The Theater of the Absurd

by Paul Hein

Certain events acquire such political significance that had they not taken place, they would have had to have been invented. The Holocaust comes to mind. It appears that the 911 attacks are headed for a similar never-to-be-forgotten (we don’t dare forget them!) notoriety.

Referring to the ceremony at the conclusion of the clean-up of the site, an Associated Press writer speaks of the “unspeakable horror” of that day, but he--and others--speak of it nonetheless, at some length.

A ceremony at the end of a “clean-up” is rather an unusual thing, isn’t it? I can recall the great flood that caused untold misery in the Midwest some years ago. We saw pictures of homes being swept off their foundations, and whole towns destroyed, but very few pictures of the clean-up efforts that followed. Similarly, the horrific tornadoes that visit death and destruction upon people in various parts of this country are well documented, but after the cameras have had their fill of wreckage and tearful children, they disappear. We never see any clean-up, much less a ceremony at its conclusion.

Well, 911 was different, of course. It was a deliberate attack by foreigners. That makes it an opportunity for “war,” even if the enemy is not precisely defined, and the point of victory impossible to determine. And war, after all, is what governments do well, and at every opportunity. It gives the rulers an opportunity to whip the people into a frenzy of patriotism, or what passes for it, and unifies the masses behind the dastardly enemy so that domestic problems—directly resulting from the rulers’ policies, of course, are overlooked for the duration, which will be, we are assured, a long time. This means propaganda, and lots of it.

The article by the aforementioned AP writer makes this clear. Bagpipes played "America the Beautiful." Buglers from the fire and police departments played "Taps." A bell rang the 5-5-5-5 fire code--four sets of five rings--memorializing the 343 fallen firefighters. An empty stretcher, with a flag draped over it, was carried up 500 feet, from the bottom of the pit where the towers once rested, and placed in a fire department ambulance, as a dozen pallbearers saluted it, evidently not embarrassed at saluting an empty stretcher.

A piece of rubble was similarly venerated. A single 30-foot piece of steel beam, found still standing after the rest of the debris was removed, had been cut down, and was reverently placed on a truck. It was covered with a black shroud (?!) and, of course, a flag, and was slowly driven between rows of firemen and policemen to its final resting place at Kennedy Airport, where it will be stored.

This ceremony, which brought tears to many of the thousands of onlookers, was on Thursday. Some had objected, asking Mayor Bloomberg to schedule it for a weekend, so the prospective attendees wouldn’t have to choose between weeping and working. The mayor refused, stating that May 30^th was the traditional date of Memorial Day, although what that had to do with it is unclear. But another Ground Zero service is planned for Sunday, anyway.

I’ve lost count of the number of events that have taken place honoring those lost on 911. In addition to those immediately after the event, there was a six-month ceremony, if I recall; and you can bet your last buck that at the one-year anniversary there will be another event, perhaps featuring the 30-foot piece of steel, representing the nearly two million tons of rubble removed. After all, if it is going to be placed in storage, it must be for a purpose.

And what, in fact, is the purpose of all this maudlin memorializing? The stricken families can, of course, mourn in any way, and as often, as they want. But what is gained by these public functions, which border on the ridiculous:  shroud-draped bits of wreckage solemnly passing in review, salutes for an empty stretcher as it is placed in an ambulance?  The answer is, and can only be, propaganda for the “war” effort. The massive inflationary spending required to sustain it is considered (by the rulers) a stimulus to the sagging economy; and the nibbling away at the rights of the people will be overlooked, it is hoped, by the periodic massing of New York firemen and policemen dancing around the remaining bit of steel girder, singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," or whatever is thought suitable.

When the next attack takes place, as we have been assured it will, the ceremonies honoring the deceased will be even more profuse and elaborate, reminiscent, perhaps, of the massive rallies held by the Nazis in the 1930s.  Practice makes perfect. And maybe the American Reich will last for more than a few decades.

Frankly, though, I’d dance around that steel girder myself if I thought it would hasten the end of the empire, and restore the Republic.

June 3, 2002