The Pimping of 9/11

Never forget. Always remember.

Yeah. Okay. Happy 9/11.

At the risk of appearing callous to the deaths of nearly 3,000 people, on one of the most horrific days in American history, I just want to take this opportunity to say: Enough already.

Yes, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 were a seminal moment for many of us – you'd practically have to have been in a coma to not remember where you were when you first heard the news of twin jetliners slamming into the tallest buildings in New York City. And it's perfectly fitting that we would remember those events on the 10^th anniversary of the date. And yet…

"Now is the time to reflect on those people who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks." That well-considered message, by the way, came from my bank ATM, which reminded me of the upcoming anniversary all of last week. Thank God I don't do more banking; I might be a mirror by now, what with all that reflecting. Perhaps next week there'll be a message saying, "Now is the time to reflect on all the millions of people who lost their jobs, homes, retirement, and veritable future, thanks to the gross mismanagement and greed of banks like ours. By the way, may we interest you in an adjustable rate mortgage?"

FOX Sports promoted their upcoming NFL football lineup during an Oakland A's-Texas Rangers baseball game yesterday. Among the features they would air on FOX NFL Sunday would be "Terry [Bradshaw] and Howie [Long]'s thoughts on 9/11!" Excuse me? Unless they rescued injured staffers from the Pentagon, or helped overpower some of the Flight 93 hijackers, why would I possibly care what two former football players had to say?

There's just something truly perverse and ghoulish in the way that the media has approached the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, and I find myself repulsed even though, given a week or so to anticipate the coverage, I expected nothing less.

On the upside, we now can forget about 9/11 and its world-changing events for the next – how long? 10 years? – before we have to review the stories of heroism and loss. But the truth is – and this is, at its heart the reason that this anniversary overkill is so galling – that there isn't a single day that goes by that we aren't touched by the events of 9/11. Going to the airport is only the most obvious example. Entering a government building, parking in an underground garage, or even making a photograph of a "public" place – fear of terrorism has subjected us to increased surveillance, scrutiny, invasion of privacy. It's become so pervasive as to be second nature for most of us.

But every time the government decides to rob us of our fundamental freedoms – of movement, of assembly, of speech – they'll trot out the terrorism boogey man, and he will always be wearing a tee-shirt with the silhouette of the Twin Towers on it.

So, yes, let's never forget. Let's always remember. But let's try not to wallow in the grief, or be swallowed up by the fear.

“The Unbearable Lightness of Funny Bitterness”

"Good news, everyone!"

Yes, we all knew the bloodbath was coming, but who knew that it would be so… bloody?

Now, I'm no media expert, but I am pretty sure that changing the name of the newspaper(s) to make them more appealing to all parts of the geographic spectrum probably ensures that you will endear them to no one. After all, I live in the East Bay, but do I think of myself as an East Bay-ite –oid –ian? No, I think of myself as an Oaklander. Preferably, I would like to get my news from a paper that identifies itself as Oakland-based. Even though I frequently avail myself of the stories in the San Francisco Comical, I do so with the knowledge that they are out-of-towners who care little for me other than my subscription dollars. Unless Oakland burns to the ground, I suspect that the Comical will lead its paper with some event that transpired on the streets of the Baghdad by the Bay.

Meanwhile the East Bay Tribune… I'm sorry, I just threw up in my mouth typing those words. The E.B. Tribune will emphasize the news of the… East Bay?

If you are a Bay Area resident, you are aware that the East Bay is a huge geographical area, comprising the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Piedmont, San Leandro, Hayward, Castro Valley, Pleasanton, Sunol, Union City, Fremont, Newark, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Richmond, Kensington, Albany, Hercules, Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, Walnut Creek, Concord, San Ramon, Danville, Alamo, Livermore and Dublin, just to name the ones closest to the San Francisco Bay. The residents of Martinez, Rodeo, Benicia, Vallejo, Clayton, Blackhawk, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Rio Vista and (especially) Mountainhouse, having the read the previous sentence, are incensed at having been forgotten. This is a perfect illustration of why the E.B. Tribune concept is doomed to failure.

The Oakland Tribune has a proud history, dating from its start more than 137 years ago, including two Pulitzer Prizes for photography. It's hard to believe that we will abandon that pedigree simply to make the paper nominally more appealing to the readers who are, according to management, apparently afraid that Oakland moniker will... I dunno – break into their homes and steal their big screen TVs? "Oh, dear God! It's the Oakland Tribune! Somebody stop it before our property values go down!"

Meanwhile, the name change is the least of our worries – it's the accompanying 120 layoffs that are what really keep me up at night. Can I really survive another round of layoffs? What is this, my 18^th since arriving here in 1990? How can there be anyone left to eliminate and yet still have personnel with which to publish a paper? Are we using Chinese prison labor?

Well, if I start writing a blog entry every day after October 28, you'll know that my luck – and, if you actually deign to read this drivel, yours – has run out.

Until then… savor your Oakland Tribune.

P.S.: Thanks to the lovely and talented AP staff photographer Marcio Jose Sanchez for the inspired title of today's entry.