Were you swept up in "fear! fear! fear!" because of September 11, 2001?

[Solly Mack]

I wasn't. Not a bit. Nor did I support Bush on that day or any day before or after. I didn't stand with the piece of shit as President. I didn't support a single action/reaction on his part relating to the "war on terror".

I was one of the people mocking all the "fear! fear! fear!" mongering carried out by the government.

I wasn't alone on DU either.

66 votes, 2 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes
	3 (5%)
	No
	63 (95%)
	2 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[Purveyor]

1. For about 24 hours... eom

[thelordofhell]

2. No

And I told anyone that would listen that we shouldn't go all crazy because some people won the terrorist lottery..........

[derby378]

3. I was all for going into Afghanistan to nab those responsible, and that's about it

And then I learned how the Bush administration used the troop deployment in Afghanistan to their advantage with regards to laying a new oil pipeline to the Persian Gulf, which necessitated the installment of the pro-Bush puppet Karzai, complete with his shadowy ties to Unocal.

And then the whole Iraq thing happened. God have mercy on us all.

[ProfessorGAC]

120. Interesting You Say That

I was at the airport waiting to fly to Atlanta. About 45 minutes before the flight, they announced there was a general delay affecting all flights. I never heard that before and didn't what that meant, but i also dismissed it with an "oh well".

Then someone said they heard a plane hit the WTC. Well, i'm at a little airport and getting in and out of security was really simple and fast, so i went back out to the magazine stand to see if the lady with the TV had the news on.

She did. I was there less than 3 minutes when the second plane hit. Pretty obvious this was not an accident. So, i grabbed my stuff and went out to the car.

While i don't approve of how our government handled any retaliation, i will admit that as i was driving home i did think "Well, somebody's ass is kicked." I figured it was inevitable because the powers that be were never going to let this slide.

[merrily]

151. Was anyone responsible nabbed in Afghanistan?

We bombed Afghanistan by night and dropped peanut butter on them by day.

A "Christan" friend grinned proudly and said, "What a witness!"

I wondered if I should try to get her to an emergency room.

[merrily]

152. Self delete. Wrong spot.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. Nope, and I watched the second plane hit the tower on a live feed

from the folks reporting on the first hit. And watched the towers collapse.

I was never frightened, just sad. And even more sad to see my country abandon its principles in the name of cowardice.

[Brickbat]

5. I was for all of September 12, because I worked downtown in a major metropolitan area within

a block of a building that had been evacuated on September 11. After that, I thought about how I would get out of my office, my building and the downtown area in case of an emergency, but I wasn't scared anymore.

[liberal N proud]

6. Fear of what the bush regime would do

And they surpassed anything I could fathom.

[Solly Mack]

7. Yep. What Bush would do was the real worry.

[SammyWinstonJack]

18. The only fear I had too.

[Scuba]

22. Eggzaklee!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

25. Yep. I quickly went from short term shock to overwhelming dread of what they would do.

[2naSalit]

29. I knew it would

turn out be much like it happened at first... only to see it get far uglier than I had imagined by 2004.

And I doubt I will ever be able to regain what I had worked so hard to achieve up to that point. Up to that day I was certain I would be able to retire in my 60s and have a career for which I had just (30 days earlier) completed my Master's degree. By 2004 I wasn't so sure I could even keep a roof over my head and wondered how long I could survive monetarily and psychologically. I'm still wondering.

[tridim]

66. Yep, it was a rational reaction for anyone paying attention. nt

[enigmatic]

86. Me too

That was my fear, in spades.

[dog_lovin_dem]

90. Exactly.

I was horrified by the attack, but not afraid of anything except what the Bush administration's response would be. My gut told me it wouldn't be good. It was obvious we were going to war, but I had no idea it would detour through Iraq and last more than a decade.

[Systematic Chaos]

91. This is the basis of my "yes" vote.

I sure the fuck wasn't scared of a major terror attack in the part of Vegas where I lived, and I didn't fear for the tourist centers either.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

158. +1 nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. I was working for an airline at the time

and I remember watching the disaster unfold on a tv in a conference room and then going to a meeting in which we were told that all our airplanes were safe but were scattered all over the world. It was really unnerving, but I never regarded the situation as posing an existential threat to the US. I also wasn't afraid to fly once the airlines were back in operation. And I always thought the terrorists should be treated as criminals, not given the status of an "army" as the neocons did.

[NV Whino]

9. No, but then I am on the left coast

I imagine it was quite different for someone in NYC.

[el_bryanto]

10. I don't know what you mean by "fear! fear! fear!"

I certainly thought that it was pretty terrible, and I was concerned that something like that not happen again. I supported the invasion of Afghanistan (although in retrospect we made a hash of it).

Bryant

[BainsBane]

72. Seems like it's mocking people who had a massive bomb attack in the middle of their city

Killing friends, family, and coworkers, because he is so superior to those who had loved ones killed.

[el_bryanto]

84. IT does feel that way to me a bit, as well.

I didn't lose anybody that day and I live in a town that is probably pretty far down the list of potential targets, but was pretty shocked by everything that happened.

Bryant

[Solly Mack]

98. I didn't ask how anyone felt that day, however.

I asked if people were caught/swept up in all the fear mongering that was going on "because of" September 11, 2001. The Bush administration and the GOP were big on the fear mongering. If you will recall that time.

Huge difference.

People have responded different ways and that's to be expected. People felt many things that day and in the days that followed.

Nor did I mock anyone's loss.

I said I mocked the fear mongering.

Another huge difference.

I'm sorry if things I didn't say became an issue for some. My apologies.

[Solly Mack]

97. If you mean me - I'm a she.... and if you do mean me, hardly.

I never asked what people felt on that day...I asked if they were caught/swept up in all the fear mongering the Bush administration was doing. Huge difference.

And never once did I - in any shape, form or fashion - mock those who lost loves ones on that day.

I did, however, mock all the fear mongering the Bush administration was engaged in. Another huge difference.

If you didn't mean me then my apologies for anything I just said that seems like an accusation or a misunderstanding of what you actually said as opposed to what I may have wrongly interpreted

[bettyellen]

109. If I didn't know you better Solly, I might have taken it the wrong way too.

There have been a lot of posts making fun of people's reaction to 9/11 that do not acknowledge it was a very different- and ongoing event in NYC. We were inhaling the fumes from that pile through the holidays past years end, and staring at hundreds of pictures of the missing. For months it went on. We were all pretty much connected to people who had lost loved ones that day.

