I think about how things would be different all the time. I didn't read the NY magazine article though.

Actually 9/11 probably launced this entire conservative movement in the U.S.

Imagine Bill O'reilly still doing infomercials on the radio.

I've read a few of the pieces thus far, and your concerns about filth and drama are probably misplaced - realizing that you understandably don't want to read them, the pieces are serious and pretty well-written - in any event, why note your stern opposition to encouraging it after you've linked to it? aren't you instead explicitly encouraging it by linking your readers to the piece?

I read most of them. It's just lalaland to me, and the real thing is just too close to make light of it yet.

Linking is appropriate, people need to see for themselves the way the media conducts itself.

I don't know, Karol. While I think the package itself is intellectually lazy crap, I'm sort of surprised you're in the "It's too soon" camp.

It's not too soon. In fact, we should have been making movies about it two years ago. We were certainly making movies about WWII before the war was over.

We should be talking about it every day. And we shouldn't be letting "victims's families" set the tone of the debate or decide when we can debate or what should be done with the property down there.

And, to be honest, I don't think you're really in the "It's too soon" camp. But just because we think the New York piece is a wretched piece of tripe, doesn't mean we should throw down the wanh-wanh card.

Michelle,
I couldn't agree more with your sentiments regarding 9/11......and I'm all the way in California. It's too soon....too fresh....too sad....and all too real........I'm still not convinced Americans realize how much our world was changed that day. I think there is still a sense of helplessness that is bolstered by the rhetoric of the left, and enhanced by the leftist media. I hope someday soon, many on the left will begin to realize, before its too late, that their wish to move on, and forget will only strengthen the resolve of islamic fascism.
Jeff

how am i supposed to take you seriously when you use the word daddy with total sincerity?

This is a game that Clinton administration played every day for 8 years. It is the same game the Europeans played every day for 30 years. What if Moslem terrorism didn't exist? Let's pretend it does not exist and do nothing.

It was that thinking by the Clintonistas that allowed Al Qauda to grow and prosper. We have been paying for Clinton's game ever since.

Karol,
I live in the Seattle area. This is important in that for many of those living is this area 9-11 was just something that the evil Bush made-up or created for political gain. I know of people who died, but many of those around me know only that it was a bad day to fly. While I think that you are correct in wanting some additional time to heal, I am glad for even poor quality media on 9-11 of any kind. I saw "Flight 93" and I will see this one as well, not to give them my money, no I will see them to make sure I never forget what happened that day. I will tell everyone I meet that they need to see this film, it is a story that needs to be told (we did not have smoldering towers in Seattle, it was not real for many of these people, it was not .... damn I am angry at these fools)

Anyway, I listen to people talk about how it was made up, how our government did this, how these poor freedom fighters (known by those living in reality as "terrorists") are following cultural norms that we need to respect (god I want to spit), and more crap like that. No anger at being attacked, no anger at the loss of civilians, no anger at those who kill children, no anger at ....

Point is we (Americans) did not get enough media coverage of 9-11 to make it real, hell Katrina got more coverage. We need to see more of this to make it real and we need to see more of this that is done well, that tells the true story, and maybe it will show these people that it was real. I hate that fact, I would like this to have been an act that we all understood, but we must deal with reality. That is why I think that it is past time for this type of movie, it is simply past time to drag these sheepeople into reality kicking and screaming.

I am sorry that you had to live that day, I am sorry that I felt the need to make this post. I wish that everyone understood what happened, but so many missed that part of 9-11, so many missed .... We owe 2996 people justice and respect.

Mike

PS. Sorry for the rant, sometimes it is hard living on the left coast.

I don't think it's too soon. It's almost 5 years after the fact and it looks as though the West is ready to move on. Nobody pays attention to Afghanistan, we're giving up on Iraq, and we don't want to even think about Iran. We've moved on from a noble fight towards partisan bickering. The problem is that the other side hasn't lost their resolve and is as determined as ever to kill us. We need to be reminded of why we're in this fight in the first place.

It's not too soon. If we can't talk about it, live through it, deal with it, we will never move on. And the fact of the matter is that we live in a free country and there will always be a-holes who write and say stuff just to be jerks, just to get attention, and just to get the spotlight. It is wrong, it is wrong to you and me, but it isn't wrong to them, and we cannot impose our feelings on others. In a way that's what makes this nation great, total freedom.

Now, we cannot repress the memory of what happened by not engaging in discourse. I agree with many of those who commented above, we need to make sure we never forget. And movies and articles, if anything, are probably an honor to those lost. It is symbolic of our memory of them, something I'm sure they would hope we keep forever.

