I figured this was the ONLY place I could say these things without getting flamed too bad

[bluevoter4life]

9/11. A day where we all remember where we were and what we were doing at the exact moment.

If you're like me though, you have become worn out from the incessant coverage of the 10-year anniversary. Why do I say this? Because most of this country is trying to move on and to seek some sense of normalcy in the succeeding years. Must we be reminded every day for the last 10 years what happened? Must those who lost friends and loved one's re-live those moments? Must firefighters, police officers, paramedics constantly replay those horrifying times, where they watched their brothers and sisters die, and not a goddamn thing they could do about it? Why are we told every time we fly that the TSA is there because of 9/11?

The best way to move on from such a state of shock is to reflect in silent remembrance. Do I support the respective 9/11 memorials in NYC, DC, and Shanksville? Absolutely, as I believe future generations need to be made aware of the resilience of the American people. To hear the TV loudmouths harp on a tragedy as great as 9/11 is to do a disservice to those that were actually there. For most of us, we were able to sit around the TV that night, with our family in the comfort of our own homes. To the 9/11 widow, watching her husband die as the first tower collapsed the first time was hard enough. Why force her to re-live that moment over and over and over again!

By comparison, let's look at the OKC bombing in 1995 (I was only about 8 when this occurred so my memory of events since is a little fuzzy). Up until 9/11, that was the single worst attack on American soil. To this day, we do not hear of it in the months leading up to it. There may be a few brief segments on MSNBC in the days before the anniversary, and maybe a mention of remembrance on the day, but by and large, we have moved on. The families involved with this attack are allowed to grieve and reflect in private.

Ladies and gentleman, I am in no way undermining or diminishing the events that occurred on that infamous day. Rather I am trying to encourage all Americans to go about their lives. I cannot be reminded of that day every year. Watching those images over and over again makes me swell up. And I wasn't there. Imagine how those that were feel. I believe it is the right thing to dedicate these memorials on this day. However, in the decade since 9/11, I have failed to see how that has brought about any positive change in our domestic and foreign policies. We have managed to forfeit our civil rights in the name of security and certain politicians have committed the sick, unthinkable act of using 9/11 for their own personal gain.

We must never forget September 11, 2001. But we must remember it in our own personal way. Some of you go to church and pray for forgiveness or protection. Some of you just sit alone in your house for silent meditation. Some of us spend the day with family remembering just how short life is, and how quickly it can be taken away.

I thank you all for reading this and hope that you're reactions don't burn me too badly. I don't post here too often, but when I do, I try to make the most of it. This is something I've kept bottled up inside for some time now and I just hope I made the right decision to let it out.

[Loge23]

1. Amen - it's become another media event. (eom)

[mysuzuki2]

2. it has been turned into a circus.

[JackintheGreen]

3. +1

I came downstairs this morning to my wife watching the reading of the names, only to see this solemn ceremony almost immediately interrupted for a word from our sponsors. So, we are supposed to forever get maudlin over this horrific episode from our shared national history, but god forbid we interrupt the American commercial imperative for even an instant. Just monstrous.

[Demoiselle]

4. I understand your feelings and I sympathize.

But I have the name-reading ceremony (C-Span) on because I find the people doing the reading very moving. They are every race, creed, color and age, every one has a personal, heartfelt message for a lost loved one.
I am trying to honor them all, quietly, here in my kitchen as I go about my chores.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

21. Yes, every race color and creed . We all love our families in the

same way. There were even some participants from the LGBT community who lost partners - they love their family, too.

If only we could all care for each other every other day of the year the way we do on 9-11

[Coyote_Bandit]

5. Ummmm......

Come to Oklahoma. You'll hear more than you want about the OKC bombing anniversary.

I understand the need of loved ones to memoralize and remember the tragedy. But I suspect some of them desire to move on. And I do not see any good reason for the fickin media and politicians to exploit the tragedy.

There are a lot of people who have lived good lives and had their lives tragically cut short. Some of them don't even have an obit published or a death notice published.

I think today I will skip the show and remember some of the forgotten ones.

[roguevalley]

6. I understand what you're saying and agree. I am aware of the group

psyche that collectively grieves but you would think some of the worst screamers and bigots lost their mothers. God bless and keep the families who have to go through this every year. And if you don't believe its shit consider the silence every April 19th.

[immoderate]

7. There is definitely manipulation going on there.

I flipped to the ceremony for a few minutes. It was depressing and disturbing. :cry:

I noted the diversity of the victims. Then a commercial.(!) I do what I always do when commercials come on, see what else is on. Ah, Zorro!

--imm

[shireen]

8. as much as i don't like sensationalism ....

i think the video footage, photos, and reporting from that day is valuable for people who were too young to comprehend the horror of that day.

There are many ways to remember that day and pay tribute to those who lost their lives. Some may wish to turn off the tv and quietly pay their respects. That's cool.

I've been watching the coverage because there's still images and stories i had not heard. I want to watch the coverage because I want to learn more about the people who were affected directly that day, to try to understand what each experienced that day.

[lsewpershad]

10. hopefully

you will, as well, keep abreast and want to know more about how many innocent Iraqis, Afganistanis,Packistanis,etc have lost their lives as a result. Also how many Americans and others are suffering because of our endless war against this faceless enemy.

[shireen]

12. yes, i'm acutely aware of it

It's sometimes covered in MSM and documentaries. BBC and Al Jazeera are also valuable sources of information. Most of all, I'm grateful to DU for posting many interesting links from information sources that are usually below the radar.

[shireen]

9. deleted duplicated post

[edhopper]

11. Go Dolphins!

I think most people feel this way.
See my post about the great disconnect between the media and the people.

[pipi_k]

14. Piss on the Dolphins

To the OP...

I thought I was pretty much over it after ten years. Not that I actually knew anyone involved in it.

Anyway, we were out to breakfast this morning in the little restaurant in town. The cook had her portable TV on in the kitchen. At a few minutes before 8:45 AM (just before the first plane hit) a children's choir could be heard singing "The Star Spangled Banner".

I was surprised to find myself crying in my scrambled eggs.

Didn't expect that to happen.

:(

[bluevoter4life]

15. No one, who ever was alive on that day, will ever be completely over it

And I'm sure this is the one day of the year where most people cry when they hear the "Star Spangled Banner" or "God Bless America". But the children's choir almost highlights what I am saying. These kids are probably no older than 9 or 10 years old. Most of them not around when it happened. What executive had the idea of using a children's choir in order to garner ratings? Call that a conspiracy theory, but it just shows the spectacle it has become. How many of those children knew they were on TV and why they are even there? It may be something they saw in a history book, but I'm willing to bet most of them are far too young to fully grasp the significance of that day. Alright I think I'll stop now before I get something thrown at me.

[SusanaMontana41]

32. dupe

[SusanaMontana41]

33. Very thoughtful thread and posts.

Tossing nothing at you except a hello and a thank you. :hi:

[msongs]

13. Today's NFL games, sponsored by....9/11. Buy some chinese made rememberences right away nt

[hfojvt]

16. I think the events deserve to be diminished

less than 3,000 people died and a few buildings were destroyed.

Well let's just compare that to the bombing of London, Tokyo, Dresden, Hiroshime, and Nagasaki and others during WWII. It looks pretty damned small compared to them. Conventional bombing of Tokyo killed 90,000 one day in WWII, and destroyed more than 6 buildings. All of Dresden was destroyed by fire bombing and over 100,000 people died, almost including Kurt Vonnegut.

Oh, but in our current media, 911 is the hugest, most terrible, most evil and most earth-shattering event of all time.

Well, now more than twice as many Americans have died thanks to wars that were/are justified by 911. Many buildings in Iraq and Afghanistan have been destroyed, and more than 30,000 Iraqis have been killed.

But of course, those 3,000 Americans are far more important and significant and deserving of proper mourning than any number of other Americans, much less Iraqis or Japanese or Germans or Afghanis.

I might also note that about 400,000 Americans have died in car accidents since the most terrible day ever. We will bever forget the 3,000 but we will never notice or remember the 400,000.

Everybody's equal in this country. Some are just more equal than others.

[gulliver]

17. 9/11 had an external enemy. The OKC bombing was done by a Republican.

The media has it right. 9/11 coverage gets a lot more general audience penetration than the OKC bombing. Republicans wouldn't watch OKC coverage, dramatically reducing viewership shares. Republicans don't want to be reminded that it was one of their far right nutcases (Republican, Timothy McVeigh) who perpetrated the second worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. They would tune out.

[vets74]

30. McVeigh was more a John Birch "Tea Party" Society kinda guy

"Democracy is not the solution to our problems.
Democracy is our problem."

-- Some fruit-n-nuts crackpot he had heard

[LWolf]

18. The word "all" is probably not appropriate.

I'm sure many do.

I don't remember much. Since I recognized within 24 hours that 9/11 propaganda was going to be used to legitimize the Bush administration and move our nation forward into war and destruction, I never got caught up in the national moment.

I know I was at home, because I remember my son's phone call telling me to "turn on the fucking tv." I did, I spent 10 minutes on tv, and turned it off. He knew I wouldn't have tv or radio on, since I don't give tv or radio news or talk shows, even inadvertently, any of my time, attention, or electricity.

I'm not sure what I did the rest of the day; I know I was at home recovering from a hospital stay after an accident. I know whatever I was doing, I wasn't afraid, enraged, or calling for revenge. Sympathy for victims and their families? Yes. As much sympathy as I have for the victims of the war on terror on all sides, and their families. As much sympathy as I have for the homeless, the un- or underemployed or paid or educated, the sick, the injured, the disabled, the victims of abuse of any kind, the victims of civil rights violations, the victims of accidents, murders, or lack of health care.