I looked at the angry and frightened people on TV from across the country as pretty nuts myself- because they hadn't been repeatedly targeted as NYers had been, and were unlikely to ever be targeted. They were having a very different experience than we were. They had no need for beefed up security, but grabbed the money NY could have used for it anyway, and clamored for revenge that NYers were largely not supportive of. Yeah, I'm embarrassed the rest of the nation over reacted. But I can't fault anyone who lived nearby having fears either.

[Solly Mack]

115. OK. Thanks, bettyellen!

I wasn't trying to be insensitive but I do see what you're saying.

It wasn't my intention to mock those in the heart of all the death that day.

[bettyellen]

117. We watched them rebuild there from my office, and I do not know anyone who'd work at WTC...

under any circumstances, they don;t even like seeing the building. I agree, the damn thing was hit twice. I hate to say it, but I do believe they will try again. It sucks, and not just because I work nearby. I think those feelings are legitimate.

People make fun of all the added security and such here, and I do think in most cities it is a joke, but not in NYC. Not too many people mind it in NYC. We have populations the size of entire towns on one block. The way the country reacted was like the boyfriend that overreacts and wants to form a posse and go kick ass, you know? I agree the people got played. It's sad this has led to the over militarization of local police depts, but that is the fault of the country's local politicians, going hard after the pork. I didn't see many citizens care about taking money they didn't need or deserve until it was way too late.

Hopefully people will be circumspect and be careful what they wish for next time. But yeah, as a NYer it irks me when people act like that day was more of a scare, than the really huge thing it was for us. I was amazed at people who were pissed off at the ten year memorial, I have to imagine they're just incredibly self centered asses for making 9/11 about them sitting from a safe distance. I know you didn't mean anything like that though, but I have seen enough of it here.

[Solly Mack]

123. I also think the country will be hit again eventually.

Probably New York. So many people, so easy to hide. I also hope our government behaves decently next time. I hope people don't allow their fear to override their humanity.

Fear can spread like a fire and like a fire it can do a lot of damage. Senseless destruction. Fear coupled with prejudice can lead to horrific violence and abuses.

I am still disgusted at the use of fear by Bush & Company and more disgusted at how it worked.

I wasn't talking about the very real fear people felt during the attack or the lingering concern anyone living in a hot spot would have.

[bettyellen]

127. Yep, we live with knowing it'll probably happen again here. I just shake my head when people bitch

about taking off their shoes at the airport as if it's a BFD. I fly often enough to know it takes no more an extra five minutes at JFK, and think all those people can just take a bus or stay home, not my problem-the same way crashing jets was never theirs.

[BainsBane]

131. I read your OP as you wrote it

Were you swept up in "fear! fear! fear!" because of September 11, 2001?

You joked about those who felt "fear, fear, fear" and noted that you made a point of mocking it at the time. You described 9/11 as being all about George W. Bush, as though you could not imagine anything else mattered.

If you want people to understand something differently, then write it accordingly.

3000 people died. That is nearly twice the death toll of Gaza. There was a reason to feel fear. Anyone with a normal range of human emotion feels fear when their lives are in danger. And people's lives were in danger. No amount of mocking on your part changes that fact.

The point of this OP appears to be to demonstrate yourself superior to those of us who did feel fear, who felt connected to that loss of life, either through friends, family, or a sense of national community. It is possible to oppose the excesses of the War on Terror without mocking human emotion. Many people did just that.

[Solly Mack]

142. You couldn't be more wrong if you tried....oh,wait. You did try.

LMAO

Whatever.

[MohRokTah]

145. I lost two coworkers that day.

I lost another one on 7/7/2005.

[BainsBane]

146. I'm very sorry for your losses

Those were horrible, horrible attacks.

[MohRokTah]

147. Thanks, I agree with you about this OP.

I also think a good portion of those who voted "No" in the poll are not being completely honest with themselves.

[BainsBane]

148. Of course they aren't

And least I hope not. We didn't know if more attacks were coming. It was entirely reasonable to fear there were more coming given the fact four separate planes were used as bombs that day. Even those of us who didn't live in NY or DC watched in on television and were shocked at the attacks. I will always remember where I was when I saw the planes hit the towers. The first seemed like an accident. When the second hit, we knew it had to have been deliberate. It was entirely normal and appropriate to feel fear in that situation.

It is possible to be afraid and to think critically about how the government responded. I like to think I did just that. I certainly could tell the whole story about Iraq was invented.

Of course, there were also some 9/11 truthers on DU back in those days, so it's possible some of the folks who voted no were among them. I don't remember who was in that camp, but I do know that and the other conspiracy theory stuff is what prompted me to stop reading the site in 2005.

[MohRokTah]

149. I was afraid.

I think most people were, even those who said they weren't in the poll.

[GCP]

164. Yes, I agree with you

I didn't sleep for nearly a week, for visions of planes flying into buildings. I fully expected a nuclear blast going off in one of our major cities, because we were suddenly up against an implacable foe who were willing to kill themselves and thousands of innocent people just to prove a point.

There's the usual DU chest-thumping going on here among many who were probably too young at the time to realise quite what was going on.

[sabrina 1]

161. It doesn't sound like that to me. It sounds like the reaction of nearly half of NYers including

me. I was in NY at the time and had many friends who lived and worked right near the Twin Towers. My worst fear was what Bush would use the tragedy for. As was the case with most of the Democrats I knew. They were correct, he used it to kill tens of thousands of innocent people and to destroy our Constitutional Rights.

NYC is a liberal city populated by intelligent people. Many of the victims families expressed the same fears, that MORE people would die, unnecessarily.

[War Horse]

132. I think posts like this

at least some them, may stem from the massive, and understandable, PTSD that hit your country after 9/11, and has somewhat dissipated since. And from which several people have woken up since (bad choice of words, maybe), more of less. From the outside looking in (Norway) it was terrible and sad to watch and old friend like the U.S. act against its self-interest during the years following this tragedy.

I mean absolutely no disrespect here, please believe me.

[KoKo]

11. NO...I thought that it was Fear/Shock and Awe...from the beginning...

because as an older DU'er I had known that we put many "systems in place" to ward off Nuclear/Terrorist Attacks since our "Cold War Days" after WWII.

There was NO WAY all our efforts to Protect our Borders and have Flight Alerts and Multiple Surveillance that we kept paying for from the time I was a Kid...would have allowed an ATTACK on US SOIL...taking out WORLD TRADE CENTERS....Would have EVER BEEN ALLOWED.

