9/11 beginning to rapidly recede into history

Now that we have managed to survive the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I believe that the events of 9/11 will now rapidly recede out of the public eye as a "current event" into more of a historical perspective. Not overnight, but with each passing month the "news" value of 9/11 will fade incrementally.

The so-called "war on terror" will remain a "current event" until their is a change of administration that brings more moderate politicians into power. There is a fair chance that this transition will occur after the 2008 election, but it could well take yet another "four more years" as well. In any case, the "power" of the imagery of 9/11 and the so-called "war on terror" is on a clear path downwards.

Regardless of when "the war" does start fading more dramatically from "the news cycle", public support for this so-called "war" is already fading rapidly. In fact, a majority already seems to "support" the "war" about as enthusiastically as they support the Internal Revenue Service -- a "necessary evil", but not something that they would vote for if they had the chance.

The only thing that really keeps the conservative Republicans in power is that the Democrats simply aren't fielding enough credible centrist candidates.

New York City seems on the cusp of finally getting a handle on redevelopment of the World Trade Center site, which would help to close a huge "open wound" that keeps 9/11 in the public eye. In fact, several of the surrounding buildings (notably, the World Financial Center and  the Verizon building) have already been restored to "like new" condition and one of the collapsed building (WTC 7) has already been rebuilt from the ground up and already partially occupied. There is still one damaged building that remains to be torn down (Deutsche Bank building across the street from the south side of the site). Subway train service has been restored, including the PATH train from New Jersey with tracks and a station in the "pit" of the trade center site itself. There have even been two movies that essentially "mark" the end of one phase of the mourning. There are still some lingering law suites to play out., but every month brings yet another increment of closure.

It was also very telling that Homeland Security did not automatically raise the threat advisory level as on past anniversaries.

The current administration and Congress will continue to furiously bang the drum for their so-called "war on terror", maybe even more furiously as they worry about the 2006 and 2008 elections, but the American public will just as furiously being turning down their own volume controls. The media will continue to exploit fear and anxiety for a while longer, but it won't be long before they realize that intensive coverage of 9/11 and the so-called "war on terror" will increasingly be a losing proposition in terms of gaining and keeping audiences.

Sure, there will be plenty of terroist "scares" and maybe even a few actual attacks here in the U.S. in the coming years, but there always have been. The difference is whether we continue to layer this veneer of a "war" and a climate of fear on top of the always-present reality that the world always was and always will be a dangerous place to live.

-- Jack Krupansky