9/11: Forbidden Thoughts

we should never ever ever "get over it."

I'm not sure what it would look or feel like to obey this dictum, but it strikes me as unnecessarily absolute, especially since the ceaseless wars, the Patriot Act, the xenophobia, and all the other 'responses' to the attacks have affected my life much more directly and much more negatively than the original attacks ever did.

Thinking of 9/11 makes me rather wish that our leaders had showed a lot more wisdom and far less naked political opportunism afterward. Maybe if we finally "got over it", we could disengage our emotions long enough to walk back a few of the stupider, uglier and more harmful consequences of that day.

oh christ, the "Freedom fries" debacle.

it really was a drag to be alive in the US in 2003-2004.

― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Sunday, September 13, 2015 3:20 AM (Yesterday)

yeah the lead-up to the iraq invasion is the single most horrible time in recent history for me, just an endless stream of idiots defending the indefensible basically everywhere you looked, ppl you'd normally think of as sensible and decent buying into the bush horrorshow. and all these years later i still run into ppl who are like "well, they attacked us first!"

it was a dark fucking time

remember that time george w bush won an election because he was the ceo president who just needed to delegate effectively because we were approaching the end of history and permanent prosperity? that was awesome.

it's disconcerting for me personally cuz on a personal level things were p great for me between 2000-2008 (marriage, first child born, busy w cool stuff etc.) but then on the macro level everything was such a colossal fucking bummer

I participated in 2 anti-war protests on campus in 2003. The level of vitriol spewed at those participating was nothing liked I'd ever seen. Strangers came up and screamed at us. Everywhere I went, some friend or acquaintance was talking nasty rhetoric about "anti war protesters" without realizing I was one. I was depressed knowing that the war was going to fuck both our country and Iraq up in terms of lost lives and destroyed economies, and nothing anybody was going to say was going to change it.

The delusions of pro-war supporters amazed me. I was at work at a retail store the day Saddam was caught and everybody kept coming up to me, excited, that we caught him. A radio deejay talked about how she was finally convinced the war would end (when by that point he was a figurehead and little more).

the freedom fries thing was insult to injury. You got your war, now you're bringing xenophobia and nauseating nationalism into it over fabricated wounds.

If there was ever an option to have lived in a cave with a fully furnished fridge, air conditioning, and no phone or television, 2003-2004 was it.

i had some horrible piece of shit middle aged woman go off at me on a flight from SF to London around this time because she (correctly) sensed i was anti- the war and went on this crazy bizarre mental voyage that meant i was anti-war because it was cool and the cool kids hated her in high school and they were all anti-vietnam and they were on drugs and so on and so on. she was sat next to me, and we only interacted because i showed this dumb piece of shit how to make movies come on the screen and she saw the book i was reading or something and started just being really vile and personal and nasty and i lost it and told her she was an awful piece of shit and that i could not talk to her any longer and just put my earphones on and ignored her for the next ten or so hours. like i was about to scream at her. it escalated so quickly, and i don't think i was to blame.

from SF!!

http://s17.postimg.org/6rkr08lpb/Screen_Shot_2015_09_13_at_11_07_23_PM.png

Islam is a cult that does not co-exist with other muslims. Can't argue with that logic!

never trust a Geer

yeah im really upset we didnt kill all 1.5 billion muslims 'while we were there'

odds are p good that this is the type of guy who when challenged even weakly, starts backpedaling and shouting things like "AIN"T I ENTITLED TO MY OPINION"

someone set us up the 9/11

hand me the 9/11

No one remembers the Lusitania.

let alone the maine

The Guy from Devo Is Sorry About His Twin Towers-Shaped Wedding Cake, Which He Says Was a 'Set-Up'

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO8eE-vW8AAmeuE.jpg

(Yes, those are box-cutter party favors.)

respek knuckles for the supremely bad taste of that

I get sick each year of everybody recounting where they were on 9/11. it feels like morbid pageantry

facebook friend was all "so can we be real about 9/11 not being a terorist attack now" and unironically talked abt jet fuel cant melt steel beams

for a minute i felt like a grossed-out david attenborough

"defriend"

I am so glad FB didn't exist on 9/11

the other 'forbidden thought' (which I"m sure I probably posted in years past) is everybody remembering the "solidarity" we felt in the aftermath. it was a mirage - everybody was back to fighting and being dicks within a week, they just maybe thought an extra .03 seconds before flipping you the bird.

in a way it kind of helped accelerate the polarization of the parties.

Wasn't like that in New York - goodwill extended well into 2002, maybe up until the invasion of Iraq.

I posted a joke on Facebook this morning based on the fact that 9/11/01 was also the release date of Nickelback's Silver Side Up album, but took it down after about 10 minutes.

People still talking about 9/11 I guess

when 9/11 happened, Bush had approval ratings in the 90s. despite not being popularly elected, and the turmoil that surrounded his election, the country more or less backed him up. they trusted his judgment. they wanted him to succeed. even the most trenchant Democrats were not willing to tear him down.

now contrast that with what you know in your heart would have happened had Obama been President on 9/11. half this country would have blamed him for it, either by suggesting incompetence or even collusion.

most likely collusion. fuck you social media.

shame on me i guess i didn't really give much of a fuck about W bush one way or another until AFTER he invaded Iraq

the other

People still talking about 9/11 I guess

― slathered in cream and covered with stickers (silly), Sunday, September 11, 2016 2:54 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

because it still feels like yesterday in many ways. the 9/11 era hasn't ended. we're still mired in the middle east, it's more unstable than ever, ISIS has outpaced Al Qaeda, people feel more vulnerable to terrorism. the payback/relief/release that we've been waiting for for fifteen years hasn't come yet. everything is worse than it was on 9/11. the psyche of the country is so fractured and schizophrenic - trump is assisted suicide.

update on idiot fb "friend"... I couldnt stand just unfriending or hiding so posted a comment like "You have got to be fucking kidding me with this bullshit" and the meme of matrix morpheus saying jet fuel cant melt steel beams

he deleted his whole post, comments and all

:D

good. jet fuel can't melt steel beams drives me fucking nuts. stuff like that and the walmart coke case memorial feel like a kick in the head. i know this happens in time (thinking of a photo i saw of a inflated waterslide designed as the capsizing Titanic), but so soon...

I get sick each year of everybody recounting where they were on 9/11. it feels like morbid pageantry

― Neanderthal, Sunday, September 11, 2016 2:52 PM (yesterday)

i don't mind hearing these stories from ppl who were actually in new york or d.c. when it happened, but i get a little sick of the "i was 17...i was working at radio shack, we just watched the news all day...never forget!!" posts from ppl who weren't anywhere near the attacks and didn't know anyone involved, and who seem weirdly eager to think of themselves as part of "the story" of 9/11, as if they could somehow elevate themselves into it just cuz they were alive when it happened and watched it on tv just like everybody else

also find myself wanting to respond to some of the "never forget!" posts i see on fb by asking if we couldn't take a moment also to honor all the ppl who died (and are still dying, every week) as a result of our miserable response to 9/11, but fb disputes are one of the worst ways to spend your online time

huh, so salon was cancerous shit back in 2002 as well

"i don't mind hearing these stories from ppl who were actually in new york or d.c."

Before It Was Cool

great point about "morbid pageantry," although I was relieved that this year there didn't seem to be much discussion on social media, or people posting pictures of the towers exploding. probably because it was sunday. for people who lived in nyc and dc at the time, it really does still feel like unfinished business. it just burns me every year, i get really fucking sad/angry if i pay attention. luckily yesterday i just checked out and didn't pay attention to the internet.

Someone I was hanging out with yesterday was complaining about businesses that hadn't half-masted their flags. I had to be like "it's FUCKING SUNDAY."

as a non-american the idea of businesses flying flags at all is just as weird and upsetting as not half-masting them tbh

Stay Puft

How do you know where to buy cars in your land?

http://geneseesun.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/102214flag02.jpg

http://www.kvewtv.com/media/photologue/photos/cache/flag_2_display_large.jpg

http://sfcitizen.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/7J7C8675-copy.jpg

Or buy delicious food?

http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/da73682eab694b7b95efb12658cfe818/us-flag-flying-together-with-mc-donalds-fast-food-restaurant-flag-ayr759.jpg

http://l1.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/7k7j0eJpdc3BJrrYY9a_Bg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9MzAyO2g9NDUwO2lsPXBsYW5l/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2013-11-20T002336Z_1_CBRE9AJ013M00_RTROPTP_2_USA.JPG.cf.jpg

http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/browbeat/2014/05/01/taco_bell_seasoned_beef_explainer_why_fast_food_chains_should_add_more_filler/72763825-new-hyde-park-united-states-a-united-states-flag-flies.jpg.CROP.promo-mediumlarge.jpg

"i don't mind hearing these stories from ppl who were actually in new york or d.c."

Oh, man, I got in an argument on FB last year about something to do with profiling Muslims or somesuch with a right-wing aunt of mine, and one of her comments was, "Well, you'll feel differently when the bodies are on your doorstep." I rpelied, "On Sept. 11 my office was one Metro stop from the Pentagon. A co-worker of mine watched Flight 77 crash into it from the freeway. You live in Painesville fucking Ohio. I've been closer to the bodies than you will ever be."

The sanctimony about 9/11 from the jingoists is a never-ending source of disgust to me.

An Aunt making shitty comments on Facebook you don't say!

For real what is with Aunts, those cartoon minions and social media? Move over, daytime television.

http://i.imgur.com/HOJgY1P.jpg

jesus fucking got to be kidding me christ.

Despicable Me was released in 2010 -- how old was Bob when it was filmed?

Phil D -- call me curious but what exactly did said right-wing aunt say in response to that, anyway.

Never Forget The Six Minions

Ned, she said absolutely bupkis. Even my right-wing relatives know when they've been checkmated. Not that it changed her politics any, but she at least knows not to treat me like some naif.

Van Gogh's 9/11 is oddly beautiful
https://deepart-io.s3.amazonaws.com/cache/c9/5f/c95f8a1e6880f10446a250ad10618f71.jpg
https://deepart-io.s3.amazonaws.com/cache/61/38/6138975d087461136c28eaab6f6aee48.jpg

deepart to honor the departed