Eight Year Anniversary

I'll apologize in advance if this post tends to ramble rather than adhere to some cogent commentary. This is mainly because an event such as this, with repercussions and wars and intense political disagreements and social upheavals that still dominate us, cannot be easily covered in one blog, without either focus on a single subject or gross simplification. So I'll just share what ever has come to mind and what makes me remember so that none of us ever forget:
On the TV - Sometimes the memories are sprung on me at the least likely times. This is because so many movies were set in New York. And for movies who were released prior to the fateful day, any shot of the skyline was dominated by those two towers. Superman has flown past those fallen icons (NYC standing in for Metropolis in the pre-digital era). King Kong, in one of his incarnations, scaled the towers (because they were taller). Even John fucking McClain was dragging Sam Jackson's reluctant ass around with them standing tall in the background (and I'm glad the movie didn't end up in the WTC, or it would have disappeared (based on what happened to the building in the first Die Hard)). Even in movies that don't have them, their absence is felt.

Other times (and today is one of them) the various educational channels go to 9/11 documentaries. Then there's the 24/7 news channels. This was possibly the most-covered event, and they have so much footage. I continue to learn more with each new documentary, even each new rerun of the footage. And I never forget.

9/11 Education -One thing that struck me in the first year of my son's life is that he was born into a world where the WTC is only a memory and America is no longer innocent. This is significant, as there was a time between the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War and the 9/11 attack when there was no perceived threat to the country. It was this I spent the beginning of my adult life. There was something comforting about the idea that we had won, and real peace reigned over much of the world. It proved to ultimately be false, but the idea persisted, with blemishes to our superiority in other parts of the world (Somalia) and wars that were "clean" (the Gulf War).

But growing up in the last decade of the Cold War, when we were still only one button press away of annihilation. While we weren't really in the "duck and cover" phase of it, the presence was always a part of the culture. Now, my children will not know the Red menace, but will grow up under the fear of an enemy among us.

Yet they do not remember how it began. The September 11th Education Trust, however, works to make sure our children know. And we must also never forget.

My Newest Infonugget - We learned many things from the attack, from what choices and mistakes in the past created the motivation for murder, to the failures both inherent in a free society and developed in a psychology of denial, as well as nature of our country (both good and bad) when we are dealt a vicious blow by a relentless enemy.

In the telling of the story of that day, many questions were raised (and are raised still). In a discussion on the attack the other day, I found I didn't have all the explanation and verification as to why, once the attack began with the hijacking, we were unable to stop it (although I knew the psychological underpinnings and the general story). So I leaped to my search bar and unleashed the power of Google.

In the process, I came across some nice myth debunking sites:

www.conspiracyscience.com - Site with debunking for a few things besides 9/11 (like Obama's birth certificate).

debunk911myths.org - This site builds on the articles over on Wikipedia; as well, the site founder has edited the 9/11 articles to Featured status on Wikipedia.

But the crown jewel is a look into NORAD's role in this Vanity Fair article. It even includes audio from the actual conversations on that day. I missed it when it was published in 2006. Two years later, it settles any lingering questions in my mind on the military's role in trying, and ultimately failing, to stop the attacks.

Mis-Education by those who seek "Truth" - 2006 is important in 9/11 history, because this is the year that the "truther" movement really got it's tinfoil hat on. I'm not really going to get into discussing their insipid bullshit, because their fuckwad theories require the following belief:

Significant elements in the military and government either allowed or arranged the attacks for either financial gain (oil) or for military conquest, or both.

Now, while I distrust the government on many things, one thing that no sane person can believe, even in the face of the evidence out there is that our government would publicly kill 3000 people and get away with it with no evidence (except fabricated truther bullshit). To suggest otherwise requires not only delusions, but a hateful distrust of humanity and a loathing of America itself.

I bring these bastards up because I ended up on Youtube doing the above search. And I made the mistake of watching their lies and horribly edited videos. But on the plus side, there are videos like this: