One of the postures left available to me with the utter rejection by my lower back of all responsibilities (including not feeling like a rugby team is jumping on it), is the sitting position in front of the interweb screen and the telecast screen. So I got a lot of news yesterday. And read a lot of blogs – which is not news. Other than Martha, much ado about the Bush ads with the images of 9/11. Last fall I wrote about comparative fears of 9/11 terrorism or 1980 nuclear fear. Where do you stand in light of the US presidential race which at least for one side is being entirely presented in the context of 9/11? I am not really looking for a debate – just a hands up. Does it depend on your age? Your awareness of recent history? Your general fearfulness level?
For me, having lived through news coverage Vietnam, the Cold War, nuclear fear in a military city, Bhopal, Pol Pot, Three Mile Island, the Soviet Afganistan war, having eaten pizza with former Druze milita in Halifax and played soccer with Bosnian muslim soldiers in PEI, not to mention being raised by children of the Blitz, and partying in Paris in ’86 when it was being subject to a bombing spree by fundamentalist Islamics types, I simply do not see 9/11 as thesole pivotal event in my personal experience of history. It is a biggie but not the key. I think that fact may differentiate me from many others who do believe it the biggie – perhaps Ian, for example, who was there in New York.
Again, I am not interested in debate of this point so much as review of whether there is this distinction and whether it is as decisive as I am suggesting.
