There are several reasons why September 11 is a uniquely awful event in U.S., nay, world, history. First, the attacks were horribly deadly: thousands were killed. Second, the attacks were spectacular and televised. This is one of the main reasons why the World Trade Center attacks, which were seen on TV from start to finish, get so much more press than the attack on the Pentagon or the plane that was shot do^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H crashed near Pittsburgh. Third, they were the first major attacks by foreign terrorist on U.S. soil.

But note the disproportionate reaction in the media and the general public to the attacks. After all, thousands were killed at in the Yugoslav civil war, another explosive violent spectacle, and the media was content to aw-shucks a little, and move on. Over a half million were slaughtered in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, an event which was written off as an unfortunate tribal squabble by most news outlets. Why was September 11 so unique, why did we expect the world to stop what it was doing and mourn along with us? The unappetizing answer has to do with who died.

By and large, the types of people who were killed in the World Trade Center attacks were upper-middle class professionals. (and cops and firefighters, who died rescuing thousands of upper-middle class professionals), many of whom had direct ties to media professionals. The news reports after 9/11 were filled with testimonials by reporters, editors, commentators, anchorpersons, who knew someone who was either killed, or lost a loved one in the WTC attack. The attack, in other words, was a direct assault on the American ruling class.

It is this, I think that distinguished 9/11 as a unique historical event. When I was considering writing this up, I asked a friend if he thought 9/11 would have been perceived differently, if, say, the terrorists had flown the jetliners into a stadium filled with people attending a monster-truck rally. His response: "that would've been fuckin' hilarious!" Maybe this just means I should stop hanging around with jerks, but I think it is a clear indication of something. I can't help thinking that, if Al-Quieda had chosen to jet-bomb a trailer park rather than the WTC, that instead of grim ruminations about how "America will never be the same", there would have been a respectful two weeks of mourning, after which Conan O'Brien would start letting slip with the occasional "barbecued mullet" cracks.

Don't get me wrong: if Bush decreed tomorrow that all those creeps in Guantanamo were scheduled to be doused with gasoline and set alight, and that tickets would be sold for people to stand outside the prison holding hands and singing campfire songs, I'd consider shelling out for a couple. Still, with the news item about the recent armory explosion in Nigeria (over 1,000 killed) buried , ho-hum, in the international section of the newspaper in slightly smaller print than the story about British guy who raped the goat, I have a sneaking suspicion that, in the eyes of the media, some of us are more equal than others.