Against Jingoism

American cultural icons, apple pie, baseball, ...
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I just wanted to note that I have very little to say about the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and  I will not be joining in the collective breast-beating. Just like I was not dancing in the streets after we killed bin Laden. I find myself unable to listen to the radio or watch TV news this weekend. I will be glad to wake up on 09/12/11, when there will be no further opportunities for 10th anniversary observances. To my way of thinking, most aspects of the American response to the Twin Towers disaster have represented us at our worst. We should be bowing our heads in shame, not grief and solidarity.

Oh, and, while there were of course heroes among the fallen that day, there were by no means 3,000 of them. Most who died on 9/11 were simply victims, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being a victim does not in itself qualify anyone for heroism.

And, please, will the media please stop profiling the melodrama of those who lost loved ones that day as if they have suffered uniquely, when there are so many families grieving the tragic losses of loved ones in a myriad of other calamitous accidents or violent crimes? How in the world can the families of 9/11 victims ever mourn adequately under these circumstances?

On a related (anti-chauvinistic) note, I’m with these guys. And with her.

Related:

Robert Klitzman: The Uses and Misuses of 9/11, The Nation

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