Let's never forget 9/11 - the day this country lost its fucking mind.

[kpete]

September 11, 2012

Day of Remembrance.

Ah, it's that time of year again. There's a hint of autumn in the air, the sky is a beautiful clear blue, and the media is telling us that it's time to never forget what happened on 9/11/01. So here, things we should never forget.

Let's never forget:

1. the day that putting a yellow ribbon magnet on your car became the sole determinant of your patriotism.

2. the day infantile jingoism trumped free speech.

3. the day it was okay to send kids into a misbegotten war, and to forget about them when they got back.

4. the day telling the Geneva Convention to go fuck itself went mainstream.

5. the day civil liberties in this country died.

6. the day the American flag became exponentially more important than the ideas it was supposed to represent.

7. the day the government discovered that fearful people were much easier to govern than brave people.

8. the day this country lost its fucking mind.

Feel free to add your remembrances in comments.
http://www.dependablerenegade.com/dependable_renegade/2012/09/day-of-remembrance.html



BUSH KNEW!!!!!!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opinion/the-bush-white-house-was-deaf-to-9-11-warnings.html

[DinahMoeHum]

1. We, the American people did NOT lose our minds that day. . .

. . .but our government did.

[TBF]

4. Honestly a lot of them really did -

as evidenced by the fact that they bought the official story. As for the government, if you read any of the old PNAC documents you'll know that those minds were already lost.

[DinahMoeHum]

9. I was referring to the actual day itself. . .

. . .but then, I'm biased, living and working in the suburbs of NYC then and now (which were more directly affected by 9/11 than, say, someone in Kansas)

Given the reactions of the POTUS and NYC's Mayor Giuliani that day, it was clear they didn't really know what to do.

Regular, everyday folks, OTOH, conducted themselves bravely and generously, for the most part (firefighters, office workers, pedestrians, total strangers, etc.)

If you can, read Rebecca Solnit's book A Paradise Built In Hell. She explains through the realm of natural disasters and other calamities how everyday people tend to cope better in such instances than regular authorities usually do - in that the people are usually NOT panicky the way the MSM and Hollywood often portray them to be.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_nf=1&cp=24&gs_id=1r&xhr=t&q=rebecca+solnit+paradise+built+in+hell&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&oq=rebecca+solnit+paradise+&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=35c7833110a03490&biw=998&bih=552

[TBF]

45. I was in the DC area at that time

and had a classmate who lost a brother (worked at Cantor). I don't know that living in NYC makes someone an expert, but whatever.

But yes I was talking on a macro level rather than focusing on the detail of the day.

[maddiemom]

84. Good and valid observation.

[Odin2005]

12. My classmates and I were wanting Mecca nuked.

Yes, our country definitely lost it's mind.

[Myrina]

50. A coworker hung a pic of the map of Afghanistan outside his cube:

.... with a caption "Weather Forecast for Afghanistan Today: 81 degrees, tomorrow Thermonuclear".


WTF?

[Hayabusa]

89. There was an e-mail circulating at my school

Simple to make. Hell, if I had a politcal map of the region I could remake it in three seconds. It had the entirety of the country blue with two words written down: "Lake Afghanistan". That freaking horrified me.

[Egnever]

31. Some people have never come back from that day.

A very dear friend of mine to this day makes many of her decisions born out of the fear she has from that day. It is a sad thing to see.

In many many ways the terrorists won that day.

[Dont call me Shirley]

66. Yeah, those tearists bush cheney rummy condi wolfie kkkarl.....

[daybranch]

75. Inconvenient truth

Most of us did, sadly.
We never stopped to think that the attackers were not terrorists but rather attackers on those parts of our society that was wronging them the most. While I cannot in any way condone their taking of so much innocent human life , I realize what they did was not an indiscriminate act and was aimed direectly at the ones they believe culpable- the large financial center and its executives who wish to steal their oil, the Pentagon who keeps troops in their homeland to help whast they consider a dictator, and the White House who orders the actions they hate.
I do not remeber a lot of riots in the streets or loud media protests. Sure some disagreed and expressed that disagreement but usually not too loudly, which I think was wise considering the President's successful inciting of a vigilante mob mentality all across the country and across both parties.

[tavalon]

76. I was a 10 percenter in the day

90 percent were banging the war drum before the rubble had even settled.

[tomp]

79. here, here! me too.

if anything 9/11 was the day america lost THE REST of its mind (except us 10%).

added:

for the record, my very first thought when i heard about the attacks was "what the hell has George Bush done?"

