WP: Historians Fear Attack Date's Significance Could Fade (9/11)

[kskiska]

(snip)

Soon after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, President Bush signed legislation designating each Sept. 11 as Patriot Day and calling for flags to be flown at half-staff each year. Last month, Karen Hughes, a former Bush adviser who is now the State Department's undersecretary for public diplomacy, sent messages to U.S. embassies asking them to come up with a visible way to commemorate the date and remind the world that terrorism is a global menace.

Today, the Pentagon is holding the Freedom Walk, an event planners hope will be replicated across the nation, from small towns to state capitals, in years to come.

Despite these initiatives, some historians predict that popular culture eventually will file Sept. 11 in the same category as Memorial Day, Labor Day and Presidents' Day, holidays laden with a significance and gravitas that were slowly blanched by time.

For a date so freighted with emotion, images and pain, the diluting of the 9/11 anniversary seems impossible to fathom, especially in such places as Washington and New York. But historians said that decades from now, Sept. 11 might take on a different dimension. In other words, Sept. 11 eventually might become another holiday on which many Americans grill hot dogs, go to sales or spend a long weekend at a quaint bed-and-breakfast.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/10/AR2005091001188.html

[Blue_Tires]

1. here's to hoping the day will come

that it will just be my birthday again (29)

[Lithos]

3. Happy Birthday then

Been a long time since I was 29.

L-

[NYC]

7. Happy Birthday.

:party:

[Blue_Tires]

14. thanks, Lithos and NYC

[Journeyman]

2. Who remembers or recognizes Armistice Day? . . .

and against its significance, September 11 (Patriot Day?) pales in comparison.

[6000eliot]

8. Who celebrates Pearl Harbor Day?

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

17. the "NEW Pearl Harbor" day is celebrated by the signers of PNAC !!!

they have reason to celebrate--they all becme billionaires over it--

[ret5hd]

39. i do...guess why.

[6000eliot]

46. It's your birthday?

:shrug:

[ret5hd]

48. you are a winner!

[6000eliot]

49. Well, only a couple of months to go

Happy future birthday!

[BiggJawn]

30. Kids used to get Armistice Day off from school.

Now they call it "Veteran's Day" and only the VFW and AL celebtate it.

December 7th? What happened on THAT day? :sarcasm:

[ShockediSay]

4. How'bout 9/11, the day our govt failed us totally? n/t

[serryjw]

5. you bet!

I should celebrate this? I am half way between LIHOP and MIHOP. Either way I want to fry * for my BBQ

[MADem]

37. Yeah, and real patriots fight when the government fails

They may get more than they bargained for out of this "holiday" they propose....

[Lisa]

6. how about "lack of preparedness" month (September)?

I know the chances of an official endorsement are nil, but having a designated month where citizens and the media can slam shortsighted, inept actions by governments which failed to protect their people, might be a novel idea.

Just so CNN and Co. don't forget.

[ShockediSay]

15. Good one!

[teknomanzer]

33. And we should declare the month of August a national holiday...

We could celebrate the holiday of August by doing yard work in a cowboy outfit and then attend numerous parties and social event while our regular jobs go to hell... Then in September we go back to work wave the flag, and blame everyone else for everything being fucked up.

[catzies]

34. Now THAT'S funny. I'm going to remember and use that one.

:thumbsup:

[MADem]

38. Symbols of the monthlong holiday include cakes and guitars! nt

[teknomanzer]

40. Yes cakes and guitars...

And other ways to celebrate the holiday include, buying shoes and taking in a Broadway show, or if you prefer - hiding out in a bunker in Wyoming while your mechanical heart gets recharged, occasionally popping out to shoot water fowl with justices while telling people to go f*ck themselves. Now we need a name for our month long holiday...

Edited to add... the official holiday songs are "Let the eagle soar" and "Spam, spam, spam, eggs, and spam"

[Lisa]

47. and don't forget, a parade with everyone waving freshly-cut brush!

Kind of like Palm Sunday, but more Dubyesque. The main thing is that someone else cuts the brush for you.