As far as the "leftist" media and "left" agenda regarding the events of terrorism, I myself see that as crazy as it sounds, as wild as it may be, terrorists are humans. Dehumanization of the enemy happens during war all the time, it is part of the rationalization process. The thing is, we don't need rationalization, these are bad, demented people with problems. But they are people. They aren't dogs. What they do is no doubt horrible, and they should get punished, but there is a reason for everything they do. Understanding the enemy is the first step to defeating it, and so far our strategy of bomb first ask questions later hasn't helped the mideast too much...

I want to see a film that kicks terrorist butt. I want to see films where there is no moral equivalency. I want a film that is clear that we are the good guys because we are the good guys. (I already know the response I'm going to get -- America bad! Let me say in advance: screw you.)

I despise alternate histories (stupid Harry Turtledove).

Having said that it's not too soon to ponder on 9/11. If anything it may be too late. We do need more reflection on what happened and the evils behind what happened. The problem is what we have reflected on has been maudlin effeminzed crap as opposed to the vigirous spirit needed to mnaintain a republic. We don't need sappy songs and crying Precious Moment angels and the whole Oprah treatment.

One other thing. I hate to say this (since I bash New York more than anyone else around here) but I think if 9/11 took place in Cincinatti or Denver, we might be less forgetful. As it happened to New Yorkers, who most Americans write off as godless, obnoxious, empty headed fools, we may be less concerned.

Those who do not learn from history are condemned to have it repeated on them until they get the cosmic clue.

Sorry, New York City, but you are asking for it by encouraging and supporting the jihadis and the BDS addled elitists who worship them.

What if Joe Kennedy had never happened.

"What if 9/11 didn't Happen"

What if I was 6'10", lived in a mansion and drove a Rolls Royce?

Too soon? Yes, it is too soon...for fictionalzations or artistic license. It is never too soon for the truth. And it is a truth that needs to be told over and over as painstakingly accurate as humanly possible. No spin and no agenda. No one, anywhere, should ever forget or forgive.

Of course, reality dictates otherwise since there's a buck or two to be made. [sigh]

Karol,

You're a large woman, as am I.

How can you work with Michelle Malkin when she so often resorts to ad hominem attacks against other women (see Cindy Sheehan) for being overweight.

Christ, I think you're even bigger than Sheehan. What does the tiny anorexic Michelle say about you when you're not in the room?

L. Garcia

Like you, I am still traumatized by 9/11. I did not know anyone who died, so I don't have a "direct" link. But I feel as though I did. And now approaching 5 years later, the pain is just as real as in 2001. I don't know how anyone can go to the movie, see the television documentaries, or buy into the "Bush Conspiracy". Any one who believesa that Bush & Co would do that sort of thing should be committed for mental evaluation!

You obviously never seen Karol. She very little.

Allright, Lourdes. May as well suit up the armor and play palidan for a moment (I do much better as goblin). I have had the pleasure of living in eleven states, have been to almost all of them, lived in New York and Chicago, and have been to three other continenets. Karol is easily in the top 5 loveliest women I have ever met. There is more to her than what can be caught in a photo if that makes any sense since I think a great deal of her beauty comes from the way she carries herself, from the way she smiles to the way she tips her head slightly when she is trying to figure something out.

Lourdes sounds bitter. Someone get her another tub of ice cream.

I think Michelle is kinda hot, I thought so ever since I first saw her on CNBC (or foxnews but that was in my raging republican days) way back. Something is very attractive about these ultra conservative feminist types....I think Michelle has kids but I could be mistaken, she is thin but I hardly consider her AnneCoulterexic. I'll switch back to the Republican party (The Evil Empire) if someone could arrange a foxy boxing match between Michelle and Anne Coulter (sp.)and entry is only granted to Conservative Republicans.

In order my preference
1. Karol
2. Michelle
3. Anne Coulter (something about her scares me though)

Maybe Michelle can defend herself on this one but I don't remember her denouncing someone based on physical attributes, maybe it was in jest...

I think Lourdes is just a fat lump of lard who exists only to hurl personal insults at others. What a loser!

WE DIDN'T GET ENOUGH MEDIA COVERAGE OF 9/11?!

Boy, you are a grade-a maroon.

No, we didn't get enough media coverage of 9/11. I missed alot of it because I was fighting with assholes like you on the internet. The msm then decided to censor it and did not re-air more graphic images. I don't want to forget and I will never forgive.

It's hard for people who were there to constantly see the images over and over again. Maybe it's good for people who weren't there (which includes Karol I guess) but those of us who did get covered in Ashes and see people jumping & dying, watching their mornings paperwork float around downtown NYC...seeing all that again brings back bad flashbacks. Especially the plane crashing into the tower over and over and OVER again. I stopped watching the news for a while.