[Mariana]

83. "What the hell has George Bush done?"

More on my mind was, "What the hell is George Bush going to do?" I knew the reaction and response was going to be totally fucked up.

[truth2power]

87. Interesting you would say that, tomp. Because my thoughts were very similar...

The very first thing I said to someone when I saw those towers burning, on TV, was, "It's no wonder. Look who our leaders are." I know, it probably doesn't make much sense. But that's what I said.

From that day to this, I have NEVER felt fear, or anger toward Iraqis, Afghans, Iranians etc. I have felt anger at our own government, because they had a hand in it, as sure as I know anything on this earth.

I was a member of a Unitarian church back in 2001. I was a member of the choir. I never went back after 9/11. I'd been unhappy for some time with the conservatism (believe it or not) that I found there.

I remember in 2000 just after Cheney/Bush were (s)elected I was complaining about them to a member of the congregation, and she said to me, "At least he (Cheney) knows something about oil".

Yes, indeed he did. And he does. And look where it's gotten us. I hope those who thought this was a good idea are happy.

[tavalon]

93. Conservative and UU in the same sentence

I never thought I would see that.

[tavalon]

92. I hadn't been paying attention to politics until then

I thought before this that Dubya was going to be as ineffective as he had been as our Governor. I was upset, but I was upset for the people who died and I didn't understand certain things like the buildings pancaking and too convenient passports. I just couldn't wrap my mind around it and as I watched my government try to mold my POV, I got really scared. I knew we were being railroaded and it was just so disgustingly callous the way they were mind fucking us.

Honestly, before 9/11, I wasn't much of a conspiracy theorist but the obvious manipulation that seemed so blatant to me but not too most others, just scared the shit out of me.

I started researching obsessively and I kept landing in Germany and the Reichstag Fire and I just about drove myself insane with the fear of the nationalism/jingoism of my fellow Americans. Luckily, I found DU and it saved me.

I found out that I wasn't crazy, but that my country was.

10,000 posts later, I'm still here and I'm a wonk and I know now that my government is very,very dangerous. We must be ever vigilant.

[hedgehog]

2. I think the constant replay of footage from 9/11 (I'm looking at you MSNBC!)

is a very bad idea. Unless we are willing to forget, the fighting never ends. Just take a look at Belfast, and the feud between Sunni and Shia. We need to comfort those who lost family members, but the rest of us need to let it go.

[Not Me]

3. Your suggestion is one that I have contemplated for a long time.

I am too young, but wonder, when did we put Pearl Harbor behind us?

[HappyMe]

7. Good question.

[hedgehog]

10. As it happens, my husband's uncle, a Pearl Harbor survivor,

passed away last fall. He gave interviews to local television stations several times, and there were small commemorations, but everyone else went about their business that day. I think people remembered those who were hurt or killed that day or who lost people, but no one connects today's Japan to that day.

He was convinced that Roosevelt had set up Pearl Harbor to be attacked. That's a good thing to recall when evaluating first person accounts. Sometimes, just because you were there doesn't mean you know what happened.

[tblue37]

62. My dad was at Pearl Harbor. He gave one newspaper interview

--at the 50-year mark, I believe--but was otherwise never contacted about it by the media.

[Odin2005]

13. It's about keeping people scared and hateful.

[PatSeg]

21. I agree

I can't help but think of all the film I've seen of European cities after World War II and the endless rubble and destruction. People suffered such tremendous loss of lives and property, but they rebuilt with so much dignity and determination. What I've noticed often missing in the U.S. is humility. To sensationalize and politicize the many losses that day is cruel and ugly.

No one is ever going to forget, but everyone needs to quietly move on, knowing we have no monopoly on loss and suffering. If our experiences don't make us more compassionate towards other countries who have suffered, then our commemorations seem rather empty and self-serving.

Sometimes I think we believe OUR losses are so much more important because we think WE are more important.

I hope this doesn't offend anyone. I would never minimize anyone else's loss.

[hedgehog]

25. The people who lost family that day will always carry that loss at

every holiday, every graduation, wedding, birth of a child, etc. But people who sat at home and watched tv from hundreds of miles away need to get a grip and get a life.

[a la izquierda]

29. Yup. I agree with you.

I grew up near lower Manhattan, but was in California when 9/11 happened. I managed to not know a single person in the towers, Pentagon, or on planes. I am beyond over this. I don't think sensationalizing the violence is healthy at all, and that's what the news seems to do.

