Flashback: The Day The Earth Stood Still
I was in my then-doctor's office in Yardley, Pennsylvania, home to several of the pilots and crew members who died in the attacks. None of us knew that at the time, of course. We were just there to see the doctor.
When I walked in for my 9 a.m. appointment, they had the radio on. "A plane crashed into the World Trade Center," the receptionist told me. Weird - that's an awfully big building to miss. I assumed it was a small plane, sat down and picked up a magazine. (I think I was there for a sinus infection.)
And as we sat there half-listening, a few minutes later the weirdness replayed itself: Another plane crashed into the other building.
At this point, dread set in and we knew something really, really bad was happening.
I remember the drive home, heading south on I-95. It was completely empty, except for one state trooper I'd passed. I'd never seen that. I remember thinking it looked like the end of the world.
On the ride home, I kept trying to call the people I cared about - not to see that they were physically safe, but as an emotional touchstone. The phone lines were busy everywhere and it was hard to get through. (I remember my then-boyfriend was not all that interested in hearing from me, so something else died that day.)
My grown son was staying with me while he looked for a job and was sleeping on the couch when I came home. I flipped on the TV and it woke him up. We watched as they showed the planes crashing into the building, again and again and again.
"Turn it off," he said after an hour or so. "This is pornography, war pornography. Turn it off."
So I did.
When we have our limbic brain punched over and over again by horrific images, and those images are then used to justify more horror, there is only one solution: Turn off your TV.
My son was right: The 9/11 images were war pornography, something watched over and over as we stroked ourselves into wargasm.
In honor of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, comments are closed to this post. We offer this opportunity for our readers to take a moment of silence in deep respect to those whose lives were lost, both here and in Iraq.
was how in the hell did those planes fly around for so long and not get intercepted?
still don't know.
situation, gotten the airline industry up to speed and said these are the suspects and profiles we need to watch out for and keep a close eye on as step one.
war game exercises, one of which was named Operation Vigilant Guardian, were being conducted over Greenland and Iceland. Normally, these were conducted in late October/early November. There has never been a satisfactory explanation for the date change. There are also 2 Air Force bases, McGuire in central NJ, and Stewart in Orange Co. NY, each less than an hours drive from NYC. Yet no jets were scrambled, and no plausible explanation as to why. Half a trillion dollars for "national defense" yet total paralysis when action was needed. Why?
. .
just can't...
want to live in fear for the rest of your life?
I ain't gonna do it.
I'm not going to let 911 dictate over my entire life for whatever time I have left.
can we stop talking about it? I'm tired of years having 363.25 regular days + one where everyone feels the need and the qualification to ponitifcate without end.
face of earth. We got a ways to go before that happens.
Susie, you are blessed with a very insightful son.
... you spend a post talking about the 'war porn' of 9/11, and then close off comments so we can all have a moment of quiet reflection?
I think it's time to change the way we look at 9/11 through a reasoned examination of both our national security and foreign policies. And I think as long as 9/11 is a sacred cow upon which no one dare acknowledge the negligence and incompetence that made it all possible, we cannot have this discussion.
If comments are closed, and I'd be OK with that as it's rare here:
Why am I posting a comment? (as in able to)
/maybe I need more coffee
That morning my husband was driving me to the dentist. We heard about the first plane on the drive over and when we were sitting in the waiting room, we heard about the second plane. I turned to my husband and said, This sounds like a terrorist attack. My husband replied, Saying things like that are how rumors get started.
I watched some of the replay today on msnbc, it's interesting to see what the news people were saying as the events happened that day.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
I lived near the Trade Center.
What I remember most is the feeling of really being alone.
What the city was saying was, "You're on your own".
There were no police to be seen.
Some people were directing traffic - I guess the lights were out.
No cell phones worked.
People were buying pocket radios to find out what was going on.
Government failed us. Both local and federal.
That bullshit about the great leader Giuliani was just that: bullshit.
He was nowhere to be seen.
The only person that was truly helpful was a bus driver.
We had made it over the East Side and were trying to go uptown.
The streets were chaos - not because of people - but nothing seemed to work.
This wonderful bus driver came driving up the middle of third avenue and was picking people up and dropping them off. No fare.
Just when you needed government, there was none.
i thought mcCain said he knew how to get/find bin laden. oh yeah maybe it's really not that important.
The values embraced and endorsed by the Wacko Right Wing repukulan Party. The Cowards of 9-11, I did say Cowards as this day comes and the memories overwhelm us, These Cowards on the Right will be seeking Photo Ops with the Flag and Service members and survivors of this Tragedy, yet when we as a COUNTRY united as a WHOLE these COWARDS on the RIGHT united to DESTROY US. Remember with a COWARD and DO NOT FORGET the TRAITOR cheney (little letters for a little man). They put SOCIALIZED CPORPORATE Profits before AMERICA. Then slowly and methodically start to drive a wedge between its people.
WTF is going on here. Where the hell is Bush Co???????
and i often wondered, as the horror of the bush administration unfolded, if i didn't get as stoked up for war and other patriot acts because i didn't watch the warnography.
Comments are closed on this entry