Ten Years After?
Ten years after the September 11th attacks, conspiracy theorists on the right and left remain hard at work trying to dig out the real story of what happened that day. Points readers may be pleased or dismayed to know that as of yet, no one has tried to explain the attacks through the prism of alcohol or drugs. And on this day of total media saturation, your managing editors will avoid the temptation as well. For those readers who simply must have their 9/11 commemorations served up with a side of intoxicants, however, we recommend anecdotal reports of increased incidents of drug and alcohol abuse among first responders in the years immediately after the 9/11 attacks; a government white paper denying that drug trafficking has been an important source of revenue for Al Qaeda (p. 22); and a compelling narrative linking the decision to go to war in the wake of the attacks to Donald Rumsfeld’s son’s relapse into drug addiction. You may now return to surfing the web in search of more satisfying material on 9/11. As you do so, bear in mind the wise words of former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, from his poem “The Digital Revolution”:
A trained ape can know an awful lot Of what is going on in this world, Just by punching on his mouse For a relatively modest cost!
"Tribute in Light," Municipal Art Society of New York