[Whoa_Nelly]

9. Since when has it been a federal agency that stages something like this?

This bugs me, especially with all the restrictions and rules of the "freedom" walk.

[aquart]

10. I am totally offended at calling it Patriot Day.

I'm much more inclined to call it Murdered Office Workers and Rescue Personnel Day.

Patriotism was the last fucking thing on anyone's mind as that was going down. The last.

But George wanted war with Iraq...

[IndyJones]

50. Patriot = one of the most overused words of this administration.

[moof]

11. It's already faded, a coworker asked if the attack was on 9/1/1 or 9/11

[belle]

36. Good.

[Lexingtonian]

12. oh my god...

I'm shocked and appalled that September 11 is not turning into a day of mindless America Firstism, stupid and solemn public ceremony referencing an event whose meaning was brutish nihilism, and yet another day wasted every September for desecration of the public good and idolatry of Mammon and Moloch.

If commemoration of great crime and violent death is raised to some kind of permanent holiday, we deserve one for the day Rockefeller cornered petroleum. Another one for the Valentine's Day Massacre. Maybe one for the day Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies massacred the Pequots at Mystic or the Army killed Cold Foot's band of Ogellalah Sioux at Wounded Knee. Or the day Curtis LeMay killed 120,000 Japanese civilians in Tokyo and Yokohama with incendiary bombs.

These people have idiotically f-d up ideas about priorities and what matters in History. This is all vanity. Vanity, vanity, all is vanity saith The Preacher. Don't they fucking read their Bibles, at very least literally? What about the prohibition against idolatry- which part of that don't they understand?

Oh, never mind. I always forget that they're illiterates despite their ability to read. And ahistorical despite being conservatives. And morality incarnate despite their actual lives and choices and inveterate mendacity. And their true flag is small green pieces of paper with numbers printed on them. And they are willing to kill in order to be 'pro-life'. And they consider guns the highest accomplishments and accoutrements of Civilization.

[Lorien]

27. Great post n/t.

[Maple]

13. Nobody commemorates

the Hundred Years war either. Or the War of the Roses.

Or the Norman Invasion. Or the Boer war.

Or the Seven Years War...the 'French Indian' wars

And even the 'war to end all wars' is disappearing

Yes, it will all fade with time

And with any luck...so will the whole concept of 'war'

Thousands of people die...in some 'current crisis'...and it's all forgotten in short order.

We don't want to do that anymore. Wasteful and stupid, and ultimately meaningless.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

16. 911 only means "emergency" in the U.S..-obviously an AMERICAN idea

Choosing 9/11 as the date of the terrorist attack had to be an American one.

In foreign countries 911 is not the code for "emergency"---and even if it were, the date would have been read as 11/9--(day then year)--
A foreigner who was planning to create an event on a memorable date would have likely chosen November 9th which would have read 9/11--but still the term "911" doesn't mean anything to the Islamic terrorists--(and neither does 411 mean "information)

The term 911 DOES mean a lot to whomever engineered the event and chose the memorable date that could be repeated over and over and over and over---
A "new Pearl Harbor"???? who said that?.....oh, it was the signers of PNAC!

...and what better PR date than 9-11 !!

OBVIOUSLY, planning the events of 9-11 had to be born of an AMERICAN mindset--in other words, an American decided on that date, not a foreign terrorist.

how stupid are they to link themselves so obviously???they are outright idiots--ooops--don't tell anyone!

MIHOP

[ms.smiler]

21. The association to me is not with "emergency" it's with the

"New World Order" speech H.W. Bush gave to Congress on September 11, 1990. It gave me chills at the time to hear a US President speak of the New World Order but it supported my view of Republicans.

http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/war/bushsr.htm

[mogster]

18. What business of the Pentagon is it to run political campaigns?

I don't understand.

Isn't it the military's job to just go to wars and fight them, on the order of the politicians? Do their best to achieve the objective?

Yet, here we have a military with it's own civil initiative agenda, it's own TV channel and it's own society within the Am. society. It's own friggin 'freedom' walks.

Freedom walk, operation Enduring Freedom, exporting freedom and democracy - does anyone believe in this crap anymore?

