America's demise: 9/11 and the shameful self-deception of a nation

By Michael J.W. Stickings

A lot of things can be said about 9/11 and the years since, and a lot of it was said yesterday. Suffice it to say that, for me, while I was deeply horrified by the attacks of that day and do not in any way consider myself to be anti-American, the refusal of the vast majority of Americans all across the spectrum (though mostly on the right) to take responsibility for anything America may have done (and did) to precipitate the attacks is not just reprehensible but a sign that America has been fully overcome by its self-aggrandizing, evangelical mythology. Maybe it was bound to happen. 9/11 just sped it up. Simply, Americans can't handle the truth. They want to believe that they are their God's chosen people, that they can do no wrong, that in the eternal battle of good versus evil, as they see it, they are fully on the side of the angels. What this leads to is entrenched ignorance, ever more entrenched all the time, not to mention the nationalistic, self-righteous jingoism that was on display yesterday, as every day. It is fine, and moving, to honor the victims. It is the opposite to wave the flag without a shred of genuine self-awareness. It is essential to make that distinction, particularly if you love America, as I do.

Of all the things said, or written, yesterday, I recommend Paul Krugman's incisive comments at the Times:

What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. The atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.

A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?

The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.

I hope it does, but I'm not so sure. The mythology is powerful, self-deception is the order of the age, and the lies appear to have won.

Yes, much to America's shame.