September 11, 2006--The Path From 9/11
Yesterday, after placing a wreath at the site of the World Trade Center, President Bush, “visibly moved,” said, “You know, you see the relatives of those who still grieve—and I just wish there were some way we could make them whole.”
Amen to that.
So what’s my problem on this solemn and terrible day? A number of things that you may not want to read about so click “Delete” and move on to whatever will help you get through this fifth anniversary.
First a quick word about our president for whom 9/11, for good or ill, has been his defining moment. Oh, indeed if we could make them whole. But wouldn’t it be good if he would hold onto that wish and tonight, from the Oval Office, when he speaks to the nation he might take the opportunity to speak as well to the entire world—especially to those, even among our “friends,” who now disrespect and have come to hate us. Maybe say that what he wishes is that all in the world who grieve can be made whole. Not just the families of those who died on 9/11. And then announced various things that he will attempt to do during the next two years to help heal the world, including and particularly those parts of it that we, in one way or another, have injured.
Now about the rest of us—there was that controversial “docu-drama” on ABC last night, The Path to 9/11, which was unwatchable, not just because of its historical distortions (incidentally as much about the Bush administration as the Clinton) but because of its pandering to the endless national grieving that has been a consequence of what happened on that monstrous day.
It is perhaps unkind and even a little cynical to, on this day, say “Enough.” But what better time might there be to do so when we are so focused on what happened and what it has done to us as a nation?
We need to stop wallowing in collective grief. Maybe, especially for the families who have to move on with their lives. Are we helping them do that by insisting that they remain perpetual “victims”? When we have a tragic loss in our own families (and literally thousands of these happen every day)—from a sudden car accident, from a cruelly untimely illness, from a crime—what do we do? We express anger or outrage, we grieve, and we are encouraged by all of those who love us to heal as best we can and continue living. We are not hauled into public view each year and pressured to relive the feelings of our loses.
This is the one-by-one human dimension of this. Then there is the truly cynical public and corporate use of 9/11—The Path to 9/11 is a case in point; all the networks, knowing it will garner ratings, are reliving and replaying the tapes of that day; the President, whatever he in truth may have felt, is again using the Pit as his great political stage; Mayor Rudy front and center in full campaign mode said matter-of-factly this morning on the Today Show that we will be attacked again, while implying that since that is certain who is best to lead us from the White House; and the “developers” and memorialists are posturing and contesting over what to build where and how it should look.
On this latter point, memorials, nearly every day another one gets dedicated. One this weekend in Westchester County and another in Bayonne, New Jersey. That latter, a 100-foot high sculpture, includes the names of all who died on 9/11 and during the earlier, 1993, attack on the WTC. The good folks in Bayonne were so motivated to get it done and unveiled in time for the fifth anniversary that they included the names of 40 people who did not die during either attack (NY Times story below).
I cite this less to chide the New Jersey officials than to suggest we have so immersed ourselves in the grieving and remembering part, it has become so commodified, that we are in danger of losing sight of how to live our individual and national lives. The commercial hucksters certainly have focused on the emotions, so what else is new; but what is dangerous is that our national leadership has as well.
Amen to that.
So what’s my problem on this solemn and terrible day? A number of things that you may not want to read about so click “Delete” and move on to whatever will help you get through this fifth anniversary.
First a quick word about our president for whom 9/11, for good or ill, has been his defining moment. Oh, indeed if we could make them whole. But wouldn’t it be good if he would hold onto that wish and tonight, from the Oval Office, when he speaks to the nation he might take the opportunity to speak as well to the entire world—especially to those, even among our “friends,” who now disrespect and have come to hate us. Maybe say that what he wishes is that all in the world who grieve can be made whole. Not just the families of those who died on 9/11. And then announced various things that he will attempt to do during the next two years to help heal the world, including and particularly those parts of it that we, in one way or another, have injured.
Now about the rest of us—there was that controversial “docu-drama” on ABC last night, The Path to 9/11, which was unwatchable, not just because of its historical distortions (incidentally as much about the Bush administration as the Clinton) but because of its pandering to the endless national grieving that has been a consequence of what happened on that monstrous day.
It is perhaps unkind and even a little cynical to, on this day, say “Enough.” But what better time might there be to do so when we are so focused on what happened and what it has done to us as a nation?
We need to stop wallowing in collective grief. Maybe, especially for the families who have to move on with their lives. Are we helping them do that by insisting that they remain perpetual “victims”? When we have a tragic loss in our own families (and literally thousands of these happen every day)—from a sudden car accident, from a cruelly untimely illness, from a crime—what do we do? We express anger or outrage, we grieve, and we are encouraged by all of those who love us to heal as best we can and continue living. We are not hauled into public view each year and pressured to relive the feelings of our loses.
This is the one-by-one human dimension of this. Then there is the truly cynical public and corporate use of 9/11—The Path to 9/11 is a case in point; all the networks, knowing it will garner ratings, are reliving and replaying the tapes of that day; the President, whatever he in truth may have felt, is again using the Pit as his great political stage; Mayor Rudy front and center in full campaign mode said matter-of-factly this morning on the Today Show that we will be attacked again, while implying that since that is certain who is best to lead us from the White House; and the “developers” and memorialists are posturing and contesting over what to build where and how it should look.
On this latter point, memorials, nearly every day another one gets dedicated. One this weekend in Westchester County and another in Bayonne, New Jersey. That latter, a 100-foot high sculpture, includes the names of all who died on 9/11 and during the earlier, 1993, attack on the WTC. The good folks in Bayonne were so motivated to get it done and unveiled in time for the fifth anniversary that they included the names of 40 people who did not die during either attack (NY Times story below).
I cite this less to chide the New Jersey officials than to suggest we have so immersed ourselves in the grieving and remembering part, it has become so commodified, that we are in danger of losing sight of how to live our individual and national lives. The commercial hucksters certainly have focused on the emotions, so what else is new; but what is dangerous is that our national leadership has as well.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
10:13 AM
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