[truthisfreedom]

19. blame bush. if Clinton was in office, we would have had tears in our eyes

today.

instead, i'm dry-eyed and angry with this corrupt mafia adminstration.

[evolvenow]

20. IMPEACH B*SHLER & CO, NOW that would be POETIC JUSTICE on 9/11/05

kick for the TRUTH, put the KILLERS BEHIND BARS FOR LIFE

[Ouabache]

22. Just the 1st pile from the Piles of Rubble Presidency

Just the first disaster from the

Piles of Rubble Presidency
Gone Fishin' Presidency
Brush Clearin' Presidency
Vacation Presidency
Had No Idea Presidency
Day Late and Dollar Short Presidency
No Buck Stops Here Presidency

[DRoseDARs]

23. September 11th won't be forgotten. "Patriot Day" will.

Anyone remember that legislation that went through Congress naming Sept. 11 Patriot Day?



Didn't think so.



http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030904-7.html

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 4, 2003

Patriot Day, 2003
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Two years ago, more than 3,000 innocent people lost their lives when a calm September morning was shattered by terrorists driven by hatred and destruction.

On that day, and in its aftermath, we saw the greatness of America in the bravery of victims; in the heroism of first responders who laid down their lives to save others; in the compassion of people who stepped forward to help those they had never met; and in the generosity of millions of Americans who enriched our country with acts of service and kindness. Since that day, we have seen the greatness of America further demonstrated in the courage of our brave men and women in uniform who have served and sacrificed in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and around the world to advance freedom and prevent terrorist attacks on America.

As we remember September 11, 2001, we reaffirm the vows made in the earliest hours of our grief and anger. As liberty's home and defender, America will not tire, will not falter, and will not fail in fighting for the safety and security of the American people and a world free from terrorism. We will continue to bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to them. This Patriot Day, we hold steady to this task.

By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001 (Public Law 107-89), the Congress has designated September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2003, as Patriot Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities, including remembrance services and candlelight vigils. I also call upon the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Patriot Day. In addition, I call upon all Americans to display the flag at half-staff from their homes on that day and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. eastern daylight time to honor the innocent victims who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-eighth.

GEORGE W. BUSH

[Zynx]

24. In fifty years, people may be able to recite the date "9/11"

, but no one will be able to tell anyone the details.

[Lorien]

25. Why "celebrate" a terrorist attack at all?

The pentagon should not be having a parade,and there shouldn't be any commemorative concerts or programs, IMO. That just sends a message to would be terrorists that big attacks will be successful because they'll be remembered forever. Private ceremonies for the families of the dead, maybe-but nothing more.

[nolabels]

29. Yea, and some guy living in a cave with a cell phone caused it all

yet they couldn't ever find or catch him.... This all tongue and cheek for me. I don't believe any of the B.S.

[all.of.me]

26. are they going to change sept 11 to the second monday of the month to

make it a long weekend?! that'll make two long weekends in a row. how great for corporate america.

[fortyfeetunder]

28. Hmmm. If any major disaster warrants a special day

Are we going to have a Hurricane Katrina day?

[nolabels]

31. And the day that starts it all.....

Presidential inauguration day :puke:

[Toucano]

32. Ridiculous!

It isn't the date that's significant, but the tragedy.

Sept. 11 will never be a "grill hot dogs" holiday.

[Rex]

35. That's the whole point!

Marginalize the crime by celebrating the day it happened. In 10 years, people will be saying, "happy patriot day!" and buying crappy little cards to send to people. The BFEE is very smart in making 911 a holiday.

[IndianaGreen]

41. You can't separate the innocent victims of 9/11 from the innocent victims

of Bush's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are both intertwined! Osama bin Laden's attack on America on 9/11 was used by Bush to carry out a similar terrorist attack on people that were just as innocent as the people that died on the WTC.

The criminal terrorist attack on Iraq has killed over 100 innocent civilians for every victim in the WTC. You can say that 9/11 has taken a different and more sinister meaning that transcends the memorial to the WTC victims.

9/11 will always be a solemn occasion. It marks the day that George Bush waited doing nothing while the world was crashing around him!

