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Argument over debt led to Near West Side double shooting that left 1 dead: ProsecutorsMatthew Hendricksonon September 10, 2021 at 6:21 pm

One man was killed and another was wounded following an argument over a financial debt last month on the Near West Side, Cook County prosecutors said Friday.

Surveillance cameras recorded Tevell Ford on Aug. 1 arguing with 30-year-old Antonio Holmes about money Holmes owed him before Ford pulled a gun from his pants and opened fire as the two men stood about a car’s length apart in the 2700 block of West Jackson Boulevard, prosecutors said.

Holmes ran around the car after he was initially shot, but collapsed in the street. A 36-year-old man, who was standing nearby, tried to intervene but was shot in the chest by Ford, prosecutors said.

Tevell FordChicago police

Ford then walked to where Holmes was lying in the street and allegedly shot him several more times at close range. Holmes, who was struck in the chest, shoulder and abdomen, was later pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Following the shootings, Ford got into a car he arrived in and drove off, prosecutors said. That car was later captured by tollway cameras as Ford’s girlfriend drove him to Madison, Wisconsin, where he later was arrested on a warrant, prosecutors said.

Ford has previous drug and weapons convictions, prosecutors said.

Judge Mary Marubio ordered Ford held without bail Friday for murder and attempted murder.

Ford has four children, including a newborn, who he supports by working for a catering company, an assistant public defender said.

He is expected back in court Sept. 21.

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Argument over debt led to Near West Side double shooting that left 1 dead: ProsecutorsMatthew Hendricksonon September 10, 2021 at 6:21 pm Read More »

How 9/11 changed Chicagoans’ livesSun-Times staffon September 10, 2021 at 6:40 pm

The Statue of Liberty stands as seen on Sept. 15, 2001, in front of a smoldering lower Manhattan at dawn as seen from Jersey City, N.J. | Dan Loh / AP

We asked readers how Sept. 11, 2001, changed them. They spoke of feeling more fear but also of coming together. Of facing more security and more bias. Of jobs lost. Of needing to face up to the worst.

We asked Chicagoans: How did Sept. 11, 2001 change your life?

These were among the responses. Some have been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

“Increased respect and admiration for firefighters and first-responders!” — Nathaniel Thomas Jr.

“I’m a Muslim educator/speaker. The easier question is: How didn’t it change my life?” — Omer M. Mozaffar

“No longer could we freely enter buildings without an ID. Security at airports tightened — having to go through X-ray and taking shoes off. Made me aware of terrorism, which never seemed real to me. But those in the towers, on the planes — they lost their lives. I will never forget.” — Susan Harris Fiege

“I lost my job. I was a travel agent at the time. I still get tears in my eyes when I hear stories of people that lost their loved ones.” — Karin Rios McNeil

“My love for humanity and being an American grew exponentially. Watching us all come together as a nation to support each other taught me that we can overcome anything thrown our way instead of dividing over race, color, creed, religion, etc.” — Robin Pressley

“Made me care about my country more.” — Laurence Stom

“It added an extra layer of fear.” — Jackie Flinchum

“It changed me completely. I was so paranoid about terrorism after the attacks.” — Darrion Brown

“It put me out of a much-loved job as a result of my airline filing bankruptcy. However, it opened my eyes to what else was out there, and I discovered I had other skills.” — Sandy Gulliver

“I saw the WTC flames and smoke from the corner of Vanderbilt and Atlantic Avenues in Brooklyn. I was driving my daughter — who was two days shy of her first birthday — to her first day at a play group. How did this change my life? I realized that you cannot just rush through life. You need to look at things and absorb them, even if they are extremely frightening.” — Ellen Levitt

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How 9/11 changed Chicagoans’ livesSun-Times staffon September 10, 2021 at 6:40 pm Read More »

‘American Rust’: It gets very hard to stay with Showtime’s meandering steel-town dramaRichard Roeperon September 10, 2021 at 7:00 pm

Detective Sgt. Mare Sheehan from “Mare of Easttown” and Chief of Police Del Harris from “American Rust” mine different turf in Pennsylvania about five hours’ drive from one another, what with Sheehan working a small town near Philadelphia while Harris patrols an area in the Southwestern part of the state — but if they ever happened to run into each in a bar and exchanged pleasantries, they’d find out they had a lot in common. They’re both middle-aged, world-weary, emotionally damaged souls whose respective territories are rife with murder cases involving young people, complicated family relationships and combustible romances.

