Jewish World Review Sept. 11, 2002/ 5 Tishrei, 5763

Marianne M. Jennings

Marianne M. Jennings
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
James Glassman
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Sam Schulman
Roger Simon
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports


One year later, crass demands, greed, and litigation are back --- but rights are diminished


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | September 11 is a heck of a birthday, but I have been so graced. A birthday is a marking point for increases in years, lines, pounds, and humility, and decreases in flexibility, memory, hair, and clothes that fit. September 11 was once just my annual review. Now the rest of the world now joins me in reflection.

The collapse of the World Trade Center towers brought out the best in New Yorkers. They embraced the once-despised Rudy Giuliani for his leadership during crisis and gave Hillary Clinton the big hook at a fundraiser, booing her from the stage.

Church attendance found the coffers full and padres smiling at packed pews. Marriage license applications soared, as did wedding planners' income. Love and commitment were in the air. George Bush and Tom Daschle hugged. Irving Berlin's trust fund overflowed with royalties from constant performances of "G-d Bless America."

Dennis Hastert singing on the steps of the Capitol was a testament to our abandonment of "cool." Even Upper West Side New Yorkers sang along with Lee Greenwood's "Proud To Be An American." We had been attacked by a renegade band of desert dwellers with the audacity to use our planes to visit their destruction. Cars, porches and lapels blared with Old Glory. Wal-Mart faced a shortage of flags. There was relentless demand for all that is red, white and blue, right down brought even tri-color M & M's. We relived the bicentennial without the bicentennial moments. Then came a transition from the spiritual to the tacky

, from patriotism to gouging. We soon left "Abide With Me" for Enya stuff. Enya went from New Age to pop overnight, offering spirituality without religion's dowdiness. The church pews emptied, we discovered the Red Cross buying computers with our donations, and enter the trial lawyers. The victims and their families whined about multi-million-dollar compensation.

Then the peaceniks resurfaced on campuses as ivory tower occupants realized that for one brief shining moment they had been suckered out of moral relativism into passing judgment, flirting treacherously close to justified war. Vietnam rhetoric uttered by the same tired protestors, now professors with a new generation of recruits, ignited anti-US sentiment with the help of sophisticated Euros, sans Tony Blair. Last week, protestors on the continent carried placards referring to the U.S. as a "rogue nation."

Now there are courses on understanding Muslim radicals that we might feel the pain of Islam. Academics returned America to its prone position as obsequious apologist. We went from victims to perpetrators. Apologies continue for our momentary disregard of political correctness in pointing out that the hijackers were young Arab males.

Even our noble heroes lost the 9-11 vision of priorities and abandoned mourning's restraint. Firefighters, police officers and paramedics, using photos of their fallen brethren, marched the streets of New York in August, demanding pay hikes.

Mocking faith and religion is in vogue again for death's icy sting is but a memory. Daschle called Bush "a disaster." Oh, how the fickle soon forget the humility of vulnerability.

One year after the attacks, what exactly is different? We are not as free as we were. Rather than eradicate the source of terrorism or employ the tools of logic to remove the threat from within, we condone a national exercise in futility. The closure of our national treasures, the blockades surrounding landmarks and government buildings, and the lines at airport security are monuments to our cowardice.

Rather than eliminate Hussein we wait submissively, with the hollow look of those who live in conquest. Legislation, passed without dissent, permits John Ashcroft freewheeling access, so great is our fear of terrorists.

Airport security finds us watching without protest as grandmothers and small children are frisked. Our sheepish submission surely has our forefathers reeling. They defied a king under penalty of death and we won't question young Arab males at the airport for fear of offense. Go ahead, we say, take our wives and children, please. We have a crackerjack federalized security force whose greatest contributions since 9-11 have been uniforms that fit and catching the snookered pilots of Northwest, America West and Mesa Airlines.

Last month I was hand-patted at airport security because my chest made the wand beep. I confessed, "I have on an underwire bra." I could commandeer a 767 brandishing a Maidenform? I didn't go braless in the sixties when I was young lest there be an affront to society. I wouldn't do it now in my fifth decade even for a jihad hijacking.

