Seven Years of the 9/11 Truth Emergency

Seven years ago the New Pearl Harbor of the Twenty First Century took place. President Bush anointed it as such in his journal the very night of September 11th, 2001, and even suggested Osama bin Laden was to blame without a shred of evidence (that still has yet to be produced). What followed was a government and corporate media induced frenzy of nationalism, jingoism, and fear that paved the way to the disaster that is the present. Politicians of many stripes propounded mythological ideals of exceptionalism while an unpopular, unelected president took to the National Cathedral to essentially declare a war on anyone opposing Pax Americana. He set a with-us-or-against-us binary framework from which Americans and the rest of the world would operate and be judged. Anyone questioning the increasingly unilateral authoritative executive branch would be seen as traitors and terrorists. The Bush administration and cowed Democratic "opposition" drove America off the cliff of reason while common sense, decency, civil rights and constitutional principles whithered on the vine...extant, but not accessible as viable options as neocon, would-be despots lodged themselves in an increasingly tyrannical and imperialist U.S. government. At the root, the pivotal and yet to be openly investigated events of September the 11th. Yes, America was attacked that fateful day, but perhaps in ways that differ strikingly from what many were lead to believe.

Scholar and author Peter Dale Scott recently remarked about the significance of 9/11 and all that followed, "In short, we are living in an on-going state of emergency whose exact limits are unknown, on the basis of a controversial deep event – 9/11 -- that is still largely a mystery." Many activists and journalists have argued that the post-9/11, post-fact, corporate media driven mirage many perceive as reality constitutes an actual Truth Emergency in America. This seems to be the case, and the still unexplained events of 9/11 are at the heart of the plethora of deceptions and onslaught to liberties that have relentlessly ensued including attacks on the core of our democratic principles- the suspension of habeas corpus, endorsement of torture, unchecked wanton surveillance, embedded reporting, voter intimidation and ballot tampering. They continue to this day, a war on the public, most recently surrounding the hypocritical events taking place outside the corporate sponsored political party conventions, one-time vehicles for exercising our participatory rights in the election selection process.

Prof. David Ray Griffin, 9/11 scholar, eloquently pointed out the myths versus realities in interpretations of 9/11 events, yet most Americans, even progressives, refuse to even consider or research the many problems factually known about 9/11 and the following government studies. Griffin attributes this to what he calls the true dominant belief in America, the nationalist faith (seen in series here). Dr. Paul Rea and I recently argued a similar notion in a chapter of the newly published Censored 2009 book titled "Deconstructing Deceit: 9/11, the Media, and Myth Information." JFK once said, "The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie: deliberate, continued, and dishonest; but the myth: persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic." This very phenomenon is what we suggest surrounds 9/11 itself (the chapter will be linked here shortly, but some of these issues were also recently discussed here on Bonnie Faulker's "Guns and Butter" radio show at KPFA in Berkeley, CA).

In the chapter, Rea and I argued that media and government myth making, not actual investigative journalism or independent commission reports, are what Americans were treated to post 9/11. Media driven historical myths about American exceptionalism and triumphalism were consistently relied upon to explain and understand present events a priori. Accordingly, one would never actually have to look at the facts on the ground about 9/11 to believe the official view- it would simply be The Word, like sacred scripture, heretical to challenge. Further, cognitive dissonance should be avoided by the masses, so, believing and perpetuating the myth yields rewards for obedient and loyal lapdogs in the press and public alike. This mythic memo to the nation reads, "We need to stick together in times of crisis." In fact, it was argued by many in government that citizens should not question authority but rather follow orders in these now dangerous times. Slavery is the new freedom. Many are now being arrested before they do anything illegal, for thought crimes against the dominant nationalist mythological narrative. Others watch in silent approval, doing nothing to come to the defense of liberty under attack.

But, there is hope. And it is not the cynical public relations pablum of the political season. Not everyone is going along and not everyone buys the official views about 9/11 put forward by the U.S. government and its affiliated corporate propaganda bureaus. A new poll by World Public Opinion finds no global consensus, no majority on who was behind 9/11 and an increasing number of people believe in alternative theories which place the U.S. government at the center of 9/11 crimes. Time will tell, but time may be short. The war on activists, journalists, and citizenship itself are increasing at an alarming rate from the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act and Military Commissions Act to the very real and rampant beatings in the streets, preemptive arrests and extended detentions. We must all act now to save a dying republic. Obama/McCain are not going to do it for us.

There are many paths of action given the travails in arenas of environment, health care, infrastructure, social programs, education, the economy, and foreign policy. But one path should be considered and remain evident: demanding the truth about 9/11 in an open and transparent, actually independent investigation. The events of 9/11 are a grand cloak used to distract and dissuade Americans away from duties of citizenship. They also have been used as justification of a blackout on freedom of information and a crackdown on a free press. Given 9/11 is the centerpiece of propaganda and deception, it is a psy-op, shock and awe moment that cannot be ignored, rather, it must be understood for what it is in its entirety. A cataclysmic event, a staging exercise in audacity, a usurpation of the role and rights of the public, a staggering abuse of the good will of the people, a sham excuse for the privatization and militarization of most every facet of our society, and a tipping point toward tyranny in our fragile democracy. Institutional means to deal with this crisis have been taken off the public table by the establishment itself, those of impeachment, grand jury investigations, public protest, free open inquiry, and fair elections. We must act beyond the means offered by a corrupted system and transcend our current state of unimaginative despair. We have not been able to bring justice to a lawless regime in Washington, regardless of their crimes and the supporting evidence. This is due in large part to the aforementioned nationalist myth laden mindset injected into the America psyche via the Trojan Horse of 9/11. This must be widely exposed so the vision of who we really are as a people can be corrected and our path righted toward more equal and just society.

Historian Howard Zinn recently prescribed revolution. Thomas Jefferson would agree as he stated, "Every generation needs a new revolution." We the People are past due. Not through violence will this be achieved, but through the process of seeking and speaking the truth. The price of liberty IS eternal vigilance. The only way to fight the phantoms of nationalist mythology is to critically think and examine the facts in the real world, no matter where they may lead. And we should demand no less of our "leaders" present or future.

Let's pull of the blinders, America. Let the chorus of truth sing. Let's wake up from the nightmare of the last seven years and let freedom ring.