Exploitation of 9/11 was shameful

ANDREW GREELEY

_T he remembrance of the World
Trade Center last week was an
unbearably ugly event, a na-
tional disgrace, another blot on
the integrity of the country.
Under the deft direction of the admin-
istration and the supine cooperation
of television, it was turned into an
event for the Republican congres-
sional campaign, whether the individ-
ual candidates wanted such help or
not. The imagery was designed to stir
up anger and the desire for revenge.
What ought to have been a national
liturgy of reconciliation and rededica-
tion became an exercise in opening
old wounds and pouring salt on them.
In its wake, those who disagree with
President Bush -- even senators of
his own party -- become allies of the
terrorists.
Do he and his advisers have no
shame at all?
Most obnoxious was the exploita-
tion of the grief of the survivors. An-
niversaries are always difficult for the
bereaved. They should be permitted
to suffer in privacy, supported by
their faith and their families. Long
ago, however, those behind the TV
cameras lost all taste and sensibility. Grief, like sex, is no longer a private
matter. The pain must be emblazoned
across the television screen so a
voyeuristic public can revel in it.
Have TV journalists no shame at all?
In the wake of the attack, we were
told that everything had changed,
that America would never be the
same again, that the threat of death
and destruction would forever hang
over us. We must smoke out the ter-
rorists and get rid of them, but they
would always be out there waiting for
us. We must get even with them but
we must always be afraid of them.
The response to this doomsday rheto-
ric was a mixture of sadness, fear and
a deep need for revenge. The adminis-
tration, not able to find Osama bin
Laden, now plans to drag some of his
henchmen -- tortured and illegally
imprisoned -- before kangaroo mili-
tary courts to prove how tough on ter-
rorists it really is before the election.
Do the marketers of such propa-
ganda have no shame at all?
The memorialization of death and
destruction contributes to the ambi-
ent self-pity and self-righteousness
that often paralyzes the nation. New
York, where for a long time there has
been a plenitude of both these vices,
now has extra reasons to indulge in
them. After five years of unseemly
squabbling, its citizenry has been un-
able to agree on a replacement for the
World Trade Center. Do the battling
partisans of different plans in the Big
Apple have no shame at all?
The various experts in Washington
tell us that the terrorists will be back.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Vice President
Dick Cheney warn us often that they
are out there waiting, and we must
not let down our guard. They do not
explain why not a single person in this
country has died because of terrorist
action in the last five years. Having it
both ways, they claim that their se-
crecy has prevented more terror and
that there still is an overwhelming
danger -- hence, we must prevent
known terrorist sympathizers from
entering the United States and expel
those who are already here. When one
asks what triumphs we've had so far
because of their vigilance, their rou-
tine answer is that they can't answer
for reasons of national security.
Have Messrs. Cheney and Chertoff
and their fellow criers of "wolf" no
shame at all?
We have been told often since the
attack and we heard it ad nauseam on
the anniversary celebration that
America will never be the same again.
Rarely does anyone examine this sick
cliché -- which promotes the self-pity
-- to see if it corresponds to reality.
However, the Wall Street Journal (in
its news section) did re-examine it
last week and found that it did not
correspond with reality. The Ameri-
can economy has bumbled along and
American consumers continue to
consume. Only the airline industry
suffers, and that in part because of the
fiendish harassment of its customers
by a government that apparently
takes satisfaction in treating every
passenger as a potential terrorist. Do
the cliché mongers and the passenger
harassers have no shame at all?