OPEN SPACE: Another Freedom March

I have a modest proposal. Let¹s forget about ³9-11.² Before
going any further, let me be clear. I am not proposing we forget
about the historic event of September 11, 2001, or that we forget
about the innocent lives that were lost that day. Nor am I am
suggesting we forget about the heroic rescue efforts of all those
who responded to the terrible scene. When it comes to the sacrifice
and bravery displayed on 9-11, we should always remember and honor
everyone, victims and survivors, who were directly involved in the
tragic event.
But for the rest of us ­ the 99.99 percent of the American
population whose experience of 9-11 is vicarious and comes from
watching it on TV and hearing about it relentlessly from
politicians over the past five years ­ it¹s time to move on. It¹s
time for everyday people to take control of 9-11 rather than be
controlled by it. It¹s time to forget about it.
Of course, forgetting about it is easier said than done. On the
solemn occasion of the fifth anniversary of 9-11, rank politicians
from the President on down to first-term congressional candidates
have been invoking the event at every turn, seeking to exploit it
for electoral advantage.
The President may have been oblivious to the security briefings
he received about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda the month before
9-11, but he has been finely attuned ever since to the political
opportunities presented by the nation¹s wariness over a repeat
occurrence. Rather than accept responsibility for the attack
occurring on his watch, Mr. Bush instead seeks credit for donning a
hardhat and presiding over photo-ops in the smoldering aftermath.
And as the fall election campaign slouches on, Mr. Bush continually
reminds us that no post-9-11 terrorist attacks have occurred on
American soil.
The exploitation of 9-11 is hardly limited to the political
arena. America would not be America without commercial overkill, as
we have seen with the recent major motion picture, the prime time
television pseudo-documentary, and the endless 9-11 feature stories
and retrospectives in the print media. Some of these treatments are
worthy, heartfelt artistic expressions, and others are just
profit-driven cheap entertainment or transparent propaganda.
But irrespective of motives, all the political and commercial
revisiting and reworking and general ripping off of the 9-11 story
share one thing in common ­ a willing audience. When it comes to
9-11 message mongering, whether emanating from Washington or
Hollywood, we tend to just sit there passively, take it all in, and
respond dutifully like so many church goers saying amen.
No one dares question our infatuation with 9-11. Whether from
shock, or fatalism, or the simple dumbing down of our intelligence
in the computer age, we have come to accept 9-11 as the defining
moment in our lives. As unreal as the actual event was, 9-11 has
come to represent ³reality.² Well, to be sure, 9-11 was a horrible
event that affected the entire country profoundly.
But as horrific a sight as the televised plane crashes into the
World Trade Center were, no one foresaw how the tragedy would be
co-opted to partisan political ends, and would be used to justify a
war of choice costing far more in lives, injuries, and material
losses in Iraq than were ever inflicted by the 9-11 hijackers in
America.
And no one foresaw that the 9-11 tragedy would be compounded by
launching an endless ³War on Terror² serving no purpose other than
the perpetuation of power by those who launched it. It is time to
forget 9-11 and to reject the mind control that began with it. It
is time to stop asking ³where were you on September 11, 2001?² and
start asking ³where are you today?²
– Guy Wilson is a Sonoma West Times & News columnist