Every year on September 11, people insist we never forget, and for many Americans there will forever be vivid memories of where they were or what they were doing when they learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center. But at the same time it seems we all remember things a bit differently.
Some folks recall the dark days that followed. The confusion and outrage that such an attack could take place in the biggest city in America. Other people like to highlight how Americans banded together and supported one another through those difficult days. Donald Trump apparently likes to remember the crowds of people in Jersey City that allegedly celebrated the terrorist attacks (which absolutely did not happen).
But in remembering that fateful day 22 years ago, it’s also helpful to recall the deranged reactions and political decisions that followed. Enjoy this thread of editorial cartoons from the fall of 2001, where each image is increasingly more insane than the one before it, but they all illustrate just how foolish the American response was at the time. No matter how your memory shapes that day, it’s safe to say that a cartoon of the two towers entering the pearly gates is truly comical.
Side Items
The “Other” 9/11: This article by Chilean author Ariel Dorfman recounts the fateful day 50 years ago when Chilean troops (backed by American politicians like Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon) violently overthrew the socialist government of Salvador Allende. The downfall of Allende’s project forced left-wing and progressive forces around the world to reconsider their strategy for taking power. Some, like the Spanish and French Communist parties, believed that radical reforms require a vast majority behind them, which meant building alliances with the middle classes. Others, like the Sandinistas in Nicaragua or the guerrillas in Colombia, reached the opposite conclusion: Only by engaging in protracted armed struggle could real change be guaranteed
Defiling the Dead: A historic mausoleum in Cairo, officially built in 1924 but in use for more than 1,000 years, is being demolished to build a network of mega-highways. The City of the Dead, as it’s frequently referred to, was built in a neo-Islamic style and serves as the final resting place for many major Islamic figures, prominent Egyptian politicians, artists, scholars and the loved ones of many ordinary Egyptians. Local authorities have already destroyed hundreds of tombs and mausoleums as they carry out plans to build a network of multilane highways through the City of the Dead, much to the astonishment of historians and preservationists who say this construction is destroying a unique part of Egypt’s heritage. Heritage is overrated anyway, what we really need is another place to get stuck in traffic
Rubiales Out: In a rare win for the “false feminists”, Luis Rubiales, the disgraced head of the Spanish soccer federation, finally folded under immense pressure this weekend and resigned from his post. His resignation comes three weeks after his bizarre decision to kiss a player during celebrations of Spain’s first-ever Women’s World Cup title. He had already been suspended from his job by FIFA for his conduct at the final but after soccer’s governing organization opened a disciplinary case, he remained defiant and hostile toward anyone who criticized him. Now he’ll have plenty of free time to be a creepy unapologetic predator elsewhere