September 10, 2001
Over on Facebook, I ran across this Washington Post story from 2004 describing the events of the day on the day before a day that has defined our politics and foreign policy:
Sept. 10, 2001. Cloudless skies welcome the sun to the East Coast at 6:32 a.m. This Monday looks to be a beautiful late summer day. Tuesday, however, might see some storms and clouds, as a hurricane is approaching. The worst of Hurricane Erin is out at sea and will remain there, but rough weather is still expected along the New Jersey coast later today or early tomorrow.
Not that people are all that focused on the weather.
The gossip around the water coolers this morning revolves around the latest about California congressman Gary Condit and missing intern Chandra Levy, the U.S. Open final match on Saturday between sisters Venus and Serena Williams, Michael Jordan’s possible return — again — to the NBA, tomorrow’s release of Bob Dylan’s 43rd album, “Love and Theft,” and the summertime paranoia about shark attacks, “killer mold” and dangerous roller coaster rides.
There’s some buzz around today’s television premiere of “The Other Half,” a talk show hosted by former Partridge family son Danny Bonaduce, never-aging TV host Dick Clark and two other minor male celebrities that seeks to be the male counterpart to the popular, all-female “The View.” Kelly Ripa is appearing on “The Late Show With David Letterman” tonight, and Jay Leno has Keanu Reeves on “The Tonight Show.”
Singer Mandy Moore’s video “Crushed” remains atop MTV’s TRL Top 10 Countdown. Regis Philbin and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” top the Nielsen ratings, and “The Musketeer,” yet another Hollywood take on the Alexandre Dumas novel, leads the box office.
The morning’s headlines cover a variety of topics. The Washington Post and the New York Times both lead with congressional wrangling over a tight federal budget. The Wall Street Journal fronts comments by Vice President Cheney suggesting that the administration is seriously considering a capital gains tax cut and an increase in the minimum wage.
More at the link. It’s funny how quaint it all seems now.
I’m guessing, since it’s nine years later and there’s no book published, that he has stopped working on that book.
It’s a pity. Not sure you can make a book from that idea, but it is an interesting idea.
It’s an interesting time capsule to be sure.
Even accounting for the fact that today we’re rightfully far more concerned with “Homeland Security” the fact is we’re probably just as frivolous now as we were then. Consider – Jersey Shore, Honey Boo Boo, Anthony Wiener, Bob Filner, ANY Kardashian, ANY vampire/occult television series with good looking young “actresses,” Tim Tebow, Miley Cyrus, and on and on – for better or for worse, it’s our pop culture, it’s a big part of who we are.
I would like to state again for the record that neither Sylvia Brown, John Edwards, James Van Praagh nor any other self appointed “psychic” gave any warning of this attack on the United States.
Ugh. I had a role in hyping the Summer of the Shark. At that time, I was a reporter in central Florida and so part of my coverage was New Smyrna Beach, where most of the “attacks” too place. The scare quotes are deliberate because the incidents were so small: A spinner or blacktip shark mistakes a surfer’s foot for baitfish, bites, spits it out (too many bones!) and swims off. Painful for the surfer, sure, but never fatal. But these incidents happened regularly enough to have my superiors get all hot and bothered about them. And so through Sept. 11, I was on shark duty, feeding the hype machine… and distracting us from The Real Threat.
It really is a great album, one of his best.
9/10/2001 was my first day at a new job. I spent the morning of 9/11 with a bunch of people I barely knew. I got to know a few pretty well by day’s end.
@Ernieyeball:
We should send all of them to Jemen so that they can cold read Al-Qaeda elements in the wild….
Honestly? I read that and I think of how little has changed. Substitute Anthony Weiner for Gary Condit, and it’s almost identical – right down to Serena Williams at the US open and Shark Week.