different ways; to each his own. Personally, I’d rather we play it low-key and just consider it a fluke hit by a bunch of punks and not give them any more attention, but others are sentimental and patriotic and want to make a big deal about it. I don’t profess to know which is the best course of action, but I’m just going to watch something else, because I just don’t want to give terrorists the time of day. They don’t deserve it. However, honoring those we lost is a different matter, I do realize… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/20 "2011-09-07T19:04:41Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It’s also a perfectly fair commentary on our culture at large to observe that we have spent way to much time looking up our own asses about this event. Well, apparently the TSA seems to think there might be 4 oz. of shampoo up there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523.md?page=2)