Sorry for shouting...but you would have to have grown up after WWII to understand the Outrage some of us feel that this could have HAPPENED and that BUSH ADMIN was NEVER HELD ACCOUTABLE.

Yes...I'm Shouting...because...WE SPENT MONEY TO STOP THIS...and it came out of all our Salaries and Lifestyles for OUR Generation just as it has for the generations since for War Protection...that we were the Greatest Democracy on Earth and we spen our money on Nukes and War Armaments to "Keep us Safe."

"9/11" was a FUCK UP of the WORST ORDER! And all we did was Invade Countries who had Nothing to do with how WE FUCKED UP.

Heads should have rolled...but, they didn't and a couple of Generations have Paid for some mismanagement of our Government that THEY didn't keep us SAFE when we kept paying into TAXES for Military Buildup our Whole Lives (those of us War Babies, Post War Babies...and our Children and Grandchildren.

Apologize for Shouting..but I and others are Damned Angry about this these days...and we shouldn't SHUT UP about it.

[canoeist52]

41. + 1 I'm with ya here.

[lunatica]

12. From the day it happened I feared that Bush would do exactly what he did

One of my work mates actually told me I should leave the United States if I would be happier someplace else. She stated categorically that she would gladly give up some of her rights to be safe.

Years later she admitted that I was the only person who saw it coming. She even expressed a wish that someone would assassinate Bush to stop the wars. I disagreed with her on that one too. I said it would just make a martyr out of him.

[unblock]

13. i was, and shrub turned nearly all my fears into reality.

oh, you mean afraid for my life by attacks from foreigners?

no, not in the slightest. i've flown planes, commuted under the twin towers, and worked in one of the damaged buildings. on a different day, i might have been one of the victims. big whoop. still ain't gonna let fear get the better of me.

why? because i'm a fucking american, that's why. land of the free and home of the brave, not the land of the cowering pant pissers.

a wise man once said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. that is how a real president handles a crisis.

instead, the dipsh*t in the oval office decided that endless panic was just what we needed.

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. I looked at it this way...

A really pissed off gnat kicked a giant in the little toe.

They thought they were aiming for the brains and the heart, but they missed.

[Liberal_Dog]

15. No

FDR did not tell the nation that we should be afraid during WW2.

Why the fuck should we have been afraid after 9-11?

I never bought in to the "fear."

[Go Vols]

16. I still have my house

wrapped in plastic.

[roody]

17. Looking for "Hell no." nt

[pnwmom]

112. Hell, yes.

No one knew or could know, in the immediate aftermath of those attacks, what was happening next or who was behind the attacks.

Reasonable people felt fear. What was unreasonable was going after Iraq as a result of the attack by bin Laden.

[roody]

114. I should have added that I live

2,000 miles or more from NYC.

[pnwmom]

121. I live at a distance but I had a child in college in the area,

and many friends in NJ, and friends with children at NYU. They could see the bodies falling from their dorm rooms.

Since no one could possibly know what might happen next, I put money in my daughter's bank account so she could buy a used car and get out of the city if she had to.

I think people forget about how scary it was in the immediate aftermath, when no one could fly a plane anywhere. People who were separated from family members went through a lot of stress.

[G_j]

19. what scared me the most perhaps, was the way ordinary people wanted war

Last edited Sun Aug 3, 2014, 09:54 PM - Edit history (1)

and were so easily worked up to cheer for 'shock and awe' and other horrors.

[jen63]

49. Yes!

My family, friends and coworkers were all for kickin some country's ass. I said, "whose ass are you going to kick, these are terrorists." They didn't get it.

[Enthusiast]

138. They did not understand, could not comprehend

that no nation-state attacked the USA on 911.

We shouldn't have went to war against any nation, not Afghanistan and certainly not Iraq.

You could hardly even make the claim that Afghanistan was an organized state at the time.

[JaneyVee]

20. For about 6 months. I live in Manhattan and was 21 yrs old.

[KoKo]

30. I can understand the fear with you...but, anecdote...

I celeberated my 21's Birthday in NYC..(liberated from the South and just a bit past Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village..but, influenced by him and other folks singers of the time) and if that had happened when I was 21 there in NYC....I would have STILL HAD the questions I posted above in this thread. I was a Post WWII Baby...and this would not have happened without terrible investigations and Push Back from those folks (like our Parents who Served in WWII).

But...I can understand what you say from growing up "feeling safe" because, You, also....felt "This Could Never Happen."

So...I understand...but, what we all sacrificed to keep America Safe after WWII make some of us very "skeptical" of what went on with "9/11." Since this could "never be" with all the Safeguards we were TOLD were in Place after WWII...and Paid for out of our Salaries going forward...that there would Never Be...another "Pearl Harbor."

Just saying.

[LWolf]

21. No, BUT

I was the only person in my family, group of friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and community members that was NOT.

I watched in dismay as so many liberals and Democrats, voters and members of Congress, who had been strongly opposed to GWB and the selection suddenly stood with him. I watched in horror as that fear was used to whip us into a nationalistic, vindictive frenzy against "Saddam" and in support of the bogus "war on terror." I watched in fury as Democrats helped pass The Patriot Act and the Iraq War Resolution.

I was a lone wolf in the wilderness. I stayed generally quiet, because my less than fearful, less than vindictive reaction was offensive to the rest of the people I came in contact with.

Oh, I cared. I grieved for the losses. I wasn't shocked by the event. I was, frankly, shocked that America was willing to, out of fear and nationalism, give away the very civil liberties that we SHOULD have been defending.

And, as time, and years, passed, I began to inwardly puke every time I heard or read phrases like, "9/11 changed things," as an excuse for our rapid decline into warmongers.

[randome]

23. Hardly. A 'mere' 3000 people killed. Compared to what went on in Europe at the time...

...it didn't sound like our nation was under attack. It seemed like what it was: an isolated terrorist attack.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[BlueJazz]

24. Looking back, I and another guy on my block were the only ones not freaking out ...

...about the whole thing.
Some of my neighbors rushed down to Walfart and started buying food and "supplies".

I thought those that acted like that were just silly.
(OMG...we're gonna' get hit next)...oh Brother...

[elleng]

26. 'Swept up?' No.

Very concerned, Yes. And we lived in DC, 'ground zero.'