The anger I felt last September 11 centered on 19 cowards. Now my blood boils over thousands of cowards in airports who consent to and watch dehumanizing searches. One year later crass demands, greed, and litigation are back but rights are diminished. The losses from September 11 remain historic.

Enjoy this writer's work? Why not sign-up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Marianne M. Jennings is a professor of legal and ethical studies at Arizona State University. Send your comments by clicking here.

Up

09/06/02: Public schools: An unqualified success
08/30/02: The Shakespearean tragedy of affirmative action
08/23/02: Hollywood Joe's admission
08/15/02: Cheapskates
08/08/02: Ode to a coal miner
08/02/02: Sarah Brady's gun gift
07/26/02: Don't do it, Tiger
07/18/02: Reality Muppets
07/09/02: We're all going to die, live with it
07/02/02: From the eye of the storm
06/27/02: Nick not right
06/20/02: Behind the music
06/14/02: The sum of all fears in vouchers
06/06/02: Where was Agent Rowley when the FBI needed her?
05/30/02: Of big hair and sanity
05/24/02: Should I embrace liberalism?
05/20/02: Some passion about Israel
05/09/02: A mother who cares enough
05/02/02: Go ahead, pass judgment
04/29/02: The irritation of the modern wedding
04/18/02: Claire's life
04/15/02: Harvard takes off its pants one leg at a time
04/09/02: The Clinton legacy: Politics of personal destruction
03/31/02: Oscars' subtle bigotry was embarrassing
03/22/02: Blame Oprah, Rosie, Sally, Ted, David
03/14/02: The costs of women's feeble choices
03/08/02: Botoxic faces
02/28/02: The dangers of organized philanthropy
02/25/02: Don't take the gold
02/14/02: Ease up on the brothers and sisters
02/11/02: Because I was courted
02/05/02: Fat fault
01/24/02: Tolerance does not mean stupidity
01/17/02: Too old too soon
01/10/02: Ethically challenged firms
01/03/02: The year that was
12/27/01: The Twelve Days of inconsistency
12/20/01: Free Speech and the political spectrum
12/13/01: Curbing brats
12/06/01: Power to influence
11/29/01: The disappearing art of grading
11/21/01: The Big Two-Five
11/13/01: You can never find a lib when you need one
11/01/01: Unlucky in sports
10/26/01: An epidemic of counselitis
10/16/01: A touch of class
10/12/01: Of human nature and monsters
10/05/01: Sensitive man
10/01/01: Post-September 11 security
09/20/01: No tinhorn terrorists can frighten us
09/06/01: If there is no honor in youth sports, it is because of the adults
08/27/01: The draw of Condit
08/23/01: Lowering expectations and flying high
08/17/01: Thoreau, Walden and stems cells
08/13/01: Our masters: The animals
08/02/01: FRAN, MARY JO, MONICA & CHANDRA
07/30/01: When principle hits too close to home
07/13/01: Rage born of sublimation
07/06/01: Patient's rights and the Valley of Death
06/29/01: There is no excuse
06/21/01: I want an eternal soulmate, but the marriage thing is another issue
06/14/01: Which way maverick McCain? An Arizonan's perspective
06/07/01: No stroke of genius
05/30/01: The lesson of the Mr. Green Jeans senator: 'Moderate' is a classy term for wishy-washy
05/25/01: Baseball has not been so good to me
05/18/01: Clothes make the woman
05/11/01: Selective precaution
05/04/01: Grades: Equality of students, by students, for the students
04/27/01: The Horowitz revelations as seen by a college professor
04/20/01: First, let's kill all the tests
04/13/01: The continuing mistake of underpricing electricity
04/06/01: That pill, Julia Roberts
03/29/01: If it weren't for the parents, we might accomplish something
03/23/01: The melt down of the academy
03/15/01: Columbine redux: Moral infants
03/09/01: The lessons of Tom and Nicole
03/01/01: Pardon the temporary outrage
02/23/01: In defense of homework
02/20/01: A Message for faith-based organizations: Don't take the money, just run
02/06/01: Enough already with the Clintoons