Keep in mind that Bush was briefed in August 2001 about Bin Laden's plans to attack the US, plans that included crashing aircrafts into buildings.

Keep also in mind that the FBI uncovered the 1999 Millennium plot that included plans to crash a plane into Seattle's Space Needle.

Consider also Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 bombing. The FBI found a lot of documents that included plans for other terrorist attacks against American landmarks and infrastructure. Some of the attacks planned by the Yousef cell included flying planes into buildings.

Now move forward to September 11, 2001, and consider the timeline of the attacks.

Bush's failure to react promptly after the North WTC tower was hit, resulted in the terrorist strikes on the South WTC tower and the Pentagon.

The folks in the Army Budget Office at the Pentagon would be alive today had Bush acted in a timely manner instead of sitting like an idiot at a Florida school reading "My Pet Goat"!

Here is the timeline, courtesy of CNN:

8:45 a.m. (all times are EDT): A hijacked passenger jet, American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston, Massachusetts, crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center, tearing a gaping hole in the building and setting it afire.

9:03 a.m.: A second hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes. Both buildings are burning.

<snip>

9:43 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, sending up a huge plume of smoke. Evacuation begins immediately.

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/chronology.attack/

[UKCynic]

42. 5/11 still celebrated after 400 years

We celebrate the foiling of the religious terrorist plot of 5th Nov every year, burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes on a fire. Some places burn an effigy of a foreign religious fanatical leader (the Pope) but not many, and we try not to talk about those who do.

It all depends on whether your memorial catches the public imagination. You could try burning an effigy of Osama bin Laden in orange overalls with fireworks. Or perhaps not.

[fedsron2us]

52. Bonfires predate Guy Fawkes

They are part of the northern European tradition for mid winter fire festivals. The government of early 17th century England just hijacked a pre-existing folk celebration for their own political purposes. In fact the most famous bonfire event in England at Lewes in East Sussex is quite happy to burn efigies of the powerful from all across the political spectrum. Guys representing George Bush, Osama Bin Laden and Tony Blair have all gone up in smoke over recent years.

[NNN0LHI]

43. Gosh we don't commemorate the Pearl Harbor attack anymore either

I don't feel like I have been missing anything because that of it over the years?

The hucksters selling 9/11 memorabilia don't want to see the significance fade. Thats for sure.

Don

[enlightenment]

44. Who are these "historians" they're quoting?

The only named person (other than the Bush thugs) is a professor of religion:
""Throughout the generations, what were powerful and vital holidays take on a less powerful, more consumer-oriented flavor and become something like a picnic day," said Gary M. Laderman, associate professor of religion at Emory University."

I am a historian, and utterly offended that my profession is being used in such a fashion. I don't know ANYONE in my field that thinks that turning Sept 11 into a national holiday is a good idea. NOT ONE.

gggrrr.

[suegeo]

45. Patriot Day? What is patriotic about Bush screwing up (repeatedly)

What's so patriotic about dying a horrible death due to the incompetence and malevolence of the Republican Bush Administration?

The day we throw these fascists out of office will be the real patriot day.

[jeffreyi]

51. No offense but

The events and fatalities of the Sept. 11 attacks amount to what was no more than a slow hour or two during the Civil War. And we don't have "Cold Harbor Day" or "Gettysburg Day", or "Antietam Day", or if we do, no body pays any attention. In the Civil War, there were, what, 600,000 casualties when the population of the whole country was maybe 30 million? and on Sept 11, 3,000 fatalies out of a population of 250 million. Hardly the same. Of course it's bad no matter what but it seems to me that there's no comparison with the big wars of the 19th and 20th centuries, and people have a tough enough time being solomn on the days set aside to remember those!

[Dr Fate]

53. Are they going to give us a day off or what?

???

[Amonester]

54. Are Iraqis celebrating what they can consider US/UK

"sponsored" terrorist attacks which resulted in the mass-slaughter of tens of thousands of their fellow citizens (mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, in-laws, nephews, nieces, grandmas, grandpas, cousins, babies, and fetuses...)?

