Shared memories

The phrase "9-11" has entered the lexicon of United States discourse. Politicians and other speakers use it for cheap emotional impact. I guess they do not think it cheapens the event to use it for everything from passing a law on license plate renewal tags to selling diapers or something. The meaning is becoming more layered every day.
Unfortunately, along with the political cheapening has come an emotional cheapening that absolves many people from an examination of the events. The impact of that day can never again have the freshness, the raw, unbridled fear, anger, terror, and resentment that it once did. It is unfortunate that such a seminal moment in recent history has turned into a political football that has people from many sides participating in tactics that test the bounds of acceptability.
Ward Churchill would be a good example. His famed "instant reaction" essay that led to a closer examination of his entire credentials said things in the moment as they came to him. Some of those things were pretty insightful, but others struck many people as inaccurate, crude, insensitive, and out of bounds. I think the comparison to Nazis was what really got him in trouble.
It is an unfortunate comparison. First, it is important because it demonatrated that he had a poor grasp of all the subtexts and tailings the reference brought on. The events of World War II have taken on a life of their own. They have greater significance than many people realize. The aftereffects are still felt. It was sad to see a Native American taking on the trappings and ideology of Neo-Naziism. And the face he held those beliefs became a dominant feature in the coverage of the school shootings in Minnesota. This illustrates quite well how the emotional impact of references to Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, or other similar events skews the views of events.
Sure, there is virtually always a bias to the media. No person is without their own opinions and ideals. Nor should they be. Damasio performed a great service when he examined the side-effects of a lack of personal value systems in his work Descartes Error:Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. The ideals, beliefs, and values a person possesses contribute to their bias and make them what they are. A person who fails to hold these attributes rapidly becomes a danger to themselves and those around them. Their sense of well-being and search for self-preservation are what allow people to make what they perceive of as good decisions.
The sad thing is when those personal biases skew coverage in ways that important issues are overlooked. The Nazi leanings of a shooter are part of the story...but so is how and why he would turn his back on his heritage, what would motivate him to kill other people, why we live in a society that makes it possible and easy for these events to happen.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I see metal detectors in school. Seriously, if someone is planning on shooting you, is a metal detector going to prevent him from coming in? It might provide a few seconds of warning when he pops the security guard but I think fire drills, car alarms, and emergency broadcast warning signals demonstrate how well United States citizens pay attention to alarms. Smoke detectors...dollars to donuts, someone in your circle has burned food, unplugged the smoke detector, or just ignored it until the smoke died down.
I think the people who reported so heavily on the Nazi aspect did a great disservice to themselves, the victims, the readers...yes, even to the shooter. They focused on the easy angle...the emotional impact of calling back memories of the evils of World War II. That emotional impact lessens the truths of the story.
As Arendt pointed out in Eichmann in Jerusalem, many peoples other than the Nazis were guilty of the deeds that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands, millions even, of Jews. However, by focusing on his role in keeping the trains running, many people were able to absolve themselves of blame. Eichmann provided a locus for their anguish, regret, anger, bitterness, hatred, and whatever other negative emotions. Seeing him swing provided a cathartic moment of vengeance and retribution...as if one life brought back the hopes, dreams, potential of all the people underground.
When Churchill referenced the Nazis, he called the shared angst of a nation desperate to feel bad about itself into full cry. People had an easy target. It was a poor choice...but it was done in the moment and was probably more honest, right or wrong, than the reaction to it.
People did not examine the meaning behind it. They simply took a popular rally cry and took it public. Instead of studying the issue, the underlying point, the possibility that, in some ways, such as "enabling" the CIA secret wars, the U.S. interference in the affairs of other nations, the sideline participation in the U.S. War mnachine, these people served the same function as the rank and file of the German people did in the 30s and 40s, people simply reacted to the attention grabbing buzz word...Nazis.
Now they do not have to honestly consider the situation. No examination of the rights or wrongs of U.S. foreign policy, going back for years, needs to be made.
I wonder how many people would understand the relationship of Khalil Hawi's suicide when the "Arab nation" stood by when Israel invaded Lebanon has to the planes as bombs in New York? Of course the percentage is miniscule. In the rather mortal, yet hilarious words of the theme song to Team America, "America...smurf yeah". Anything outside our borders does not matter. Only when we are attacked...to most U.S. citizens the attacks were groundless and violated the boundaries of legitimate warfare.
In no way, shape or form do I personally justify the attacks. Then again, I have this quaint belief that if our soldiers were actually on our soil they A) would not be ABLE to attack in acts of aggression and B) probably would not be provoking the anger and hatred some elements of the world hold for all things U.S.
With that said, I do at least have a concept of why those attacks took place. I can understand what would possess a group of people to plan and perpetrate such an act. I probably disagree with some of the things that led to this point...but I can comprehend them.
By the same token, I am aware of many acts by the U.S. governement over the past...oh, for round numbers, lets say 235 years that I protest with all my heart, soul and mind. I am not sure what amazes me more...the price we have paid, or that the price paid so far is so small.
9-11 is becoming to many U.S. citizens a phrase latent with all the meaning of the Holocaust. It is in many ways a pop culture phenomenon that has both more and less meaning by its common everyday use. SOmeday, I really hope that we, the pop culture consuming public, really realize that not only is there a price to pay for some of our actions, but also that our very perceptions are flawed by our adherence to the very information that we rely on.