Yeah, but she had been slipping for a while though. It wasn’t until that happened that I realized she wasn’t coming back from wherever she was going. (I still didn’t realize she had Alzheimer’s until I saw it in her freaking obituary. No one in my family even said the word.)
I probably didn’t get it across right but his point was less mainstream, and mind you this was the night of 9/11 so he can be forgiven for being off track 
He figured the USA was probably on the brink of war and who the fucks knows how that can go or spiral out of control, he also said there was no way to tell how the country would go with stuff like the borders etc.
It just seemed like while everyone that night was braying GOD BLESS AMERICA with tears in their eyes, he was saying this could get ugly very fast.
It sounds like you are too young to remember the Gingrich era govt. shutdown, Prop. 187, the paranoia around Vince Foster and “black helicopters”, etc. The '90s was every bit as ugly.
I had just moved to New York and started a new job working at the World Financial Center across the street from WTC on that monday. Fortunately we were all out of town for new hire training that week with about 20 other New Yorkers and a couple hundred other new trainees. Mostly we just got drunk all day for three days until they could bus us all home.
New York is the largest city in the United States. It’s an international cultural, financial and economic center. So yeah, what happens in New York is pretty important.
Second, 9/11 was pretty much the largest terrorist attack ever. And it is an event that has shaped world politics and events for the past decade.
Third, Sandy caused almost twice as much damage (in $) as Ike (about half as much as Katrina, but without all the race and socioeconomic class implications). Although I am surprised that the entire country hears about it. People are still feeling the after effects in some places. But I just assumed I keep hearing about it because I live in New Jersey. Although there is some concern that global warming might turn Sandys and Irenes into regular occurances.
So yeah, that’s why you still hear about it. In fact, not understanding why those events are important makes you seem a bit obtuse or disconnected.
How does a 22 year old not know what the World Trade Center is, even pre 9/11? You’ve never seen a tv show or movie set in New York and wondered what that pair of giant buildings was?
General: “Those aren’t ideas, those are special effects!”
Michael Bay: “I… don’t understand the difference”