[Politicalboi]

55. But 9/11 took away our rights

Even if we didn't lose anyone close to us, we ALL lost something that day, and we continue to lose every day the lie continues. I hope that lawsuit against the airlines gets going. I hope the airlines have some good attorneys to prove that fire does NOT take down buildings at 10 stories a second. It never had before that day, and it hasn't since. And the Madrid fire didn't pulverize and collapse the whole building into it's own footprint. And that building burned for hours.

[a la izquierda]

78. Yes, but that's in the abstract...

and it was a continued process that began before 9/11, with the fraudulent elections (and arguably even before that).
11 September, for me, is as much about what happened in Chile in 1973.

[PatSeg]

47. Yes

And I've heard people talk about how all this coverage on television causes them to relive that day, magnifying the pain that they carry every day. I find so much of it tasteless and insensitive. Who didn't see the destruction on their televisions every day for weeks in 2001? I don't think any of us need yet another replay of what we'll never forget.

If there are still people out there who want to watch it again and again, then as you say, they need to "get a life".

[truth2power]

88. Yes, the U.S. is lacking humility. Instead, it suffers from hubris....

And you know what happens to those so afflicted.

[progressivebydesign]

24. It's also detrimental to those that had PTSD from the attack.

It can trigger their PTSD, and bring it back. There were thousands and thousands of people who were thrown into severe mental distress, and many had only witnessed it on TV. But the media had to show the footage over and over and over.

The news business is a ghoulish thing. They don't care if it's painful, or even dangerous. It's shocking and sensationalist. Instead of doing their fucking jobs and featuring thoughtful stories about how we can stop this from happening again, they engage is junk food journalism by just showing the horrors over and over.

And of course the Republicans who control the majority of the media WANT these images over and over today, hoping it will cast doubt on electing a Democrat. Because everyone knows that the Republicans are the ones that keep us safe and can take on terrorists. Wait for the surrogates to start attacking the President this week on terror. They have gotten their day full of scary images, the ones they used for political purposes in 2004 and 2008.

[riverbendviewgal]

5. I am for remembering all your points

I am not watching the events as they happened on TV.....

It seems to be commercial not really compassionate.

I think putting out wreaths and having moments of silence much better..

[gollygee]

6. The day we let the terrorists win

We changed how we live, and we started to live in more fear.

[awoke_in_2003]

37. Yep. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

8. At least it was a day (and actually lasting a week or so)

when the world felt sorry for us. Then "we" eventually went on to prove why they hated us in the first place.

[hedgehog]

11. Everyone was an American that day, then GW got back to Washington!

[Arugula Latte]

14. It's odd for me to think that it was Tony Blair who was very comforting that day.

That was back before Tony had become a Bushco-fluffing weasel. He had a calm and reassuring presence when he made his remarks of solidarity while President Dumbass scurried all over the country like a scared bunny.

[ljm2002]

16. I remember saying to my daughter...

...how many countries unexpectedly were sending heartfelt messages of sorrow. Libya, Venezuela, to name two. Her response was: Yeah, of course they are. They're scared sh*tless of what our reaction will be, and rightly so.

Turned out she was 100% correct in that assessment.

[Brigid]

56. You have a very astute daughter.

You must be very proud.

[sevenseas]

15. The Real Heroes Were The Passengers That Took Down That Plane In Pennsylvania

Yet the Pennsylvania crash was done by Americans who CHOSE to die to keep terrorists from reaching Washington, are treated like an afterthought, if mentioned at all. I'll bet a lot of youngsters don't even know about the Pennsylvania crash.

[abelenkpe]

32. we should do more to remember them nt

[gollygee]

86. They were definitely heros

Heartbreaking, as was everything that happened that day. But to know that they did that to keep the terrorists from being able to inflict further harm is amazing.

[Initech]

17. It was the day Fox News completely destroyed American journalism.

[valerief]

22. To be fair, they'd been doing that since 1996. nt

[Hubert Flottz]

18. If you haven't seen this PBS video please watch...

http://video.pbs.org/video/2270078138

The country was misled by our mis-leaders.

[azurnoir]

61. Thank you n/t

[RepublicansRZombies]

19. the first day that NORAD failed to respond to a hijacking

the first day we realized Rumsfeld was the most clueless man on the planet as he had no idea about the attacks until a plane hit the pentagon over an hour after the WTC.

the first day that steel buildings ever fell to the ground in their own footprint due to fire.

the first day that a steel building not even hit by a plane, building 7, fell to the ground due to a small fire.

It was an amazing day!

[zeemike]

46. And that is just a short list of firsts.

The first time a plane crashed into a building like the Pentagon and left no trace of itself....it all just vaporised people and all.
The first time a plane crashed into the ground and left a hole but no wreckage.
The first time a plane hit the pentagon and there was no video of it despite the pentagon having many of them around the building...and more.

But the most important thing was that it was the first time they were able to shut up so many people that noticed these firsts and said something about it....and it worked on the left and the right....to this day none dare call it a conspiracy.

[Odin2005]

53. Oh look, a twoofer.

[FiveGoodMen]

91. You're rolling those eyes at EVERYONE who doesn't believe Bush's version of the events

[bamacrat]

20. Its when people looked to the government...

but instead of support and unity they got tyranical rule coupled with the celebration of ignorance.

[kentuck]

23. Amen to that.

And there is no indication we will regain our senses anytime soon...

[Vidar]

26. Remember the Maine!

[a la izquierda]

30. Hah!

My students had no idea what the Spanish-American war was. And they're college students.

I facepalmed.

[pansypoo53219]

44. oh shit. it the late 80's i think, my uncle was in town on memorial day + we drove downtown

milwaukee, and there was a remember the maine banner! REALLY?!? the maine?

[hedgehog]

49. I think we should remember the Maine -

The battleship Maine blew up in Havana HArbor and thanks to the demands of the Hearst newspapers, we went
to war with Spain.

It was only much later determined that the the Maine sank when its own boiler blew up! Shades of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction!

[RoccoR5955]

81. Remember the USS Liberty also. n/t

[progressivebydesign]

27. I think it's so odd that the media turns it into a big event every year...

...when so many Countries on Earth live through things just as horrific, on a daily basis. Does Iraq have a big mediafest every year to mark how many innocents were killed? Kuwait? Somalia? etc? This is a result of the media driven (profit driven) culture here. It's all about advertisers money and political gain. 9/11 was horrific, and shocking, and destroyed so many lives. In other Countries the horrors continue daily, and some of which we were responsible for.

[rfranklin]

41. It is shameless commercial exploitation....

Sentimentalism sells...more eyeballs and higher ratings.

[ladjf]

28. Numerous excellent posts on this thread. It shows me that not everyone is crazy and/or stupid.

[Surya Gayatri]

33. I think this one trumps all the others:

"7. the day the government discovered that fearful people were much easier to govern than brave people."

[TBF]

48. Well,

that may have been something that particular administration realized all too well. I don't know how much latitude is being given today and do not want my post to end up in the dungeon, but I do think Dick Cheney knew exactly what he was doing at all times.

[WCGreen]

34. Absolutely and without a doubt, those high jackers changed this country for the

worse...

We so over reacted to the first attack on our soil since the War of 1812 that we just went bat shit crazy...

My two favorites, if you can call them that, reactions, the two ways the powers that be knew they had us by the sort hairs....

1. the day that putting a yellow ribbon magnet on your car became the sole determinant of your patriotism.

2. the day infantile jingoism trumped free speech

[abelenkpe]

35. We did lose our collective mind. It was scary to observe and live through

I do have hope that we are finally regaining our senses slowly.

[catchnrelease]

36. K&R

You are so right on all counts. Thanks for this thread.

[Egalitarian Thug]

38. The day the mask came off the American Police State. The day Americans shit themselves and

surrendered to their worst nature.

& R

[librechik]

39. I just call it the day the world ended.

and I have not been disappointed in that appellation.

[Alduin]

40. Thank you!

And yes, Bush did know!

[kimbutgar]

42. And the media was too scared to point out the neglience of the bush adminstration in ignoring the

warning they received in August. Now today 11 years later the NYT is pointing this out. My husband and I did not vote for bush and were mad at how the selection occurred instead of the "will of the people". (9-11 was the beginning of the end of democracy in the US)

[maddiemom]

85. Nope, that day was when the Supreme Court chose the president in 2000. The

people's choice was overruled. The rest followed.

[Gregorian]

43. The day they got their "New Pearl Harbor".

Their words, not mine.

[Lint Head]

51. The day this country's leaders started using fear as a weapon against it's own people.

[bif]

52. It didn't change everything. It was an excuse to change everything.

[think4yourself]

60. Thank you.

I've been saying that since that bit of propaganda was catapulted relentlessly.
This country was united in grief and shock. The Bush Administration took the goodwill of American citizens and even most of the world and squandered it on a bullshit, illegal war in Iraq.
There's only one thing people forget about
that day, and that's WTC 7.

