And Paul pretty much sums up my feelings today:
The Years of Shame
Is it just me, or are the 9/11 commemorations oddly subdued?
Actually, I don’t think it’s me, and it’s not really that odd.
What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. The atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.
Got bless everyone called to serve and sacrifice, your families and loved ones. But the last 10 years didn’t need to suck as bad as they did.
And how many of us feel shame, too? I know that there are way too many times that I bit my tongue instead of arguing with friends, family members, and so on… because I felt like their 9/11 “trump card” was going to outshine any point that I was trying to make. I feel like I need to let that be a lesson to me in the future…
I missed that blog entry by Krugman, so thanks for that. He has been steady and true since he started at the NYT. I’ve felt subdued too this 9/11. The horror of that day, and then the horror that came after — just can’t bear to read or watch the usual pundits wrap their dishonest minds around what the last decade has meant. (like Krauthammer in the WashPost!) Anyhoo, now I have to listen to that blues! I loved the Scottish music.