9/12/2006

As I was packing to leave Seattle yesterday, two members of the 9-11 Commission were on C-Span marveling at how few of their "no brainer" recommendations have been instituted. The glaring examples: first responders still can't talk to each other on their radios. Fire can't communicate and coordinate with police, etc. U.S. port cargo inspections are still nearly nonexistent. The transponders that track airplanes can still be turned off simply, in the cockpit.

Why? They didn't say, so I will. Failed leadership and greed. To provide first responders with a common radio frequency might cut into the public airwaves wholly devoted to corporate self-interest. Big media companies rule, and the Bushite Republicans do whatever they want. It's the same thing generally with port security and the airlines: they don't want to spend money, or add time and effort to their costs. So the Bushites smile and say, okay! When is the next campaign contribution coming?

The symbiotic relationship of the Bushites and big media for mutual enrichment is one of our biggest dangers. We see more obvious signs of it, arguably not as important as what we don't see so blatantly in a single act, but they're good reminders of what's going on. Like ABC's supposed movie of the week event on 9/11 that is totally a product of partisan conservatives--liars certainly (as Lee Hamilton of the 9-11 Commission attests, not to mention American Airlines; or as the New York Times said,when attempting to recreate real events on screen, you do not show real people doing things they never did), though apparently inept ones. Like the Washington Post hiring a Bush speechwriter for a columnist. While that's not totally unprecedented for broadcast media, it's a further devolution for major print.

Meanwhile in their online-only ghetto, the Post keeps one of their best, Dan Froomkin, who had this to say about the latest Bush campaign to inflame 9-11 fears and link them to Iraq, culminating in his speech last night (hat tip to kos):

"What's also telling, as usual, is what Bush didn't say yesterday, and doesn't say, period. He doesn't say we won't allow ourselves to be terrorized, and we won't be afraid. (That would run counter to the central Republican game plan for the mid-term election.) He doesn't say that in our zeal to fight the terrorists, we won't give up the qualities that make America great. He acknowledges no mistakes, he calls for no sacrifice, he refuses to reach out to those who disagree with him.

Indeed, there's a compelling argument to be made that by learning the wrong lessons, Bush compounded the disaster of Sept. 11 -- creating more terrorists than he has killed, for instance, and endangering America's moral standing across the globe."

But is it working this time? This story suggests it isn't--even with former Bushite partisans. Though what few moments of media saturation I could stomach dwelt on fear and emotion, some people I saw interviewed talked more about the positive lessons they recall and have since built on, like the need for people to help one another, and the possibilities for participation, communication and shared creativity.

My experience flying on the 9-11 fifth anniversary suggested the same. There were several police cars around a vehicle at the highway entrance to the Seattle airport, though that could have been a traffic thing. Otherwise there was little conspicuous police presence in the airport. The absurd "precautions" against exploding shampoo (which has happened how many times?) and shoes (how many times has this been tried, vs. how many people have to take their shoes off to get on a plane?) were handled with dispatch and good humor on the part of passengers and, finally, efficient but non-uptight personnel.

I personally believe a lot of these security "precautions," besides shifting the burden onto passengers instead of airlines and government, function mostly as humiliations to keep passengers cowering, and feeling insignificant and docile in contrast to the militant government--classic totalitarian tactics.

But yesterday at Seattle both passengers and personnel acted with good grace, and I detected no special fear because of the date. It could just be this one experience, or because it was on the other side of the country, but it may also indicate that the nation is coming out of its fight/flight or freeze response, and exercising conscious judgment. We'll see in November.