More thoughts on The Mouse and a remembrance of 9/11
I've been jumping a bit around the blogosphere to check the reaction to last night's show.
It seems to me that a helluva lot of people went into the show already prejudiced, convinced it would be some huge right-wing propaganda piece and refused to give it the time of day or approach it with an open mind.
My gut reaction coming away from it was similar to what I felt when the facts about 9/11 started coming out. That there were those in power who underestimated Bin Ladin and Al Qaeda. That there were those who understood them only too well and couldn't fully get their views heard, to eventual stunning consequences. That this was not a black and white issue and that we are viewing the events leading up to 9/11 through post 9/11 goggles.
Now, if we knew Bin Ladin was in a compound and there happened to be women and children there, I don't think there will be any hesitation about bombing it. But back then, when his crime was financing the first WTC attack? Yes, we wanted him captured or dead, but at the risk of inflaming the entire Muslim world?
This is the danger in black and white thinking, and again, I go back to the scene with Madeline Albright. Up until that scene, the scenes showing decisions not to get Bin Ladin were shown rather simplistically and we were told through the dialog those making the decisions "had no balls".
As I was sitting here composing this post, I took a break for a second and was going through my friends pages. I came across a link to a reporter's LJ and I read it and found myself a bit befuddled. Maybe it's just me, but a sense of fairness required that I do not merely accept the word of others, but that I watch the damn thing myself. See how ABC handled it, see what criticisms shake out over the factual content over the next several days/weeks. But for fuck's sake, to just bury my head in the sand and ignore it? For me, I just couldn't do it. I needed to watch this.
So being the dick I am, I responded to her post.
I will watch the rest of it tonight.
In the meantime, I will remember the events of those terrible days. Of waking up and getting a phonecall to put on the news and thinking at first glance that one of the towers was on fire but then seeing live the 2nd jet slam into the other tower. The brilliant clear blue sky and the surreal silence as I stood outside with Kelly, neither of us saying a word. The horrors belching forth from the TV and sitting there, transfixed, for days on end. Of my first trip to the WTC site, 8 months later, and the emotion of seeing all the tributes and the raw pit and the fire station. I will hope that our future brings us leaders who have the wisdom and courage to truly evaluate what led up to 9/11 and our role in bringing it about and to try to change those things for the greater good of us all.
We cannot change history. We can only honor it and hopefully, learn from it.
I am smiling now, because on the anniversary of this horrifying occurrance, I am hearing the sounds of the children at the school next door. It's the sounds of kids playing- balls bouncing, screeches, pleadings to "throw me the ball." The sounds of life affirmed.
Life does go on.
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It seems to me that a helluva lot of people went into the show already prejudiced, convinced it would be some huge right-wing propaganda piece and refused to give it the time of day or approach it with an open mind.
My gut reaction coming away from it was similar to what I felt when the facts about 9/11 started coming out. That there were those in power who underestimated Bin Ladin and Al Qaeda. That there were those who understood them only too well and couldn't fully get their views heard, to eventual stunning consequences. That this was not a black and white issue and that we are viewing the events leading up to 9/11 through post 9/11 goggles.
Now, if we knew Bin Ladin was in a compound and there happened to be women and children there, I don't think there will be any hesitation about bombing it. But back then, when his crime was financing the first WTC attack? Yes, we wanted him captured or dead, but at the risk of inflaming the entire Muslim world?
This is the danger in black and white thinking, and again, I go back to the scene with Madeline Albright. Up until that scene, the scenes showing decisions not to get Bin Ladin were shown rather simplistically and we were told through the dialog those making the decisions "had no balls".
As I was sitting here composing this post, I took a break for a second and was going through my friends pages. I came across a link to a reporter's LJ and I read it and found myself a bit befuddled. Maybe it's just me, but a sense of fairness required that I do not merely accept the word of others, but that I watch the damn thing myself. See how ABC handled it, see what criticisms shake out over the factual content over the next several days/weeks. But for fuck's sake, to just bury my head in the sand and ignore it? For me, I just couldn't do it. I needed to watch this.
So being the dick I am, I responded to her post.
I will watch the rest of it tonight.
In the meantime, I will remember the events of those terrible days. Of waking up and getting a phonecall to put on the news and thinking at first glance that one of the towers was on fire but then seeing live the 2nd jet slam into the other tower. The brilliant clear blue sky and the surreal silence as I stood outside with Kelly, neither of us saying a word. The horrors belching forth from the TV and sitting there, transfixed, for days on end. Of my first trip to the WTC site, 8 months later, and the emotion of seeing all the tributes and the raw pit and the fire station. I will hope that our future brings us leaders who have the wisdom and courage to truly evaluate what led up to 9/11 and our role in bringing it about and to try to change those things for the greater good of us all.
We cannot change history. We can only honor it and hopefully, learn from it.
I am smiling now, because on the anniversary of this horrifying occurrance, I am hearing the sounds of the children at the school next door. It's the sounds of kids playing- balls bouncing, screeches, pleadings to "throw me the ball." The sounds of life affirmed.
Life does go on.
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posted by Stevie Z at 12:08 PM
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