[Brigid]

54. One slight disagreement with #7:

The government has always known that fearful people are easier to govern than brave people. 'Twas ever thus.

[heaven05]

57. a time

where a lot of 'we the people' accepted BIG, disprovable lies as truth.

[tclambert]

58. Re: #6. In school, we always pledged allegiance to THE FLAG, not the Constitution

or any of those rights or ideals or other abstract notions. That piece of polyester/cotton blend in the corner, that was real, and everybody swore daily to believe in it and defend it. We didn't know why. We just knew some pieces of cloth are more important than others.

[disndat]

59. Inside Job

A conspiracy of silence, not only by the media, but even by many in high places for various reasons who had vested interests.

[Raine]

63. It needn't have happened at all, if the warnings had been taken seriously. nt

[Kurovski]

64. REPUBLICANS DON'T LIKE PEOPLE.

They lust for power.

[ieoeja]

65. Let's never forget 9/12 either. The day I discovered 1984 was not the stupidest book every written.

Seriously. I thought that was one really goofy book. "We have always been at war with Eurasia!" Really? People are going to pull a 180 degree turn just because they are told so? But then....


"Bet you're glad Gore didn't win now, aren't you?"

Why would I be glad the guy who spent last year telling us Islamic terrorism was the #1 national security threat facing this nation is not now president when we just suffered an Islamic terrorist attack? Should I be happier that the president is instead the guy who mocked Gore for making that claim? Did you just forget the entire national security debate of the presidential election that occurred just last year?

I actually do know one intelligent Republican. He was embarassed when I replied thusly, and admitted that it had slipped his mind. And that maybe it would be better had Gore won.

The rest called me a liar.

[niyad]

67. k and r-- and a big thank you to kpete and all the posters, who remind me daily that not

everyone in this country has gone completely insane.

I remember talking to a friend that afternoon, and then saying, "well, I have to go now, I have errands to run." he gasped, "you aren't going out, are you?" "of course I am. whoever was responsible for this wants us to cower in fear, and I flat out refuse" sadly, events have not proved me wrong.

[WillyT]

68. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[Dkc05]

69. amen

[niyad]

70. and let us not forget that this attack, which, in a sane administration, would have generated

untold numbers of inquiries, investigations, panels, questions, etc. drew almost nothing. bushco did everything in its power to prevent ANY sort of investigation, and stonewalled when one finally happened (totally screwed up and powerless and toothless as it was)

that refusal to call for any sort of investigation should tell us pretty much everything we need to know.

[mountain grammy]

71. I admit to losing my mind for a week or so

I'd come home from work and ask "have we bombed anyone yet?" Blind anger!
But we all need to remember 9/11 and the incompetent, unelected fools who totally blew it while playing their little neocon games.

[SunDrop23]

72. Well said!

+1

[davidwparker]

73. Yes, Bush knew. When given the daily brief, he said "Now you've covered your ass."

Why this response and why the CIA director's hair was on fire?

It was known.

[Firebrand Gary]

74. K&R......Bush knew!

[judesedit]

77. The truth is out there. All they have to do is a little research. William Rodriguez is very real

and has been hosted in many countries to tell his version of the facts. Only in this country is he blacklisted. The people in other countries know more about what's going on in this country than we do. Such as, the first blast started in the basement of Tower 1 BEFORE the first plane hit the building. Wake up, people. Stop buying into the bullshit they feed us every day on the boob tube. Every time the truth starts to come out on just about anything, the bullshit about conspiracy theories starts. Aren't you the least bit interested in the level of corruption going on here? And the fact your basic rights are being chipped away one sliver at a time? Killing is sport for some, unfortunately. You've heard of collateral damage. We are lucky there are some who are not afraid of the boogie man and tell it like it really is.

[LittleGirl]

82. That guy - William

I know him. Rosie O'Donnell introduced him to me. Not her personally but with her blog. He and WTC 7 are two reasons that I don't believe the 'real' story about 9/11. I do know, all of this doesn't add up. William's story and WTC 7 tell me that we are not being told the truth.

[blkmusclmachine]

80. They said 9/11 would Change EVERYTHING:

Operation Northwoods:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92662&page=1#.UFBiEbKPWcM

[Smilo]

90. While the attacks also horrified me, I was ostracized for a while because

I said that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and that we should not invade/declare war. I was also the only one who was saying wtf - once I heard Bush had let Bin Laden's family leave.