9-11: The most overblown event in U.S. history
August 19, 2007
By Paul Campos
When Stu Bykofsky, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, wrote a
column recently in which he openly hoped that America suffers "another
9-11," he merely had the poor judgment to say what many a right-wing
politician and pundit is thinking.
Evidence for this is everywhere: in the fact that Bykofsky was invited to
appear on the GOP's unofficial network, Fox News, to "explain" his
comments;
in the keen disappointment that ripples throughout the right-wing
blogosphere every time the collapse of a bridge or a steam-pipe explosion
turns out not to have been the work of Scary Brown People Who Hate Our
Freedoms; and in predictions such as that made by former Sen. Rick
Santorum,
that the GOP's electoral fortunes will improve as soon as there's another
terrorist attack.
Indeed, at this point, one can practically see these people wringing their
hands in frustration at the apparent inability of "the terrorists" to kill
a
few Americans somewhere (preferably in a solidly red state, although New
York or California would do in a pinch), so as to once again give war a
chance.
Bykofsky's column is a nostalgic look back at the days immediately after
9-11, when the nation was unified by fear and anger and a desire to find
and
destroy "the enemy." (Typically, Bykofsky doesn't bother to define who
"the
enemy" is. This spares him the effort of having to consider whether
invading
a country that had nothing to do with 9-11 made any sense.)
Six years later, it's worth looking back on that terrible day with
something
other than a wistful longing for a repeat performance, in order to
recognize
a couple of obvious if unpleasant truths.
First, in the weeks immediately after 9-11, a lot of people said and did a
great many ridiculous things. This was somewhat understandable under the
cir***stances. Still, it's im****tant to recognize the cultural forces that
made it mandatory to attack the likes of Susan Sontag and Bill Maher
(Maher
actually was fired for merely pointing out that, whatever else they were,
the 9-11 terrorists weren't cowards) helped create a collective atmosphere
of national hysteria.
Second, in the years since, we have been encouraged to develop a kind of
narcissistic obsession with the events of Sept. 11, 2001 (indeed, the very
term "9-11" reflects this). "9-11" is invoked over and over again, as the
day that "changed everything," and that therefore justifies everything
from
banning toothpaste on airplanes, to wholesale spying on Americans without
a
warrant, to torturing people who have been imprisoned for years without
trial.
The narcissism at the heart of the Cult of 9-11 is captured by an episode
of
Larry David's mordant comedy "Curb Your Enthusiasm." David meets with a
rabbi whose brother-in-law was killed in uptown New York in a bicycle
accident on the day of the terror attacks. When at the meeting's end David
innocently exclaims, "Let's roll," the rabbi is outraged: "You knew my
brother-in-law died on Sept. 11! How dare you say something like that!"
A nonplussed David replies, "I didn't realize that if you died uptown it
was
still part of the tragedy."
The fact is that if you, like me, are one of the 99.9 percent of Americans
who doesn't know anyone who was killed or injured in the terror attacks,
or
in the subsequent rescue efforts, then 9-11 was at bottom a very
disturbing
thing that you saw (over and over again) on TV.
It didn't "change everything," and it didn't (and doesn't) justify the
Iraq
war, indiscriminate spying on Americans, extra-judicial renditions,
torture
or any of the other immoral actions that continue to be done in its name.
It's high time to stop wallowing in our obsession with what is becoming
the
most overblown and shamelessly exploited event in American history.
Paul F. Campos is a law professor at the University of Colorado and can be
reached at Paul.Campos@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
. Distributed by Scripps Howard News
Service.
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/opinion/guests/514270,191GUC3.article
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