01/26/01: The challenge to be better than we have been
01/19/01: Where have you gone Frieda Pushnik?
12/29/00: The year that was
12/23/00: Litigation: It's the American way
12/15/00: In defense of rhetoric
12/06/00: The company we keep: Lawyers and elections
12/01/00: Liberals' art of trashing of women
11/20/00: Put me out of my misery
11/17/00: On being a statesman
11/13/00: When it's broke, fixing it wouldn't offend the Framers
11/08/00: ELECTION 2000: I SURRENDER
10/27/00: Al in the package? Memo to women: Choosing presidents and husbands
10/20/00: Ten things the gay community should understand
10/13/00: "You Have a Lump."
10/06/00: The government as the pharmacy: Don't
09/29/00: The capacity for truth
09/22/00: Charity with strings and an agenda
09/15/00: The taming of the shrew: Gloria Steinem takes a husband
09/09/00: Why rich folk don't bother me none
08/28/00: Survival of the not-so-fit but conniving
08/25/00: Conventions: A study in contrasts
08/18/00: Resenting the accusations of racial prejudice
08/04/00: Women: Their own worst enemy
07/21/00: Hillary: Our longshoreman First Lady
07/21/00: SUVs: The root of all evil
07/14/00: The basketball gene and white men not jumping so well
07/07/00: I wanna be around
06/23/00: The liberal conversion
06/14/00: Sex and the City: The shallow but vulgar female
06/08/00: No excuses schools
06/02/00: Oh, Canada: Our Nutty Neighbors to the North
05/23/00: The new mollycoddling coach
05/16/00: On adultery and leadership
05/12/00: Taking your lumps
05/02/00: Elian: There's never a liberal around when you need one
04/25/00: Life's circle and tenderness
04/18/00: Womyn who want it both ways
04/11/00: The monsters we're raising with the ergo proposition
04/05/00: Endowing the Hooters Chair for Literature Appreciation
03/28/00: Dr. Laura: The passive/aggressive kid's mom
03/21/00: Dough and campaigns
03/14/00: The volunteerism of conscription and pomp
03/07/00: Hope and pray that religion remains a force in politics
02/29/00: Ditzes in TV Land
02/22/00: Cranky nitpickers make writing a [sic] experience
02/15/00: Those chameleon 60s activists
02/08/00: McCandidate McCain: Flirting with principles
02/01/00: The demise of marriage
01/25/00: Stroke of the pen, law of the land: Clinton's Camelot
01/18/00: Off the Rocker Rorschach Test
01/11/00: Oprah's lemmings
01/04/00: Struggling mightily amidst the comfort
12/23/99: Confused fathers
12/14/99: Drop-kicking the homeless
12/07/99: Turtles and teamsters, side-by-side in Seattle
11/29/99: When conservatives behave badly
11/22/99: Compassionate conservative: Timing and targets
11/18/99: The elusive human spirit and accountability
11/11/99: Succumbing to the intellectual child within with the help of crackpots and screwballs
10/28/99: Live by litigation, die by litigation
10/22/99: Jesse, Warren, Cybill, Donald and Oprah
10/14/99: Inequality and injustice: It's the big one
10/05/99: Dan Quayle, morals and schoolyard bullies
09/30/99: The monsters of epidermal parenting
09/21/99: The Diversity Hoax
09/15/99: Waco Wackos
09/09/99: Selective censorship
09/01/99: The village, the children, judicial imperialism and abortion
08/24/99: Naughty Newt?
08/17/99: In defense of Boy Scouts and judgment
08/10/99: Ruining the finest health care system in the world
08/03/99: Nihilism and politics: ethics on the lam
07/26/99: Of women, soccer and removed jerseys
07/23/99: Not in despair, a mere mortal doing just fine
07/20/99: "Why me?" How about "Why us?"
07/13/99: Bunk, junk & juries
07/06/99: An Amish woman in a Victoria's Secret store
06/30/99: That intellectually embarrassing Second Amendment
06/24/99: Patricia Ireland eat your heart out --- but check out the recipe in 'women's mags' first
06/22/99: Dems and the Creator coup
06/17/99: True courage is more than just admitting troubles

© 2002, Marianne M. Jennings