EDITORIAL: A legacy of exploitation

‘Since the horror of 9/11, we’ve learned a great deal about the enemy ‘hellip; The war against… ‘Since the horror of 9/11, we’ve learned a great deal about the enemy ‘hellip; The war against this enemy is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century and the calling of our generation.’ ‘mdash; President Bush, Sept. 11, 2006 Today, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and his Republican counterpart Sen. John McCain will visit Ground Zero together to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The senators issued a joint statement last Saturday saying, according to the Washington Post, ‘All of us came together on 9/11 ‘mdash; not as Democrats or Republicans but as Americans ‘hellip; we will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity, to honor the memory of each and every American who died and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones.’ It’s a strong gesture. The divisive nature of the election season has polarized the country as candidates’ endless bickering highlight our differences more than our similarities. So we applaud the two candidates for setting aside their differences and remembering the lives lost. However, the past seven years have been rampant with efforts at politicizing this tragedy. We hope that this does not happen today. Sept. 11, 2001 was a catastrophic moment in our nation’s history. The atmosphere in the immediate aftermath was one of unity and patriotism. Flags decorated the windows and lawns of millions of Americans, and the country was bound together in a reviving display of strength. But in the months and years that followed, Americans witnessed the exploitation of this tragic event by politicians, using it to pass unconstitutional legislation that has damaged our civil liberties and to push the country into an unnecessary war in Iraq. Soon the atmosphere of unity turned into an environment of fear, further exploited by politicians and the media. We saw this in the former Republican mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani. The Sept. 11 attacks were a central part of Giuliani’s campaign for president. At a campaign stop in New Hampshire in 2007, Giuliani said, according to the Washington Post, ‘If a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001.’ We saw it in the months after the attacks, when the media, determined to fill the chatter of 24-hour cable news networks, showed the jarring footage of the falling twin towers over and over again. On Sept. 20, 2001, Bush addressed the nation and said of the terrorists behind the attack, ‘They hate our freedoms ‘mdash; our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.’ America bought this as the motivation behind the terrorists’ actions, and the media failed to give the fearful public a more realistic, scrutinized explanation. Today, many Americans are still scared. They have lost hope in their political leaders. In the midst of a seemingly endless war, the country is divided. But Obama and McCain have the opportunity to alleviate the fear, hopelessness and division today. Both candidates speak repeatedly of change, but we also need to see a change in the dishonorable way Sept. 11 has been handled by politicians. We hope to hear more than empty rhetoric today and see a genuine effort at unity.’ Only when we learn to set aside our partisan politics, even with fewer than 60 days left until the election, can we be a nation that is fully healed.