[phylny]

150. I agree, elleng.

I lived in Loudoun County, Virginia, and the school I worked at was a few miles from Dulles Airport. We were put on lock down, the sheriff's department came to see us, we had parents coming in droves to pick up their kids, and the ones whose parents couldn't come to get them were confused (we said nothing to them about what was happening, since it was an elementary school). My own children wanted to know why I didn't come to pick THEM up at their various schools, and I told them I was taking care of other children while I knew their teachers were taking care of them.

It was surreal over the next few days. School was canceled. There were no airplanes in the sky with the exception of fighter jets, which was freaky. I remember thinking at the time, "Life as we know it is over" (and I was wrong).

Many families of our school system lost family members at the Pentagon. Many Muslim parents were afraid to send their children to school until our (Jewish, btw) principal called them and assured them that their children were part of our school and not one person would cause problems for them, and that we didn't "blame" them for the attack. My brother was supposed to be at a meeting at 1 WTC, but had to discipline an employee back at his office, so he wasn't there. He was terrified wanting to know how his employees were (everyone got out safely). I was terrified because I couldn't get through to him or my sister-in-law to find out how he was. My husband watched the Pentagon burn from his office.

For people not in the vicinity of NY, DC, or PA, the experience was different than what we experienced that day.

[elleng]

163. Yes, phylny, different for others. :-(

[Aerows]

27. Sadly, I admit that I was

Right on the heels of it we were slammed with the Anthrax scare. In retrospect, I do not think the timing of the Anthrax scare was an accident. It was all Anthrax all the time ... until it wasn't and we were getting ready to invade Iraq. Then there was no mention of it.

[truebluegreen]

67. As I recall they tried to pin the anthrax on Saddam as well.

Prepared to do whatever it took...to start their precious effing war.

[Aerows]

80. That sickened me

more than anything. They blamed Anthrax on Saddam as a justification. It was wound up tighter than a top that Iraq was the source of the Anthrax - but not explicitly stated, because it was a lie. As was everything that lead up to the war in Iraq. I'd never been so disappointed in my country's leaders.

[countryjake]

28. I had just flown across the country the day before...

so yes, the horror of it all was heavy on my mind, but the peace-of-mind of my only child quickly became my number one concern. We were supposed to converge at my parent's home, she was leaving her home in NYC for the reunion and had arrived only a couple of hours before the first news broke of the attack.

Every single thing that our government did following that day was wrong, and the attack on Afghanistan, an already severely devastated nation, along with our subsequent invasion and occupation and destruction of Iraq, did nothing but fuel the fire that had sparked 9/11 in the first place. The USA effectively proved the instigator's point.

[Nevernose]

31. Horrified, angry, saddened, confused about some things

But never afraid. What our government did in the aftermath to make us feel safe was like an absurdist drama.

I was very, very angry at the people who did this, and said some things on DU in the days afterwards that I still regret. Nothing racist -- I've got friends and family members who are Muslim -- but I was advocating a level of violence that I immediately regretted and still feel rather ashamed of.

[BlueCheese]

32. I think it would have been perfectly rational to wonder what else was in store.

In retrospect, the September 11 attacks turned out to be the culmination of Al Qaeda's plan. But it wasn't clear for a while whether it was simply the opening act.

That we still have things like the Patriot Act and NSA surveillance 13 years later is of course ridiculous.

[Journeyman]

33. I was incensed. George W. was given an opportunity few Presidents ever have, the chance. . .

to make this nation anew and repurpose it's commitments. He could have joined the ranks of Washington, Lincoln, FDR, yet he frittered it away in a pitiful display of pique and a senseless quest for revenge. So no, I wasn't swept up by fear; I was elated at what could be, and I was ultimately, painfully disappointed (though not surprised, since I had little hope George W. could rise above the very low level of mediocrity to which he held himself).

[Squinch]

34. I lived in NYC at the time, lost people in the buildings, watched the whole thing

go down live, listened to first hand accounts of going through the Atrium and having bodies falling onto and then through the glass roof, had to throw out my drapes because of the smell, and commuted through armed guards lining the Henry Hudson Parkway for a while that September.

I was terrified and furious. But never supported any of the actions the Bush administration took afterward. Even as he stood on that pile of rubble with the firefighters, I knew he was full of shit.

[Blue_In_AK]

35. No, I was swept up in

cynicism. I can't help myself.

[Solly Mack]

36. You and me both. :)

[leftstreet]

40. +1

[shanti]

63. as was i

the whole thing sounded fishy to me from beginning to end. with the amount of money the u.s. spends on defense, no way should any of it have happened...yet it did. it just felt like a false flag op to me.

[livetohike]

128. Me too Blue. The other word that describes my feelings at the time is

disgust. The fear was what that idiot W would do next.

[Boom Sound 416]

37. Probably wasn't as scary on the tee vee

[BillZBubb]

38. Nope. But I do remember that day w bush didn't show his face. What a leader!

[Zorra]

39. No. I knew Cheney and Bush were going to pull this kind of shit,

and use it as an excuse to start another war for profit and control.

I had left the country in early 2001, in absolute disgust, after the Bush theft of the election and the unelected impostor usurper's 'coronation'.

The only worries I had after the attack was for all the people that were harmed, and that they were going to take away a bunch of our rights, kill a bunch of people in a war over nothing, and take our country down the tubes. I was safe, sound, and very sad, when I heard the news in my little casita on a beautiful beach in Mexico.

To this day, I have never seen footage of the attack on 9/11. I haven't wanted to see it, and I never want to see it. It disgusts me that so many of the people of my country could be fucking stupid enough to swallow the fantasy of the whole neocon debacle.

When Obama called us "sanctimonious" for wanting the war criminals' and torturers' heads on pikes, I
pretty much lost respect for him again, and any trust I had regained. Every time he does something good, I think, "Well, maybe this guy is all right after all." And then he calls me sanctimonious for wanting some of the worst domestic enemies our country has ever had, punished for the vile mass murder and torture they were responsible for.

That's the type of bullshit I would expect from a moderate conservative preppie timeshare salesman in an Izod alligator logo shirt, trying to lie me into buying a worthless dream I could never afford.

That little off the cuff comment totally pissed me off to no end.

[Bluenorthwest]

42. I expected that sort of thing from the day W was appointed by the SCOTUS.

So I was barely surprised, much less fearful. I already knew the world was a dangerous place, blah, blah, blah.

[rock]

43. NO

It was obvious they were attempting to play us.

[bhikkhu]

44. Mostly I was afraid of what the government and public responses would be

...unfortunately, fears fully justified.

The vast majority of people everywhere in the world are good; they just want to live peacefully, provide for their families, and enjoy a bit of happiness and dignity. War makes that very hard to do, and hardens a lot of hearts.