After all, somewhere between 10 to 40 times PNAC's "wished for" New Pearl Harbor happened on their soil for quite some time now... The big problem for them will be to pick one date out of too many dates!

/sarcasm (almost)

[tinrobot]

55. Isn't that like celebrating Pearl Harbor day?

...or the invasion of Poland?

Jeeez.

[struggle4progress]

56. Chile will never forget 11 September. Never. eom

[llmart]

57. If we're all truly honest with ourselves......

we'll have to admit that it didn't really "change everything" as they want you to believe. Except for those directly affected by it, did it really affect your life? I can't say that it affected mine. If you live long enough you'll see that bad things happen all the time; many of them much more gruesome than Sept. 11th, such as this hurricane. Are we going to eventually run out of days on the calendar that we are commemorating something? How many more times are we going to lower our flags at half staff? At the library where I work, we gave up lowering it because it seemed we were always lowering it for something, especially soldiers killed in Iraq. It loses it's significance if it's done too often.

I've been busy all day and actually forgot it was Sept. 11th until I logged on.

[Oeditpus Rex]

59. It affected all our lives

If not for the attacks, would * still be presidentin'?

You can take it from there.

[llmart]

62. Yes, I believe he would be.

There are many, many stupid people in this country who will/would blindly follow this asshole anywhere because he claims he's "religious." That's all that matters to them. The people who voted for him and those that rigged the election for him are to blame for him being in office, not the events of 9/11.

[daleo]

58. In honor of Bush, it could be remembered as Pet Goat Day

Pet Goats could be burned in effigy (I mean stuffed toys, not real goats - that would be cruel). Plastic turkeys could be served. People could shout inanities over bullhorns. There are so many possibilities.

[Gyre]

60. Who cares?

If it was really special they'd make the following monday a national holiday. Then we might have time to reflect about the signficance of going from the worlds most esteemed nation to the most feared one based on the date 9/11. :puke:

Gyre

[Lilith Velkor]

61. WTF kind of historian fears the passage of time?

:puffpiece:

[LeftHander]

63. It's called healing...or should Bush coordinate annual attacks?

To keep us fearful....

[graphixtech]

64. from 911Truth.org - "It’s Not JUST New Orleans..."

It’s Not Just New Orleans That Needs Rebuilding
By Bryan Sacks
(more)
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20050904221329705

So now, horribly, we know what it takes to stir disgust and outrage directed at the federal government, in the hearts of the corporate press corps. It takes a catastrophe of biblical proportions unfolding right before their eyes, right here in America, right in front of their cameras and camera crews, amid the stench of rotting corpses and a heaving mass of literally thousands of sick and dying.

Katrina’s aftermath has exposed the ‘most powerful country in the world’ as literally powerless to address the most basic needs of the most highly visible suffering people on the planet. This monstrous failure could literally be paradigm-shifting in its effect on the public consciousness.

(excerpt)
While the scope of the tragedy in New Orleans grows, its immediacy will make comparisons to past government-sponsored failures seem inappropriate, and that's understandable. But when enough time has passed, perhaps this colossal failure will enable the public to entertain the similarities between the Administration's failure to respond to Katrina, and its orchestrated failure, represented by the omissions and distortions of the 9/11 Commission Report-- to answer the questions gnawing at victims' family members and millions of other Americans for years now about the true scope of the attacks. The victims of Katrina deserved better, and likely thousands have died because of a cataclysmic failure to respond in time. There should be a full investigation and a complete accounting of the tragedy with consequences for failure and malfeasance. To our great detriment, that is exactly what has thus far been denied all citizens regarding the aftermath of September 11.

(excerpt)
The horror of Katrina's aftermath, even more than 9/11, may prove to be a monumental political turning point. We must work to ensure that, unlike with 9/11, it's a turn for the better. Getting the truth out, both about the scale and disproportionate impact of this tragedy as well as the facts about 9/11 cover-up, has never been more important. The dead and dying in the South, and the dead in New York demand it.


http://www.911truth.org/index.php

[leesa]

65. I hope so. Then perhaps when it is no longer a political sales pitch

event, we might actually investigate what happened that day and discover who did it.