The 9/11 attacks galvanized an outpouring of unity and solidarity in the United States. But two decades later, the anniversary showcased myriad ways in which the nation remains wounded, in large part from within, even as it celebrated heroism and resilience.
The degree of national polarization was particularly evident in former President George W. Bush’s pointed comparison of domestic extremists like those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 with the 9/11 masterminds that he sought to hunt down after the attacks.
“In their disdain for pluralism, in their disdain for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit,” he told a gathering outside Shanksville, Pa., where one of the commandeered planes crashed. “And it is our continuing duty to confront them.”
While 9/11 brought Americans together, by the 2004 election, events had begun to drive us apart. Julia Azari notes that
the 2004 election revealed not a country in consensus but one increasingly divided along cultural lines. What the Iraq War seemed to do was bring cultural and national security questions into line, revisiting Vietnam War era themes about patriotism and social order.
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Each of the issues up for debate in that election and every election affect real people in tangible ways. But the emergence of this new cultural polarization has given every issue the 9/11 treatment: to push it into the realm of abstract symbolism and away from the concrete issues – the lives – at stake. The result has been that politics and policy have become increasingly separated from each other.
This separation is seen dramatically in the real world, life and death, 21st century pandemic. COVID-19 first appeared twenty-one months ago and continues to rage in the United States, which leads the world in confirmed cases (more than 41 million) and deaths (nearly 660,000). On September 10, there were more than 1,800 deaths reported in the U.S. from COVID while more than 90,000 were hospitalized with the disease.
Vaccines -- shown to be safe and effective -- became available in this country in December 2020 and continue to be widely available. If only Americans were willing to get a couple of jabs to suppress the incidence of the virus to manageable levels. Then we could all get our lives back, see our children return to school, visit distant friends and family, take the brakes off the economy, and more.
Instead, vaccine hesitancy has been compounded by a Republican Party -- especially GOP governors looking at the 2024 presidential nomination and conservative media personalities (more influential than elected officials) enriching themselves by spinning creepy narratives -- eager to twist a public health crisis into a weapon directed against their political opponents: Democrats in office, candidates for office, citizen activists; even Democratic constituencies living in urban areas (Miami, Houston) are fair game.
We couldn't have imagined in 2001 that vaccines (mandated for kids in all 50 states, even today, even in southern and rural states with ambitious Republican governors) for a killer disease would become a partisan issue. But that is what has happened:
The unvaccinated pose a threat to all of us, including the vaccinated majority. The more unvaccinated folks there are, the higher the incidence of the disease in the community, increasing the risks for everyone. As hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID patients, folks injured in a serious accident or experiencing an acute medical emergency may find their care delayed and, when nurses and doctors are worn out, the quality of care declines for everyone and mistakes multiply. Children (not yet eligible for the vaccine) headed back to school are more likely to encounter the disease when the incidence is rampant. Getting vaccinated, or not, is not just a personal choice; it is highly impactful for everyone.
President Biden spoke for many of us when he said to the unvaccinated holdouts: "We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us."
In the midst of this pandemic of the unvaccinated, and the aggressively belligerent opposition, President Biden finally decided to step up the campaign to make our communities safe: with mandates. He was met immediately with frenzied opposition.
Regarding the court challenges to come:
Have at it. Look. I am so disappointed that particularly some Republican governors have been so cavalier with the health of these kids, so cavalier with the health of their communities. This is, this is – we’re playing for real here. It isn’t a game.
And I don’t know of any scientist out there in this field that doesn’t think it makes considerable sense to do the six things I’ve suggested. But, you know, it’s a – Let me conclude with this…. One of the lessons that I hope our students can unlearn is that politics doesn’t have to be this way. Politics doesn’t have to be this way.
They’re growing up in an environment where they see it’s like a war. Like a bitter feud. The Democrat says right, everybody says left. If the Democrats say left, they say right. I mean, that’s not how we are. That’s not how we are as a nation. And it’s not how we beat every other crisis in our history.
We’ve gotta come together. And I think the vast majority – look at the polling data – the vast majority of the people know we have to do these things. They’re hard, but necessary if we’re gonna get ’em done.