[etherealtruth]

45. I didn't live in New York ... I had recently moved from the DC metro area

I have the distinct feeling my answers and feeling would have been quite different if I did.

I did feel overwhelmed by grief

[NCarolinawoman]

46. I felt horrible grief. Total sadness.

It also seemed surreal; but I was living "far away" in North Carolina.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

47. No, at the time I worked in one of the tallest buildings in the world in Chicago...

our building was evacuated, I had to walk home. And when I got home, I played tennis with a buddy. Went back to the office the next day. On September 21, I flew to Laguradia when no one else was flying to visit a friend in Manhattan. We walked down to ground zero and had dinner later that night.

Fox and BushCo sold fear to Red Podunk. I used to laugh at my friend in Omaha because she behaved as if there was a huge bullseye over her little town. I told her repeatedly, "No one cares about you and we aren't SCAIRT, so chill the fuck out."

But it was too late, the Bushies got to her.

[SummerSnow]

48. I was. My brother worked in Tower 2.

I was calling my brother on his cellphone when the first tower hit. He never answered. I called and called. Even other family members called. Still no answer. When the other tower was hit I sat there and watched in horror and feeling helpless thinking my brother was dead . We didn't hear from him for a few hours. He had a dental appointment that morning , didn't have his phone on him cause he left it in his car.When the dentist assistant was talking about the attack he took a break from getting his teeth cleaned went to get his phone saw all the missed calls and called dad and the rest of us.

I still think about what if that dental appointment was rescheduled or scheduled in the evening

I forgot to add that he still thinks about his coworkers who didn't make it. He says he feels regret.

[YvonneCa]

52. ...

[pnwmom]

110. Thanks for the reality check. nt

[closeupready]

50. I was working in Midtown Manhattan that day, so yes.

I remember about 11:00 that morning walking in to the office of one of my bosses, and he looked at me, with a kind of shock, said, "it collapsed. The tower collapsed." Our offices had a full view of Manhattan south of 42nd Street, to New Jersey - on one side - and Brooklyn - on the other. At that point, I simply left the office, and freaked out. The next day, there was a bomb scare - someone said there was a bomb in Grand Central. Crazy times. Yeah, I was scared, and I bought into it.

Not sure the point when I started waking up - I guess about 2004 when I started participating here. So thanks, DU.

On edit, I recall that the following year on 9/11/02, one of the discount airlines offered to fly people for free, and I took advantage of that, going to Florida for a few days. They gave us a US flag lapel. Maybe that's when I started to wake up.

[SheilaT]

51. No. And by early afternoon that day

I knew that we weren't going to see any meaningful terrorist attack on this country again for years.
Thirteen so far.


A year or so later I had a bumper sticker that said "He Wasn't Elected on 9/11 Either".

[MrMickeysMom]

53. Fear? No… I was frustrated and confused and angry in varying proportions...

I was shocked by what local liberals in PA were saying, which added to my confusion.

The anger never left…. I'm STILL angry. This includes this administration and previously Democratic led congress giving the war criminals a pass.

[PeteSelman]

54. No, I was really pissed though.

Like, "let's nuke someone right now" pissed.

About a week later I started questioning the "official" story because it made no sense. And I was pissed again and remain so.

Where are the black boxes? That's all I want to know.

[MiniMe]

55. I was working in downtown DC that day.

Could see the smoke from the Pentagon from the window, but we didn't know what had been hit. I'm sure it wasn't as bad as being in NY that day, but it did affect me. Only for a day or 2 though.Weird going back to work the next day with all the National Guard on duty at every intersection though.

[sendero]

56. No .....

..... and if you were, you should hide under your mommy's skirt.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

57. I was worried about my honey, who was escorting foreigners back from NY

And I knew a good friend was making millions, working inside the towers. She made it. He did not.


But fear? That was not even close. And then the bush brigade began pushing that meme.

[dionysus]

58. no, i put dying from a terror attack in the same category as being struck by lightening...

but a lot of simple minds were.

[2banon]

59. not even for a minute...

that's a fact. I should say however, I was swept up in a fear of what the fuck our government was intending to do after those events. I watched it all on the tv, and I was totally freaked out by what was in the minds of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld et al. And then Congress. The Patriot Act at the same time as the planned for wars going into action. So, yeah maybe I was swept up in fear. but not because of planes crashing in the towers.

[Hippo_Tron]

60. If everyone who claimed to be was actually a 10%-er, Bush's disapproval wouldn't have been 10%

I was 14 at the time and didn't really have a clue what was going on.

[mwrguy]

61. fear that a coup was taking place

[Lydia Leftcoast]

62. I was horrified at the loss of life, but

by afternoon (West Coast time), I had seen videos of Bush's non-reaction to the news and also heard reports of the FBI finding a Koran and a flight manual in Arabic in the parking lot of the Boston airport, and I thought, "That sounds like the way Robert Ludlum (writer of potboiler thrillers) would have his main character being framed for something he didn't do."

Then I knew that the Bushies were going to take advantage of this incident in ways that I wouldn't like.

[customerserviceguy]

64. You didn't provide any middle options

Yes, being as it was the first large enemy attack on the United States (not counting territories) since the War of 1812, yeah, I wondered how this could happen, and if indeed it would happen again. I felt somewhat confident because of living in WA state at the time that it probably wouldn't hit me, but someone called in a bomb threat to the office building I worked in, and that brought it all home.

Did I think that the Patriot Act was the right response? No, certainly not. But getting AQ was important, if only to send a signal to anyone willing to try this sort of thing again. I'm certainly glad that the people in charge of our safety, like the FBI, the CIA, the branches of the military, and the various levels of police forces managed to put aside their petty rivalries and get cooperating with each other, and if fear was part of that, it was a good thing for them to feel it.

[truebluegreen]

65. Something that really made an impression on me that day

was Dimson disappearing for most of it, and when he finally emerged the first thing he wanted us to know was that he was OK.

If I didn't already have a deep disdain for the man, that would have done it.

[mulsh]

68. No I wasn't.at around the age of 8 or so I realized the SF Bay Area was nuclear first strike zone.

I"ve lived most of my life in the shadow of some of our countries most serious weapons labs. Also I've lived on top of the Hayward Fault for most of my life. I refuse to live in fear and I truly loathe all those people who promoted "fear fear fear" since 9/11.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

69. I just remember Bush fleeing across the country for hours after

I was, however, mostly sad and angry for the families.

