#1308 Understanding America by Understanding 9/11
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 28 September 2019
⏱️ 86 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date: 9/27/2019
Today we take a look at the legacy of 9/11; the war on terror, the PATRIOT Act, our collective PTSD and our desperate clinging to American Exceptionalism™
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: The long war on terror - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 9-11-19
Discussing the military legacy of 9/11, the war on terror, and the Middle East.
On the 18th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, a new book recasts one of America's darkest days in strikingly personal terms by weaving together survival stories in minute-by-minute detail.
The mainstream corporate media is one of the chief propagators of American exceptionalism and innocence...the narratives of American exceptionalism and American innocence work together to serve white supremacy, empire, capitalism, and the US war machine.
Ch. 4: Endless war authorized by the AUMF on 9/14/11 - Project Censored - Air Date 6-25-19
Jon Gold on the lingering impact of the AUMF
Ch. 5: First-hand accounts of the post-9/11 wars - Home of the Brave - Air Date 7-9-19
Alan Chin talks about his experience covering wars since 9/11.
Ch. 6: The cost of America’s post-9/11 wars - This is Hell - Air Date 12-17-18
Political scientist Neta C. Crawford examines the brutal, ongoing human cost of America's wars. Neta is author of the paper "Human Cost of the Post-9/11 Wars: Lethality and the Need for Transparency"
Ch. 7: The legacy of the PATRIOT Act - Pod Save the People - Air Date 8-13-19
DeRay, Clint and Sam discuss how the PATRIOT Act targets drug use more than terrorism
Ch. 8: A Theory of ISIS with Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou - Jacobin Radio - Air Date 3-13-19
The terrorists and the national security states waging war against them are dependent upon one another, and together have created a more violent, divided and alienated world.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 9: Final comments on dealing with the emotional damage of childhood
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
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Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of a Left Podcast in which we shall reflect |
| 0:11.2 | on the legacy of 9-11, meaning the War on Terror, the Patriot Act, our collective PTSD, |
| 0:18.8 | and how it all reinforced the idea that as long as we can point to having an enemy that |
| 0:23.7 | it means that pretty much whatever we do is right and justified. |
| 0:28.6 | And just as we get started, I'll say that while researching this episode, it occurred |
| 0:34.6 | to me that at this particular moment in time, on this anniversary, 9-11 biceps my life. |
| 0:44.1 | I was 18 years old, 18 years ago, on 9-11, and to be honest, I haven't processed that |
| 0:54.6 | enough to draw any conclusions or have anything thoughtful to say about it, other than that, |
| 1:02.1 | as we're going to hear in the show, that 9-11 is thought of as this pivotal moment where |
| 1:07.4 | America and many ways lost its innocence, and pre-9-11 was thought of as this much more |
| 1:13.6 | carefree time. |
| 1:16.4 | And that is very often how people feel between their childhood and their adulthood, and |
| 1:22.9 | for me and my generation, it literally is the difference between my childhood and my |
| 1:28.8 | adulthood, that pre-9-11, you know, it wasn't just carefree because I didn't have to worry |
| 1:35.4 | about which horrible war we were about to head into, or what repercussions was going to |
| 1:42.2 | come from this massive society altering event. |
| 1:48.7 | So I was just like hanging out in high school, dicking around, trying to figure out what |
| 1:53.0 | I might want to do with my life. |
| 1:54.5 | So it's just a little bit of my story, and it's just one more of those instances where |
| 2:00.2 | I feel like I'm the last generation in so many respects. |
| 2:06.4 | I'm a member of one of the very last age groups to be able to remember before the internet, |
| 2:12.6 | to be able to remember using corded phones in the house regularly, and a whole variety |
... |
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