Now, on the fifth anniversary, we have a restless and disenchanted populous and a desperate, chest-thumping president… so desperate he’s quoting the old enemy he’s been loathe to even mention these last years because of his failure to nail him — and 9/11 will be milked for whatever bits of pathos, pseudo-patriotism and political spin it still holds.
 
Damned suspect, me’thinks, that the new Bin tape concerning 9/11 shows up now… call me skeptical. [Better yet, call me burned before.]

Here’s a proposal [and from a TV junky, no less] — let’s turn the television OFF this weekend. Let’s not bathe ourselves in bullshit. If you can’t stand it without an entertainment fix, rent a movie from your list of “should have seen’s” or “all time favorites.”

Watch Loose Change, for another look at 9/11. Watch Fahrenheit 9/11 again. Rent V for Vendetta, Syriana, the original or the remake of Manchurian Candidate. Go with oldies like Wag the Dog or Air America. Or rent some “feel goods.” I have a list that goes on for miles, but up there in the top ten is an oldie from the 50’s that speaks to war and peace — Friendly Persuasion, about the civil war and the community of Friends. Want a REAL fix? Rent Gandhi. Rent Lawrence of Arabia. Need a laugh? There’s a zillion of those too, from old Marx brothers Duck Soup to nuts like Young Frankenstein and History of the World Part I. Want to see a REAL “clash of civilizations?” Rent Meet the Parents and Meet the Fokkers, and run them back to back for merry fun. Celebrate the victory of the human spirit over great odds — hell, watch The Sound of Music… now THOSE were great odds!

There may be local peace vigils in your area — look in the hometown newspaper. Make a space in your heart for some remembrance that actually HONORs those who died — pop in a CD and dance — invite loved ones over for a meal and a hug — laugh and love on this weekend, for that IS how life honors life.

We hear a lot about junk food and junk science — we’re stuck in an epidemic of junk thought. We’re sold a bill of goods about how America has changed forever and how dangerous the world has become and how pre-9/11 is dead and gone, post-9/11 is the new heart-wrenching reality that requires a “long war” that will extend into our children and grandchildren’s experience. If ever there was a load of crap hoisted over this nation and dropped with a thud, that’s it.

America has changed, surely, but the world has always been dangerous. Pre-9/11 is only dead and gone because we have a post-9/11 GEORGE W. BUSH and his black-hearted minions. The world is not the problem, 9/11 is not the problem — GEORGE IS THE PROBLEM. Empiricism, violence and coercion, mindless militarism, ignorance and fear — all these ARE THE PROBLEM. Dubby has spun us off into an alternate universe of endless terror and darkness and sadness — but our swallowing that whole is a CHOICE.

Choose again! Turn off the TV. Celebrate life!