Karol I still haven't forgiven you for convincing SMVP to come over to your place and ditching me after I walked 80 blocks to your building to meet him. My flashbacks also include SMVP's cleaning lady answering the phone and hanging up on me several times using up my quarters.

I went and sat in the park and wondered if F-16's would ever be flying over Manhattan like that again (and where were they a few hours ago!!!) Every year I go back to the same spot in the park, and funny enough the picture of the sky posted reminds of the sky that day looking so BLUE after I couldn't see shit through the smoke and debris.

So now we have a huge hole in lower Manhattan and Iraq has a Democracy that they don't want (or deserve).

(wow get someone a Xanny.....lol)

If 9/11 never happened ....I would be seeing my mother on thanksgiving & christmas and the other 363 days of the year, If 23 october 1983 never happened my cousin would still be alive and I would never have Become a United states Marine.
And if iz-lame extremists never happened ....Perhaps I would not have to worry about my children being slaves & living "under the scimitar".

While we're dealing in What If's let's do "What if Bill Clinton had captured Osama when he had the chance..."

Fer chrissakes:

The point Lourdes is making--and you people would know this if you'd actually bothered reading the post and her description of herself--is that Malkin attacks overweight women, and that Karol should have more self-respect than to throw her lot in with someone who does that.

Lourdes isn't saying anything at all about how Karol is or is not. She doesn't even come close to that issue.

Folks: let the brain operate before you start pounding on the keyboard.

"Good-looking," I meant to write; "Lourdes isn't saying anything at all about how Karol is or is not good-looking."

Note to Hollywood producers, newspaper editors, TV writers, musicians, poets, everyday people, etc....If you plan to write, sing, depict, discuss or portray the events of 9/11/01, PLEASE CHECK WITH KAROL FIRST because she thinks it's too soon for this and she's not ready for it. OKAY?

On a serious note, you truly are pathetic. I guess this is the level of discourse you get when a third-rate intellect like Malkin calls up the "B" team.

Garbage in and garbage out
August 16th, 2006 by Tim Sumner
The bloated fantasy now featured in New York Magazine is a particularly pungent example of using 9/11 to launch ad hominem attacks for personal and political gain. While premising his hit-piece, John Heilemann writes:

“As a way of marking the fifth anniversary of 9/11, we’ve attempted to provide an answer—or, rather, many answers. But we’ve done so in a roundabout manner: by asking an assortment of big thinkers and public figures to address the question, What if 9/11 never happened? …
…
“…As Andrew Sullivan suggests in his alternative-present blog, America should perhaps consider itself lucky that 9/11 took place when it did (thus giving the country an early warning of the battle ahead) and that it wasn’t worse.”

Ask the family members of the 3,000 if we feel lucky, Mr. Heilemann, and if we appreciate you pimping a magazine with a wholesale political hit-piece to mark the day they were murdered.

While there are many examples I could site of vitriolic attacks within Mr. Heilemann’s piece, the most egregious is found within a section entitled The Long Funeral, authored by John Homans. In part, he wrote:

“The media’s appetite for stories of overnight transformation was glutted in the weeks after 9/11. The event gave birth to myriad complicated figures like Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, who had been the prototypical hard-driving, acquisitive, assholic businessman [emphasis added mine]. Blasted by the loss of 658 employees and colleagues, including his brother Gary, Lutnick was changed instantly into a raging, crying man on a mission—and then, almost as suddenly, changed back into a businessman.”

One 9/11 family member responded to Mr. Homans this way:

“Howard Lutnick had no obligation to do anything. He could have packed up his family and moved them out of New York. Instead, he committed himself and his company to rebuilding in New York and caring for the families of our 658 lost. The goal of all Cantor survivors, which came from the top down, was to make sure that our 900+ children would be able to say, “This is where my father or mother worked.” If Howard’s crime is, he is a good businessman, than the Cantor families are fortunate that he is one. Cantor Fitzgerald has given over 175 million dollars including a commitment for 10 years of healthcare to their families. The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund has been in existence since September 14, 2001 and financial aid continues to provide emotional support to our families. Thanks to Howard Lutnick, the Cantor families forged a community that has been helpful in assisting them to heal. Maybe if people like John Homans said “thank you” to people who in times of adversity rise to a height of goodness most of us only dream of attaining, then in the future, we would see more Howard Lutnick’s. Alas, it is easier to vilify others for the shortcomings in ourselves. Thankfully, John Homas is not the final arbiter of Howard Lutnick’s behavior. The Cantor families are. And they feel very differently.”

For those of you who buy New York Magazine, I have a suggestion: do not buy this edition. If you must read it, read it on line. After I finish this post I will use the delete button and flush Mr. Heilemann’s piece from my computer.

Note: Perhaps you would also voice your displeasure by emailing the editors at nyletters@nymag.com