So When's Oklahoma City Day?
I get that a bunch of Americans were killed by terrorists. I really do. Yes, it's a horrible tragedy. Thousands of Americans lost their lives. I understand. Really.
So can we get over it already? Do we have 24-7 memorials for Pearl Harbor? Oh, if you want to talk about solely American deaths, why not Gettysburg or Antietam? Hell, with my California public-school education, I'm lucky I can spell Antietam. Or, as I referenced above, the attack on Oklahoma City, which sure as hell counts as a terrorist attack in my book - Islamic fundamentalists don't have a patent on terrorism. Ask the Irish. Or the Germans. Or, for that matter, the Japanese.
What is the reason we keep being subjected to 9/11 being rehashed over and over, save for the Chimp trying to score political points off a tragedy his head was too far up his ass to stop? What makes this particular tragedy so memorable and all the other tragedies our nation has suffered so ordinary?
And how long before Hallmark stores offer 9/11 cards? Will our grandkids be breaking 9/11 pinatas with exactly 2,996 pieces of candy inside? Will we have to buy 9/11 gifts, and what do you get - a bulletproof vest, an emergency kit, sessions with a therapist so you can go on with your fucking life?
When, in short, does the inevitable crass commercialization of 9/11 occur...or has it already happened?
2 comments:
I was wondering the same thing 2 years ago when I went to a carnival and saw a bouncy slide attraction that looked like a sinking ship, obviously intended to get some of the Titanic appeal from a few years earlier. I was appalled--how long before a carnival ride consists of jumping off of a model of the WTC? or climbing through a firey crumbling building? It was absolutely sickening. And I don't put it past our warped society.
I personally don't think it's time to "get over it," but I do agree that it's unfair that other recent losses, such as OKC, have been more easily accepted and moved past. Is it because it's a less visible city? Is it because it had less impact on our personal lives in terms doing such things as flying or traveling in general? The loss of innocent lives is no less sad and deserves no more or less attention than those of 9/11.
I was thinking the same thing: American's love to commemorate everything and anything.
Yes, it was a trajedy... but we need to move on.
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