Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
9/11/01: It didn’t have to change anything
On the morning of 9/11/01, a patient told me what had happened in New York City. I didn’t immediately believe him. Patients, especially the older ones, tell me lots of strange things. Not all of them are true, and this one in particular sounded unbelievable.
Between patients, I called Karen, and she confirmed the story. I didn’t see the footage until that evening. It still seemed unbelievable even after I watched the news. I felt like one of those cranks who refuses to believe in the Apollo moon landings. Surely this hadn’t happened.
At some level I began accepting the idea but I still kept it at a distance. I thought of it as I would a speculative fiction plot bunny. “Suppose it’s real. Suppose terrorists really did crash those planes,” and so forth. And I swear to you this is true: I wasn’t worried about what the terrorists would do next — I worried what George Bush would do next.
When it comes to politics, I’m not always right, but this time I was dead-on accurate.
The following thought is neither original nor particularly well-stated: the greatest damage to our country on 9/11/01 was that which was perpetrated upon us by our leaders. I saw it coming. I dreaded it. I knew the world had changed, knew it would take a strong and wise leader to weather the change, rise above it, and prevail; knew George Bush wasn’t that man.
I was wrong about some things. Frankly, I thought we would lose our civil liberties in a matter of weeks rather than months, and I didn’t expect the tide of public opinion to turn within the decade. Call me a pessimist.
9/11 didn’t have to change anything — not like this, at any rate. We could have learned from it. We could have led the world. We didn’t have to fuck everything up.
D.
Amen. W really managed to make it so much worse than it was. We’re not watching TV today or listening to much radio either. There’s nothing like picking at a sore…
Oh, yeah. 10 months earlier, I had consoled myself by thinking “how much damage could he do in 4 years?” I’m glad I didn’t know.
I could never have predicted what he’s done. No wait, I think I mean I couldn’t have predicted that he’d get away with what he’s done. I’m still stunned at how many people support him and his wars.
From day one until now, I still think it was an inside operation.
Even now, at least one out of three Americans thinks Bush is an okay kinda guy. That alone makes me feel hopeless.
Some action was justified. Actually, not justified, but required. The invasion of Afghanistan was probably it, even though that was exactly what Al Quaeda wanted.
The invasion of Iraq was completely uncalled for. There is no sane rationale that can justify that invasion other than blind git-them-ay-rabs rah-rah.
Just as there are people who defend McCarthy and the domino theory and the disaster that was Vietnam, there will be people who will never, ever concede that George Bush is a fool, or that he did anything that was other than exemplary. To these people, the press lost Vietnam, and they are losing the war in Iraq now.