Today, of course, is the third anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. I was not aware, or had forgotten, that this day is now called "Patriot Day," at least by some. To me, that is not an appropriate name for the day. The events of 9/11 had little to do with love of country, nor have any of the events that have come after as a result of that day. Those who died on 9/11, whether heroically or by an accident of fate or in an act of diabolical hatred and inhumanity, probably all loved their respective countries to a greater or lesser degree. Certainly many Americans have become reaquainted with their own personal sense of patriotism. But to call 9/11 "Patriot Day" is more, to me, an example of the kind of co-option of language that has been going on since that day three years ago in the name of the so-called "War on Terror" and which to a larger extent runs throughout all of the policies and pronouncements of the Bush administration. It's not an especially heinous example, like the "Clear Skies Act," but it contorts language nonetheless.
The other day as I was driving back from Valencia, I was flipping stations on my radio trying to get something to come in and found some kind of talk radio show. A woman caller was going on and on about how George Bush and Dick Cheney were behind 9/11, based on some kind of "evidence" she had been reading about. I will never cease to be amazed by how completely idiotic people can be, though I probably should.
