6 observations about 9/11
It’s been 6 years since the horrible events of that day. To commemorate, here are 6 small observations about that date:
- 6 years ago: “We Will Never Forget.” Today: “Time to Move on”. It seems there’s an expiration date on national grief.
- 6 terms most Americans didn’t know 6 years ago:
- Osama Bin Laden
- Al Qaeda
- Patriot Act
- Department of Homeland Security
- Guantanamo Bay detention center
- NSA Wiretap
- For the last 5 years, the Empire State Building’s lights were turned off in memory of those who died on 9/11. The lighting schedule for tonight says that it will be different this year: the colors will be “red, white, and blue”.
- 9/11 Memorials are not dominating this morning’s headline in the New York Times but the events of that day and their repercussions still are:
- Of the 17 headline on the front page, one is about today’s ceremony’s, one is about Pakistan (a country few cared about before 9/11), 5 are about Iraq (a war that was launched based on the erroneous claim of a link to 9/11), one is about surveillance laws (part of the extended powers given to law enforcement after 9/11 but still contentious), and one is about Giuliani (who built his national reputation (and presidential bid) on the fact that he was mayor on 9/11). That’s 9 headlines out of 17 and more than two thirds of the front page.
- 6 years later, only one tower (World Trade Center 7) has been built at ground zero. It took 3 years (1929–1931) to build the Empire State Building and 3 years (1928–1930) to build the Chrysler Building.
- There was a building on 28th street between Park and Madison avenue where someone had created a mini-memorial by having the following words engraved on the window in neat 28 point sans-serif type: “9/11/01 — We will never forget”. The building was recently converted to luxury condos; the window is gone.
In Memoriam: Carlos Dominguez, Mark Ellis, Melissa Vincent, Michael DiPasquale, Cynthia Giugliano, Jeremy Glick, David Halderman, Steve Weinberg, Gerard Jean Baptiste, Tom McCann, David Vera.
Originally published on September 11, 2007 in Personal . You may find related thoughts pieces under the following terms: 9/11, Iraq, WTC