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.