[Pokey78]

Pinging the Steyn list.

[Corin Stormhands]

All I can do for Christine Hanson is insist that the terrorist movement which killed her is hunted down and prevented from deliberately targeting any more two-year olds.

There's the message folks.

[Viet Vet in Augusta GA]

Right on. as always. Steyn is great.

[poet]

A woman of many affairs is deified while a potential Saint is ignored. Talk about the "madison avenue" approach to fame, this is it.

What does that tell you about society?

[TomServo]

BUMP!!!

[Snuffington]

But 3,000 people died on Sept. 11, leaving a gaping hole in the lives of their children, parents, siblings and friends. Those of us who don't fall into those categories are not bereaved and, by pretending to be, we diminish the real pain of those who really feel it.

Very true. But this sentiment is about as popular as breaking wind in a stalled elevator.

This is modern America. Expressions of bereavement are now as lightly donned as any other fashionable item, but held in place by the firm glue of riteous indignation. To suggest one remove it is to invite the wrath we pretend we're saving for the terrorists.

[jjm2111]

"masturbatory mawkishness" Phrase of the month bump

[Malesherbes]

Right on the mark (pun intended), as usual.

[TroutStalker]

Another fine Steyn piece.

[mombonn]

Outstanding! I was sick last 9/11, and grateful to have been at home. I could not have functioned at work.

I plan to stay home this year. Whether I watch TV will depend upon the coverage.

[hopespringseternal]

Christine Hanson, 2 Massachusetts

When I think about the fact that these pigs murdered this family and their supporters danced in the street to celebrate it, I don't need Dan Rather to tell me how to feel.

Every time some arab muslim gets his ugly mug in front of a camera and marginalizes the slaughter of innocents for his bloodthirsty religion, I know exactly how to regard the vermin.

[Grampa Dave]

Well, here go the education thugs of the Lunatic Left in their attempt to whitewash and eventually change the history of 9/11.

Makes you wonder how much money has been contributed to the NEA by the Opecker Princes over the years.

[jellybean]

Carlo3b wrote an essay over a year ago with much the same theme...although 9/11 hadn't happened yet.

[facedown]

Another fine-Mr.-Steyn-piece BUMP.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Which brings us to September 11th. In those first moments, no one quite knew what was happening, and so the events themselves set the tone. One plane hit, then another, then the Pentagon was smoking, the White House was evacuated, the towers crumbled, a plane crashed in Pennsylvania, there were other flights missing, there were bomb scares ... For a few hours that Tuesday it felt like the Third World War, and so commentators fell into war mode. And by the time the networks had shuttled Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters and the other glamorous pain-feelers to the scene it was too late to revert to the banality of "healing" and "closure" and all the other guff of a soft-focus grief wallow. It's very, very rare for the media to be caught so off-guard by an event that they lose control of their ability to determine its meaning. Within minutes of JFK Jr's plane going down, for example, you know Dan Rather was dusting off his Camelot lyrics and the producers were ordering up their "America's Son" and "America's Prince" graphics.

.....An observation so astute, it bears repeating.

[Mercat]

Anna Quindlen said that? Isn't she a hard core liberal?

[badfreeper]

One observation that I made in the fall of 1997: Were it not for the over-the-top reaction and coverage of the death of Diana, the death and funeral of Mother Theresa the following month would not have gotten nearly the coverage that it did. The networks were essentially shamed into providing similar coverage to the person who actually deserved it.

[JacksonCalhoun]

If Steyn isn't the greatest columnist, I don't know who is. He summarizes my feelings to a T, about Diana, JFKJr, and 11 Sep 02.

On that day I plan on getting up, drinking coffee, going to work, going to class, coming home and drinking a good 'merican beer, thanking god and praying for the victims and their families throughout the day.

[aculeus]

Bump

[afraidfortherepublic]

The Gettysburg Address is a fine address, but it's nothing to do with September 11th.

I couldn't agree more. Better that George W. Bush's words of September 11, 2001 be quoted, "Freedom will be defended!"