Reply
Mon 12 Jan, 2004 12:44 am
After September 11, everyone in America came together like brothers and sisters. They helped each other more than ever, they temporarily ignored their differences. Everyone was getting along just fine and had a great feeling of unity.
Am I the only one to see that the new was substituting good reporting for a pile of feces? I didn't see one person help another more. There were no handsome men helping old ladies across the street, there were no KKK members holding hands with African Americans, the Neo-Nazis weren't giving compliments to the Jews. So why does everyone keep talking about how our new national pride was bringing everyone together?
The news lies. I might believe that people came together in New York, but my only source is CNN. I think that people heard on the news that Americans were coming together and had the biggest mass-placebo effect in world history. The nice young boy was obviously holding open the automatic doors at the supermarket for me because of a terrorist attack.
Then again, I might just be an eternal pessimist. Who knows...
Maybe holding doors open or helping old ladies across the street isn't what 'coming together' is all about? There was a definite feeling of unity, the kind you get when a neighbor has an unexpected death in the family and you offer any help you can. It wasn't just New York. I was in southern California (Newport Beach) that awaful morning on a business trip. People were walking around in a daze with the kind of look you have when you've just witnessed a horrific freeway accident and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it.
America came together for about two weeks. Since then it's business as usual, with "I'm a uniter, not a divider' at the helm.
Common courtesy still exists. But it makes for lousy TV. That's why Fred Rogers wasn't on prime time.
Actually after the two weeks, it seemed to get worse than it ever was. George Bush did an amazingly efficient job of destroying world sympathy for the US.
Wilso, you're too right. Bushy may have thought he was uniting all Americans (he wasn't, of course), but failed to take in account that he was alienating the rest of the planet. As it stands now, we Americans are the most hated people on earth. By comparison, the terrorists get some sympathy.
It's not really Americans who are hated per se (though it must come across that way at times) but the US government. That organisation is truly detested.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace