Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Claire Berlinski, Ed. ·
Sep 10, 2011 at 5:44am
Appreciating that things can look very different on the ground from the way they do in the media, let me ask if it's really true that Americans are now completely preoccupied with a massive manhunt for a trio of Arab-American midget terrorists about whom no one is supposed to panic but for whom everyone should be watchful, particularly in the presence of cars but also in the absence of cars. Because that's what I would gather from reading the news, but I'm a bit dubious about it really being that way.
What does it really look like outside your window?
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Oct '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
The sun will come up in half an hour, the surf's up nicely, weather is great for flying. So, "What, me worry?"
OTOH, I live with the assumption that somebody will be the first to set off a major suicide bomb in a big mall or Grand Central Station sometime. And are we likely to have a dirty bomb go off in the Port of Long Beach or Los Angeles?...Yes.
Am I going to go ahead and live my life? You bet. And if I have to step up and hit back in a sudden moment of crisis, count me in.
Meantime, I do admit to being conflicted about how far, how much and (most importantly) for how long in each given location to extend our defenses outward - and for what reasons. We should defend ourselves aggressively, but we'll always struggle with nation building.
Dec '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
"Americans are completely now preoccupied"
Not this American. This is the first I've heard of it..
Feb '11
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Well, I am now. Thanks, Claire. I had a nice day planned.
Sep '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Americans are completely now preoccupied with the start of the NFL would be more accurate.
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Odd. It's not the Turkish media from which one receives this impression, it's the American media.
Mar '11
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Foggy, and a little rainy. No word on whether the Peoria PD has established a watch on the bridges over the Illinois River. If there is a tunnel, I haven't heard about it yet.
Dec '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Foxman: "Americans are completely now preoccupied"
Not this American. This is the first I've heard of it.. · Sep 10 at 6:13am
I'm with Foxman - this is the first I've heard of it. Well, I have seen some headlines that they're worried about a follow up attack for the 9/11 anniversary, but it certainly isn't dominating my psyche. I'm preoccupied with the UofO Ducks trying to redeem themselves against Nevada at 12:30 PDT.
Edited on Sep 10, 2011 at 6:53amJun '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
The first news of this terrorist threat coincided with the end of Obama's jobs speech, just about when the network talking heads came on to analyze the speech.
May '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Since when have they been an accurate reflector of the "American mood"?
I think this 10-year-anniversary craziness is just a plot by the Dems and the media .. wind us up, then when nothing happens, give Obama credit for preventing catastrophe. (wink wink, nod nod)
Seriously, other than perhaps a bit more vigilance, I am not making a big deal of 9/11 from a security point of view. I will be praying quite a bit more, for our safety, for those who were killed, and for the safety and success of those fighting the terrorists.
Edited on Sep 10, 2011 at 7:05amRe: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
There may well be something to be nervous about. But no one that I know of is nervous in the slightest. The little boy has cried wolf too often.
In any case, we have already had one massacre -- at Fort Hood, and the powers that be immediately went into overdrive to obscure the fact that the perpetrator was not only a Muslim but that he cried, "Allahu Akbar," as he pulled the trigger and to make us forget it. Over here, we live in a bizarre world in which everyone knows many truths that one is not allowed to utter. And what one cannot say one thinks about quite rarely.
In general, people in this country are now obsessed with its domestic problems. We are caught up in a prolonged, deep recession. Those unemployed or underemployed are deeply worried about their own futures, and the rest of us fear that we will either lose our savings in a general market collapse or that the feds will take them from us and give us IOUs in return. It would take a pretty big event to rivet our attention on Al Q'aeda again..
Dec '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Outside, chickens are hopping about and making noise. Inside my shed, I'm hand-filing pieces for a Nativity set as beers cool down for college ball.
My chief concerns with the 9/11 anniversary is that Mayor Nanny Bloomberg has barred all clergy, police, and firefighters from the events, tomorrow. I don't like that. Also, the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksburg, PA, is a monument to appeasement, failure, and political correctness, complete with restored wetlands; it's shaped like a crescent,though the Park Service calls it an embrace. I don't like that.
Go Gators!
Oct '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Huh?
Sep '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
The administration who told us the oceans will stop rising along with the unemployment rate has very little credibility left to tell us the sky is falling and the last administration is to blame.
Apr '11
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Well, a lot of us are preoccupied by the MLB playoffs, the darn Red Sox are in a slump. Also college football is coming on strong and today is Saturday. Go 'Cuse. But I am keeping one eye peeled for cars with thirty propane cylinders piled in the back seat and strapped to the roof. Also some people are startled that the NYT said something positive about Sarah Palin.
Jan '11
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
It's the same problem with every vague warning. Without details, the warning doesn't actually help anything, but it portrays the warn-er as if he was doing his job.
"Be on the lookout for a bad guy." Gee, thanks!
All this does is increase the adrenaline in the system, without any corresponding benefit.
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
My chief concerns coincide with CJRun's. Except for the go Gators part.
May '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
I'm concerned enough that if I lived in NYC or Washington DC, I'd probably be packing the bags for a weekend outing elsewhere.
Mar '11
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
There were many street closures yesterday here in NYC, so it was very difficult to get around. There were also lots of police in evidence. There is some low-grade anxiety here, I think, especially about the dirty-bomb scenario.
Nov '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Here, it is in the 'Seventies, bright, clear, and with a little breeze. The three dogs and I are enjoying a little post breakfast quiet time before commencing chores, and the Alabama (Go 'Bama!)-Penn State game begins at 2.30. If the holy warriors want to have a go, urge them to come on. We'll be ready.
Jun '10
Re: Am I Understanding the News From America Correctly?
Well, I for one wish the media had given this MORE coverage.Yesterday's 20 mile round trip to drop off daughter into NYC for day one of an internship took three hours. Three hours !! I thought it was because of fashion week. Had I know about the traffic nightmare, she'd have taken publlic transportation. No traffic reports mentioned a thing about the delays.
Said daughter missed playing a gig in the East Village last night because the guitar player was stuck on a bridgehaving his car checked for bombs. She attends school a couple blocks from Ground Zero and has tobe back today for a major audition call back and must plan around PATH delays and transportation uncertainty. As she's living home for this semester, I can't help but be dragged into this obsession.
A nice tribute to 9/11 victims was presented at last night's football game at the high school field. Moment of silent prayer, flags carried by football players, band plying Star Spangled Banner.