[GoCubsGo]

70. Not getting caught up in the Ebola virus fear-mongering, either.

I'm seeing more and more of that lately. I'm at the point where I just stop watching when the fear-mongering starts.

[easychoice]

71. First thing I said was" that fuckin bush " First words without thinking.

My wife called me from DFW and told me to turn on the TV just in time to see Plane 2 smash into the tower.
I think if I hear the words FREEDOM or TERROR one more time I am going to vomit.
What a scam.We should trade those words for "police state" and " Now the Cops can beat you to death ".

I can't believe how fast the public got in line behind their fearless leaders.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

73. No, no, and hell no.

Thank the gods I was on DU at the time and quickly learned the truth about who was the REAL threat -- it happened to be in the WH at the time.

[Control-Z]

74. For me it was shock at first.

So much was going wrong in my personal life at the time. I was surprised that my husband was even talking to me, much less in bed at whatever ungawdly hour it was. It was before the second plane hit, I believe, and I watched in shock and disbelief all the way through. I was already fighting a deep depression, so when my son came home from school the next day and told me his favorite teacher's daughter had died there (a medical school student who went in with her classmates to offer first aid) I kind of lost it I guess.

I was just sad, so very sad, and angry - probably for the better part of a year, maybe longer.

I never felt fear though.

[steve2470]

75. No, more stunned and angry at the perpetrators of it

I was never afraid, but I had the luxury of being in Florida. I flew to Los Angeles 3 weeks after 9/11, and my plane was about 75% empty. It was really strange.

[BainsBane]

76. I was shocked, thinking about the loss of life on 9/11

and that is still what I think about. I think about the massive hole in the middle of Manhattan when I visited there in December of 2001, of friends I know who had airplane bombs explode in the middle of their city and lost people they loved. For some reason, my ego doesn't strike me as the most important aspect of that event, nor does showing my complete lack of concern for those whose lives were lost or whose cities were turned into war zones. I can't imagine thinking everything in life is about animosity toward a few men in Washington. And yes, I was frightened. Fear is a normal human reaction. Mocking that humanity is not.

[sibelian]

100. You're so noble.

Wouldn't it be great if everyone was like you?

[BainsBane]

130. No, far better to mock those who feel fear when their lives are in danger

To show one is so superior and above human emotion.

I'm sorry you find it so disturbing that I care about the loss of life and those who suffer lose loved ones. I thought that was basic to the human condition and not even slightly noble. Obviously I was wrong. Clearly some see proclaiming oneself above such things as a superior approach to life. You apparently take exception to the fact I might think about something other than disgust for whoever is in the White House. After all, what else could possibly matter in life?

[BeyondGeography]

157. Obnoxious

[sabrina 1]

77. No, but I did have one fear and I wasn't even very politically involved at the time, it was

that Bush, who I didn't know very well, but had definite bad feelings about, would USE it to go to war somewhere. THAT is the main fear I had, which turned out to be more than justified.

[hrmjustin]

78. I live in NYC and was searching for my friends who died in the towers. I was scared but I never

supported Bush.

And yeah I was very afraid. That day always lives in my memory and will never be forgotten.

[alittlelark]

79. FEAR...it lasted less than 2 months - I started researching...

...the wool came away from my eyes.

[bluestateguy]

81. Yes, but I have long since gotten over 9/11

And by the time we went into Iraq I knew it for the bullshit that it was.

Also, too many people who were not really directly affected were spouting off sanctimonious nonsense for months and years after 9/11: "9/11 changed everything" "We'll never be the same again" Waaaaaaah. Please. As if some of these Red state fuckwits were themselves in the towers.

[BainsBane]

82. Were you afraid when Israeli bombs hit Gaza?

Last edited Mon Aug 4, 2014, 02:54 AM - Edit history (1)

I wasn't, not one bit, and I didn't buy into the Hamas propaganda. Aren't I superior? I live far away from Gaza and am in absolutely no danger whatsoever. So I can mock the "fear, fear, fear." Only I won't because I couldn't live with myself if I responded to the loss of life and fear that naturally accompanies it by mocking. We get that you weren't affected by 9/11 and you think it a joke. Lots of other people were, and I care about their lives and those of their loved ones, as well as the sense of fear NYers and Washintonians must have felt as a result--because people in danger feel fear. Most of us are capable of compassion even when we ourselves are not in danger.

[LibDemAlways]

83. I felt no fear, but others sure did and reacted absolutely

irrationally. At the time, my husband worked in an office complex in the San Fernando Valley. On September 12th and for the following week all cars entering the parking lot at his work were stopped and searched. He thought it was laughable, and it was.

I knew the terrorists had won, however, when I was telling a group about seeing an elderly lady in a wheelchair being abused by TSA at the airport, and one of the women in the group said the abuse was justified because the old lady might be a terrorist. I just shook my head.

[rhett o rick]

85. I sympathize with those that were in fear. But they should have known that fear

is a very useful tools used by tyrants.

[defacto7]

87. I'm not sure what swept up means.

But no, I was in Frankfurt at the time and flew to NYC a couple of weeks later for work. It was quite an eye opener but I don't do fear much. I would much rather spend my time gaining information with my own eyes and think about probabilities. Don't have time to fear something I can't change.

[stranger81]

88. I was pretty fearful of what this country's response would be.

That fear turned out not to be unfounded.

Fearful of "the terrorists"? No.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

89. I wasn't fearful but I was deeply saddened and enraged

Even though I'm not American and do not live in America (indeed, at that time, I had not even been to the US -although that has changed), I've always felt a deep kinship and affinity with America and its culture, history and people and it really hit me like a death in the family. It haunted me for days and nights and indeed years on end. I remember just looking through the photos of the victims that were up on the news websites at the time and just feeling heartbroken, sad and angry beyond words. Indeed, that day had a deep emotional impact on me and has changed the course of my life and the way I viewed the world immensely and not for the better.

And I was really, really, really enraged at the hijackers and those who had organized the terrorist attacks and my thirst and my appetite for violence and revenge on those responsible and their families knew no bounds. That didn't mean, however, that it translated into a wider prejudice against Muslims or the innocent civilians from those countries from which the hijackers came. I was born in a predominantly Muslim country, grew up knowing Muslim people from childhood and certainly was exposed to quite a bit of the Islamic faith -which I did and I still do immensely respect. So my anger was directed at those directly responsible, not a wider faith or people from those countries involved or the like

I was distrustful of Bush and his agenda, more or less from the start after the tragic, senseless and horrific events of 9/11. I was hoping that Bush would rise to the occasion and transform into the statesman and international leader that the tragedy demanded and would respond to it in an appropriate way. But I remember watching him just a few days after the tragedy making some comments about Osama Bin Laden and thinking that it was alarming that, during some of the darkest days that the world had seen since the end of the second world war, it was alarming that we had such an inadequate buffoon in charge of the most powerful nation on earth.

