Baby on the Plane

That title is another Lisa Germano reference, he said defensively.

September 26th: Bush cheers American nation by launching Operation Death Unto Allah. Concern from coalition partners that this might constitute some sort of gaffe.

From Guardian Unlimited Observer | Special reports | Terror's march backwards, which managed to wring some humor (which is an idiosyncratic affair, mind) from the six-month anniversary of The Day Everything Changed.

Otherwise known as The Day Aaron Is Already Fucking Sick and Tired of Hearing About, So Shut the Hell Up Already.

I mean, I pretty much avoid the mainstream media like the plague, and talk about the one-year observances seems inescapable. Even Alternet used the no-telemarketing-calls thing as a hook for a story. At this point, I'm actively looking for sites overseas that take the piss out of the entire affair, since Americans seem generally incapable of producing good tasteless humor. Well, unless you are or have the taste of a preadolescent boy, in which case, good on you, but some of us outgrew that shit, or never found it particularly amusing to begin with.

October 6th: American Airlines launches a controversial emergency campaign to persuade Americans to fly again. Posters put up in every major American city show a fearful businessman reading a newspaper over the words 'Get the hell out while you can! Australia from $120.'

Mind you, at least some of the Metafilter crowd condemned the entire effort as too soon, or just not funny (which is an idiosyncratic affair, mind).

And there's at least one other person who might fail to see any humor in this:

Tonight I was googling around looking for a picture of Christine Hanson, the daughter of Kim Ji-Soo and Peter Hanson. She was two. The family was flying to Disneyland when the terrorists slaughtered the flight attendants, stabbed the pilots to death, and drove the plane into the building.

Christ, what kind of a sick fuck goes looking for photos of a dead two-year-old he doesn't even know? I'm sure there are lots of dead children around with decent portraits. Is someone a little older ok? How about Jon Benet Ramsey?

And her parents were taking the kid to Disneyland. It was a mercy killing.

Fucking Lileks. Sorry, the smug bastard just pisses me off is all.

He also did write:

That bothers some people. There’s an attitude in some quarters that there’s something unhealthy about thinking about 9/11, certainly in dwelling on the details. They’ll allow a certain amount of regret and dismay. They’ll permit you a brief spasm of anger, but it had best be followed with a nuanced assessment of American foreign policy. Remark that you had a nightmare about your daughter getting smallpox or a nuke in New York, and they’ll roll their eyes; tut tut the lad’s gone mad. These people are no doubt bracing themselves for the first anniversary, but for different reasons than you might have. They can’t stand people who won’t let go of 9/11. Once they washed the ash off their car it was over for them; why can’t it be over for everyone? Do you really think your inability to move along makes you a better person? Stop waving the bloody shirt. Send it to the cleaners already, and leave Iraq alone.

And again I says, come down off the cross, somebody needs the wood. Or at least cross your legs, 'cause some gypsy stole our other nail.

Grief if you lost someone close to you? My sympathies, honestly. Public displays of politicized grief, because you saw images on the tv over and over? Yeah, whatever. And how the hell did he get ash on his car in Minnesota? I mean, yeah, we got some Mt. St. Helens fallout in Chicago back in the day, but that was. . . oh, he was being metaphorical or allegorical or some shit. Right.

He never writes about his plans in advance, does he? Suicide-bomb myself at Mall of America when I know he's going to be there. . . yeah, that works.

I won't ask that he have Gnat with him. Can't have everything, after all.