It wasn't something I dwelled on, though, then or since.

I was probably curled up in my chair, drinking some herb tea and reading a book, rest, peace, and quiet being what the doctor ordered for my recovery.

[WCGreen]

19. Style over substance once again...

What else can we expect from a media more interested in provoking a response instead of reflection.

Rehashing old wounds is what the media does best.

It's easy and lazy.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

20. I agree with you. I didn't attend the annual memorial sevice

at work. I found the huge posters with photos of the attacks hung all over the admin. bldg offensive and tried to avoid them.

I started to listen to the memorial service in NY on NPR this morning, but found myself telling the commentators to shut up when they were talking over the reading of the names. I ended up watching the rest of the event on CSPAN - tears falling almost constantly as I sat there for 4 hours.

I think the memorial pool ("Reflecting Absence") is a very moving work. Much thought was given to the placement of the names on the brass plaques. One story I heard was about the names of 2 co-workers whose desks were next to each other. The family of one requested that the other's name be placed next to his on the monument - although they had never met the co-worker.

Other programs I watched earlier in the week focused on the building of the memorial and on the families. One who lost a brother was a cofounder of 911 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. He talked about having to get past the anger and allowing ourselves to grieve . He talked about not wanting other families to go thru what his did.


http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/security/video-david-potorti-on-waging-peace-after-911/11420/

[TBF]

22. We never hear about OK because it was a home-grown right-wing whack job.

Since similar folks control the media ...

[bvar22]

23. Meanwhile, the First Responder HEROES...

...can't get Medical Treatment for their self-sacrifice on 9-11.

Now THAT is another "Uniquely American Solution".

SHAME!!!

[bluestateguy]

24. Subsequent anniversaries of 9/11 will get more and more low key

Next year and the following year, it will be a minor one day news story.

The 15th and 20th anniversaries will be a bigger deal than the 11th and 12th anniversaries, but not be as significant as today, and the temperature will be slowly turned down still more on the 25th and 30th anniversaries, and so on.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

25. America, I cried and mourned with you after 9/11

and then watched in horror, as your beady eyes looked for something to attack.

[etherealtruth]

26. I haven't been inundated with "9-11" anniversary coverage

It could be by design .... but , the little TV I watch didn't include coverage (until today ... I watched ~0.5 hours of respectful coverage on the history channel).

Remembering in "our own personal way" includes different things for different people .... if the 9-11 coverage isn't your thing don't let it engage you ... I avoided it with out trying. For some the coverage was a way to heal, a way to remember.

[RebelOne]

28. Well, every news station. local and national and talk, has been

nothing but 9/11 coverage. Hopefully, by tomorrow, it will have passed over. Right now, I am watching Joy Behar and it is the same thing/

[etherealtruth]

29. I'm not one that watches much television

I did watch at least four hours of TV yesterday .... but I guess that was "on Demand" programming.

I was kinda surprised by how low key everything was .... but again, I don't watch much TV

[dogmoma56]

27. but theyre entirely miss'n th most important part. that Bu$h43 let it happen, Kristol's Pearl Harbor

[luv_mykatz]

31. I agree.

Like L. Wolf (post #18), I realized very quickly that the horrible events would be used by the Bush administration to further their nasty agenda.

I was at home that day...down sick with either the flu or a migraine...don't remember which one it was. I had spent most of the day sleeping. I quit watching television after Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, so I didn't have the t.v. on.

I had noticed that it seemed awfully quiet out, but I had no clue what was happening until my phone rang. It was my Mom. She was in tears, sobbing that "we are at war. We've been attacked!".

I was stunned. She told me to turn on the t.v. I only had a small portable one, and it would go back and forth between color and black and white. I watched for awhile, trying to make sense out of events. Finally, I shut it off, and sat there...feeling a horrid fear of where this might lead...and how convenient this all was for the war-mongering fundy fanatics.

I knew then, that we were not being told the truth!

Last night, I watched Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911. It seems many of us know that certain political elements want to keep on exploiting those terrible events for their narrow political aims.

Like you, in no way am I trying to dishonor those who died, or who lost loved ones or friends. I just want the exploiting of it all to stop!

[Waiting For Everyman]

34. How sanitized do we need the world to be for us?

I can imagine that it's hard for a 9/11 widow to watch footage of the Towers coming down. But I'm thinking, you know, I'm the widow of a 100% disabled Viet Nam vet, and every day of our 23-year marriage I lived the VN war with him. If I can watch coverage of VN, or VN movies, or coverage of any war for that matter (because any war brings it back to me just the same), then I think the 9/11 widows will manage too.

What about the families of those who died in the Locherbie bombing? or any terrorist attack? or any traumatic event that made the news? Is it really different? I don't see how.