I supported the war in Afghanistan enthusiastically at the start but got increasingly irritated as the Bush Administration started pussyfooting around and not going after the real culprit while trying to milk faux patriotism to push its own political agenda and electoral prospects. Although previously somewhat hawkish about Saddam Hussein and Iraq, I never believed that Iraq had anything to do with 9/11 and saw through the charade of false lies about WMDs and the rest that the administration spread. I marched against the war in Iraq and was vehemently opposed to it

I also became dismayed at how swept up in hysteria and how irrational some sections of American society seemed to become. How some previously sane, rational people became right-wing shills and most never changed back. How blindly docile so many Americans seemed to become in unquestioningly swallowing up the lies and propaganda of the Bush Administration. I'm so glad I found DU in 2002 -I was beginning to think there was no place of rational sanity in terms of political discourse anymore

[BainsBane]

92. I like your response

Very thoughtful and measured.

[Egnever]

95. Well said

A large portion of our society did get caught up in fear fear fear. One need only point to the run on duct tape and plastic sheeting to demonstrate how far it went.

It is easy for people to pat themselves on the back as not being afraid now but the vast majority of this country did lose its collective mind.

In 2001 the internet was still in it's infancy the vast majority of the country still got it's news from major media which had joined the bush cable fully with never a question. It was a sad time for this country and had to be horrifying to watch from outside of it.

Like you DU was a lone sane spot in a sea of crazy where it was a dirty word to be a democrat.

So easy for people to pretend the hysteria did not happen now.

[Jeff Rosenzweig]

93. Certainly not,

but I didn't then and will not now denigrate those among the populace who were. They were wrong. They were terribly, terribly wrong, but it's not my place to judge their gullibility or even their rank foolishness. Besides, I'm sure this website, seething as it does with now-reflexive sneering at just the goddamnedest things, will throw plenty of pointless scorn their way without mine being needed.

As to those in Congress and the (mis)Administration in the White House who stoked those fires so vigorously back then, I continue to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances, but retain no other moral qualms about what, if anything, ever befalls them.

[Ichingcarpenter]

94. The weapon grade anthrax attack was a brillant

use of fear that got the patriot act passed.

[Warren DeMontague]

96. Like most of us, I sat with my mouth hanging wide open in front of the television all day.

I watched people with no choice but to throw themselves off a skyscraper, to their deaths, for the "crime" of coming to work that morning.

I felt a lot of things- horror, anger, shock, sadness.. and certainly, fear.

At that particular instant I didn't give much of a shit about Domestic politics or my considerable differences with George W. Bush.

[BainsBane]

135. Imagine that

Thinking about human beings rather than politics. That puts you and I among the benighted.

[sibelian]

99. 186 to 11 as of this post...

Weeeeeeelllll, well, well, well.

That ratio does not sit well with my memory. No, sir, it does not.

[whatchamacallit]

101. Their only real 9/11 fear was getting found out n/t

[riqster]

102. Nope. I was pissed off. Still am.

[ms liberty]

103. I had been paying attention, so no...

I knew the Hart Rudman Commission had named terrorism as our No. 1 threat, and that it was only a matter of time. And that gang in the executive branch were salivating for war. I was shocked the day it happened; that it had happened finally, and it was so spectacular , in a horrifyingly bad way. But surprised? No. Edited to add: I wasn't fearful for my own safety or that there was going to be an invasion of evil Muslims or anything; I was worried about what that crowd in the WH would do, and where the RWNJ's would take this...and I was right, unfortunately!

[Orsino]

104. I knew instantly that the attacks would be used to support the Cheney agenda.

But I lacked the experience or imagination needed to predict how far they'd take it.

[bettyellen]

105. I remember the hate and anger coming from people far from NY/ DC - and they scared me more than any

thing going on in NYC. And all the "We are all New Yorkers" today bullshit.

But NYers actually did have valid fears, not sure why they are getting put in the same category as all those rubes across the country demanding retaliation. And those other assholes, who lined up for homeland security money they did not need just so they'd get big scary toys to play with.

[L0oniX]

106. Then and now ...I only fear other drivers.

[sakabatou]

107. I was only 13/14 at the time

I wasn't fearful at all, but I was swept up in the whole "Bomb Saddam" thing.

[pnwmom]

108. Damn right. Unlike many, I'll be honest. When it first happened, no one knew or could know

whether those hits were the only ones or the first of many. No one knew who was behind them and if there were only a few people involved in carrying out the attacks or many.

And anyone living in the NYC region SHOULD have been terrified.

Anyone who had children in college at NYU, children who could see bodies falling out of the tower, should have been terrified for their children's sake.

So yes, I was fearful in the days immediately after the attack, and I supported our going after bin Laden. I was NOT a supporter of the Iraq invasion.

[Arkana]

111. I was, for a couple weeks. I'm not ashamed to admit it.

The rest of you can sneer at all the people who had their illusion of impregnability shattered, but I won't. That was a hard thing for Americans to accept--that we were just as vulnerable as the rest of the world.

[TheKentuckian]

116. Thing is we are not and we're not as vulnerable as most of the world, but we are not impregnable

and never were and to be honest, that attack had nearly zero chance of success under competent management. I'll take that further and say it is my best guess that even incompetence would not have been enough and that most likely the attack was willfully allowed for nefarious purposes not because of some exceptional magic held by the US but because of extremely expensive and highest priority systems in place.

[alarimer]

113. No, because the drumbeat of fear was just the excuse to impose the police state.

Now, it's considered "normal" for anyone to search your bags when you go to the ballpark, for example. This, despite that fact that there is no discernible reason for doing it routinely.

It's "normal" to take your shoes off at the airport and go through naked scanners for no reason, other than to make us think they are doing "something."

It's "normal" at some stadiums to sing "God Bless America" during the 7th stretch, at least on some days. That piece of sanctimonious drivel.

The constant glorification of the military has become "normal", though it is incredibly fascist.

The constant exhortations to "never forget" (as if we could because they never stop talking about it).

I was one of the small percentage of people that never fell in lockstep. To me, it was a criminal act and required that type of response. Instead, it was repackaged and sold as an "act of war." Against what state we were supposed to be "at war" I'll
never know.

