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Berkeley School of Journalism

The Berkeley School of Journalism Remembers 9/11

The 5th anniversary of 9/11 means many things to many people of all walks of life. For me it was a chance to look into the lives of those who were taken away by the senseless and cowardly acts of terrorists who share a hate of America and a common religion. I did not dwell on the murderous scum who committed these acts. I did not sit back and contemplate why they did it, nor did I sit back and look to lay blame. I have had 5 years to do all that other stuff and this was not the time.

I wanted to honor the memories of the 9/11 victims by focusing on what they brought into this world. I wanted to read and retell the tributes and inspirational stories of loved ones who altered the world around them by being the unique souls they were.

I believe this was accomplished by the DC Roe 2,996 memorial blogger commemorative.

Others however saw the anniversary as an opportunity to take pot shots at America, the Bush administration, the War in Iraq and even a simple television dramatization of the events that led up to 9/11.

It is easy to find this other group of people because they are heavily represented by the Democrat Party, the mainstream media and the blogosphere. They form the core of today’s left wing political movement; and they move in unison. Thus you can practically pick a site at random to see the left in full libocrisy. (yup, we can even make words up in the blogosphere).

Earlier I stopped by the New York Times when I saw that an editorial titled 9/11/06 had a place among the most e-mailed articles on the Times list. Such a spot on the coveted list telegraphed that this reflective editorial would turn out to be one of many anti-Bush missives that would emanate from the left. And it was.

Likewise I knew what I would find if I looked around some of our college newspapers. This is the training ground for future New York Times candidates who must be well trained in the art of activist based journalism before they can share the spotlight of the elite prevaricators.

So I thought I’d share some thoughts from the first and only University site I visited. The following comments are from the Berkeley School of Journalism project, “September 11, Five Years Later”

Michele “Mickey” Neill of Alameda works in human resources. She reveals that world events since 9/11 have affected her far more profoundly than the original terror attacks.

My life has been altered far more by the war in Iraq than 9/11. The suspension of freedom of speech and rights to privacy, illegal spying and the torture of prisoners — there has been so much of this, with no end in sight. I told my kids after the 2000 elections — they had not lived under a Republican president before — I said, “watch. Life is going to change. You will have a news flash at some point and the country will be at war.” And that is when life changed, for all of us. The war was a plan, and 9/11 an excuse to get into it. So 9/11 didn’t change my life nearly as much as the results of that stolen election.

I have no hope under this current regime. People say there is another election and you will only have to put up with this for a couple of years. But the last two elections, in my opinion, were stolen. I am not sure I have hope that we won’t continue on this rather insane course. Again, I’m not so much worried about terrorism as I am the internal war against the American people by the Administration. We still can’t catch the guys who did 9/11. Rather than lying to the country about Weapons of Mass Destruction, a better response would have been to engage the world community in rooting out the people who did it. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. But my kids will be paying for this the rest of their lives.

What a lovely tribute to the victims of 9/11 from a person who works in a department that is supposed to employ people without prejudices. God forbid if a conservative has a problem at wherever this woman works; I doubt her attitude will provide a clear and unbiased path to resolution.

Fran Gardner of Mariposa, who works as an administrative secretary, says that five years after 9/11 she is far more interested in how the media cover the news and the ways government serves — and fails to serve — the interests of the people.

I believe our country went preemptively to war in defiance not only of logic, but national honor and international law. I no longer trust our government to “do what’s right,” whatever that is. I think WE have become the “rogue state,” the playground bully that can’t be trusted to respect our fellow states on the world stage, their borders, or their wishes.

We are split as a people. Since 9/11, it’s difficult to even talk about these things in the normal course of life. I kind of avoid it altogether, because I get so worked up and angry, and I feel people don’t want to talk to me about it.

I try to understand the anti-American views. I don’t pretend that I know everything, but to me it is like there is a deep resentment about the people who control the money in the world, and the oil interests, and that terror like 9/11 is a way of getting back. Maybe religious fervor was part of it, too. But I think it was also based on desperate circumstances, fanned by people in power with their own motivation.

This is the typical mindset of the left, deep distrust of the government, the United States is the rogue bully state and that 9/11 is our fault. She is one sentence short of saying we deserved it.

Beandrea Davis writes about Chicago native Rishi Awatramani. Before 9-11 he proudly sang the Star Spangled Banner before basketball games in Elgin, Illinois, a Chicago suburb near his hometown of Palatine. But in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, Awatramani — who is the child of Indian immigrants — did not feel very American as he navigated the beefed up airport security checkpoints where he was repeatedly stopped for more thorough scrutiny.

Five years after 9-11, Awatramani, an organizer with the tenants and worker’s rights group Just Cause Oakland, said he is still conscious of being viewed as a potential terrorist in public spaces, such as when he rides BART.

“I feel especially cautious about leaving a bag someplace and not staying close to it. That warning comes on BART all the time: ‘please be aware of unattended luggage,’ ” he said.

As a student at Vassar College, Awatramani immersed himself in learning about the history of social movements around the world. Now, three years after he graduated with a degree in a self-designed major, he describes himself as “a political being,” and connects his personal experiences of discrimination post-September 11 with a larger analysis of politics in America.

“September 11 was a chance to reassert white nationalism,” he said. “Even though Arab and Asian people have been targeted as a result of [9-11], these forms of political repression have dogged communities of color for a long time.”

Julie Twichell of Berkeley is a community education manager with Alameda County. She recalls how the 9/11 attacks reinvigorated her desire to participate in volunteering for peaceful causes.

I really think, for me, that 9/11 has sparked a recommitment to being active in the peace movement. I think a lot of it was fear about what our current administration was going to do, and what that meant for the world really. So I started volunteering with the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors. This felt like a really good fit in terms of kind of carrying forth my father’s work, too. It’s a wonderful group of people. They do a great service. They have a GI rights hotline and that’s what I volunteer on. Anybody in the military can call and get counseling that will empower them to make their own fully informed decision about serving in the military. It’s mostly very young people, who got recruited at an early age and a lot of whom are now feeling we were misled into the war in Iraq and questioning that, and for various reasons wanting to get out of the military.

We get a lot of calls from people who are just kind of shocked when they show up for basic training and feel that it wasn’t at all what they wanted and they’re uncomfortable with the violence of it and they’re uncomfortable with being trained to kill people. I think there is a lot more fear-based thinking today. That’s what concerns me, and I think that’s what the impetus of my writing to the Tribune was. I wanted to point out that there’s a different way to go with that, than going with one’s fear. Building connections between people instead of setting up violent means. I think we’re creating enemies by what the U.S. military is doing now. We’re creating more enemies instead of building more understanding between countries.

Not all of the people on this site launch into this type of Daily Kos style tirade. But unfortunately it appears to be a predominant undercurrent.

A year has 365 days. You would think that the left could take one day off to simply remember those who were killed on 9/11 instead of using it as a springboard for the Democrat Party platform in November. This is another example that they simply can’t help themselves.

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