I lay this all at Bush's feet. It was exactly the opening they were looking for to turn us into a bunch of passive people who will buy whatever "threat" they are selling us on TV.

[hifiguy]

118. Shocked for a few days

and then began wondering what kind of Bushit it would be used as the justification for.

[ProfessorGAC]

119. No, We Overreacted Badly As A Nation

Adults behaved like children who believed there was a monster in the closet.

[RiffRandell]

122. Nor was I for the 2004 election.

Go and buy duct people! Fucking fear mongers.

[KamaAina]

124. No! No! No!

No, you weren't. In fact, I delurked right after Nineleven(TM).

[onethatcares]

125. didn't even know the planes hit the trade centers

until lunch time EST.

Then the guy I worked for called me to come over and look at the teevee. I was turning 1 x 10 boards into bevel siding.

My thoughts when I saw it were, "There goes America, we are never gonna get this back"

[gwheezie]

126. I was afraid until all the planes landed

After that I figured we were safe and there would be no further attacks. I was afraid for my daughter who worked near the WTC. It took a few hours to reach her. She was stuck in NYC. I knew she wasn't killed because she didn't work in the towers but I didn't know where she was.

[dawnie51]

129. i was horrified.....

and transfixed by the next several days coverage, but never once did I fear for myself or the country. It was what it was, and from the earliest hours, I felt that we were being led down a path to hell, and this was the prod to get us there.

[gaspee]

133. I got a lot of flack

from friends and lost quite a few when I refused to support war. I didn't even support the invasion of Afghanistan. I didn't need my two history degrees to know invading was going to end up being a complete clusterfuck, no matter how good the reasons were. They almost had me when Powell spoke to the UN, but that lasted about 10 seconds.

This was pre facebook days, but I still have all the posts from my Livejournal and all the comments from my liberal friends about how we have to defend ourselves.

Edited to add - I understood your post to mean the fear mongering whooped up by the chicken hawks running the government. I live in RI, about 45 miles from Logan airport, so it hit fairly close to home, but I didn't feel fear, exactly - more unsettled.

[Populist_Prole]

134. No fear at all. Just disgust

[villager]

136. It was amazing how many people became "pod people" after that...

Some I knew (and loved) were able to finally shake it off.

Though as we've seen from society as a whole, most weren't.

Part of the desired effect, I reckon.

[Enthusiast]

137. I immediately suspected the Bush Administration had a hand in the attacks.

I was right.

[Major Hogwash]

139. No, it was more about wondering how it happened, rather than wondering who pulled it off.

It was totally tragic and I couldn't believe what I was seeing, but I just couldn't figure out how such an intricate attack like that could occur considering our defensive capabilities, what with NORAD, the CIA, the NSA, and even the FAA.
I just didn't think it could ever happen.

It didn't occur to me until much later, not until after Thanksgiving that year, when I had been talking to some of my other family members, that the only way something like that -- something that was that big, that horrific, and that intricate -- could ever happen in this country without having a lot of inside help from within the Bush White House.

I don't know whatever happened to George Tenet, or what he is up to these days, but he is going to have to come forward some day and tell us what he knew on September 10th that allowed that attack to take place.

[jwirr]

140. I did not have time. I heard about it from a few people in my apartment building as I walked out to

board the bus for special ed adults which I was an aid on every day. I was busy until 9:30 and did not even have time to think about it. When I got home I turned on the tv to watch but by then most of it was reruns. I am not one who gets really excited in any emergency and this was true then also. What I did feel was shock that this could be happening. I think I felt kind of numb most of the day. Numb and sad.

Then when the bushies started with their bull I just got angry. What had they done now?! type anger. Especially after I heard that the Saudi's had been flown out of the country with the help of the bushies.

I never wanted to go to war over it - instead I wanted the law enforcement to get them. It was a crime.

[Hortensis]

141. No. I'm a liberal by nature, so fairly cool minded and not easily fear driven,

and no family was in the kind of place that might be hit.

I was angry at the be-very-afraid cheerleading in the media and especially at the "everything is changed" mantra of the NY-concentrated media, who were afraid of losing a lifestyle they liked very much and wanted the entire nation fighting to keep them from having to disperse to various cities.

[zipplewrath]

143. I went to DC

I booked a ticket to DC during the whole anthrax scare. I ate at the local restaurants (that were empty) and shopped at the local stores. It's supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

[MohRokTah]

144. I was, all the way up to the point where it was clear the Antrax terrorism was domestic. eom

[LiberalElite]

153. For a while - I was in NYC

HOWEVER, I did NOT support the Patriot Act or all the jingoistic flag waving in its wake. I put an American flag in my window for three days only reluctantly.

[merrily]

154. The way people here went nuts made me uneasy.

It was crazy from day one.

That same day, before lunch, I heard a report that they had ID'd the person responsible, or at least one of the people responsible. How, you ask?

They claimed to have recovered someone's wallet from the plane near ground zero. Really? You find a wallet near ground zero, with ID intact? And that somehow tells you not only that the wallet came from the plane that had burst into flames on hitting the WTC, but also that the wallet belonged to the person responsible?

And the person reporting this on the radio does not ?

Okay. Nothing weird about any of that.

And then a week of around the clock "news," even though they had no data. But, from the start, speculation about Saddam, even though the man asked our permission before moving on Kuwait. Just creepy.

[LiberalElite]

155. Why are you asking this now? nt

[Skittles]

159. NO

and I was DISGUSTED by the people who rallied around that warmongering ASSHOLE Dubya - I mean, seriously, WTF

[clyrc]

160. I was scared for a few days.

I'm fearful by nature, and I guess it's a fluke that I'm not straight up super conservative, instead of moving more and more left as I get older. I felt a general fear, a huge sadness, and no hope that our government at the time would make things better. I know that my immediate emotions will fade, though, if I can wait them out. I don't think I ever trusted Bush and buddies. And I know that when I started hearing people say we needed to bomb a part of the world into oblivion, I was sickened and horrified.

[JustAnotherGen]

162. I was

Because the Village Idiot was in the White House and I'll always remember Arafat's lips/mouth trembling in a press conference later on that day. They (the terrorists) had opened the door for an evil administration to slaughter thousands and thousands of people. I was also looking to my left and right because even though there had been a prior bombing of the WTC - the more recent attack was by one of our own. I thought it was resent filled crazy right wing 'separatists' pulling the stunt of all stunts.