‘American Rust’: 2.5 out of 4

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Oh, and neither is above bending the law if that’s what it will take to protect someone close to them.

Thing is, Mare is mixed up in a more compelling, more suspenseful and more colorful world than Chief Harris in “American Rust,” a Showtime limited series based on Philipp Meyer’s novel of the same name. Set in the bleak, economically depressed, seemingly always brown-and-gray fictional town of Buell, Pennsylvania, this is a sincere and sometimes effective but plodding portrayal of lower-middle-class despair and a town filled with residents who are either on the way down or struggling to stay on their feet after recovering from one hard punch after another. (The closed and rusted-out mills loom in the background as a haunting reminder of what once was.)

The always-watchable Daniels leads a wonderful ensemble cast in a story with occasional flashes of inspiration — but based on the first three episodes provided for review, “American Rust” too often gets bogged down in meandering subplots, and some truly clunky dialogue. (It’s never a good sign when a woman looks into the eyes of the conflicted antihero during a time of crisis and declares, “You’re a good man,” and then says his full name, as if we’re in a 1950s B-movie Western.)

Daniels’ Police Chief Del Harris is a stone-faced loner, Iraq War veteran and former Pittsburgh police detective who has moved to the town of Buell in the rural southwest section of Pennsylvania. Del is trying to wean himself from the cocktail of prescription drugs he takes to cope with his PTSD, so each morning he meticulously grinds the pills into a fine powder in increasingly smaller increments, weighing the pile on a scale and then scooping it into his drink. Then it’s off to make his rounds in a Rust Belt town where the unemployment rate has skyrocketed and even if you’re lucky enough to have a job tending bar or sewing wedding dresses in a local shop, it’s a struggle to make ends meet.

Del is in love with Grace Poe (Maura Tierney), but it’s complicated, as Grace is separated from but not yet entirely free from her no-good husband Virgil (Mark Pellegrino). There’s also the matter of Grace’s son Billy (Alex Nuestaedter), a high school football star who turned down a D-1 scholarship to help out his mom but is now lost and angry — especially after the love of his life, Lee (Julia Mayorga), fled for New York City. That left Lee’s troubled brother and Billy’s best friend Isaac (David Alvarez) to care for Lee’s and Isaac’s father Henry (Bill Camp), who was injured in a work accident and is in a wheelchair and spews bile at everyone and anyone at every opportunity.

This is one sunny bunch.

When Del discovers a body in an abandoned mill and it’s clear a murder has transpired, he has a pretty good idea of who did it — but he puts the investigation and his career into jeopardy when he has an impulsive reaction at the scene of the crime and hides a key piece of evidence before further law enforcement personnel arrive. We now have our murder mystery, our troublesome romantic triangles and our complex family dynamics, all intertwining as the case expands and Del somehow becomes even more glum than when we first met him, and what’s the deal with Isaac hopping on a train to escape town like he’s in a 1930s Depression movie?

There are times when “American Rust” gets things just right, e.g., an extended wedding sequence that feels authentic in every detail (of course everyone would hit the dance floor to Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration”) and is like a miniaturized version of the greatest wedding reception sequence in movie history from “The Deer Hunter,” which of course was also set in western Pennsylvania. Too often, though, we’re mired in wheel-spinning storylines. The great Canadian poet Neil Young once told us rust never sleeps, but “American Rust” takes too many naps.

Non-subscribers may view the first episode of “American Rust” free on YouTube, at sho.com and on most on-demand platforms.

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‘American Rust’: It gets very hard to stay with Showtime’s meandering steel-town dramaRichard Roeperon September 10, 2021 at 7:00 pm Read More »

Big Game Hunting: Iowa State gets a belated shot at Iowa; Ohio State welcomes OregonSteve Greenbergon September 10, 2021 at 7:41 pm

Last time in Ames, the Hawkeyes made it five in a row in the Cy-Hawk series. | Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images

The Cy-Hawk game will be close, low-scoring and, considering how wide-open college offenses have become, an old-schooler’s delight.

Iowa State split two classic games with Big 12 bully Oklahoma, manhandled Pac-12 champion Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl and ended the 2020 season ranked in the top 10.

One can only assume the Cyclones would’ve had a fine chance to halt a bitter five-game losing streak against Iowa had only the teams played their annual rivalry game for the 44th year in a row. Instead, the Big Ten’s conference-only schedule in a pandemic season left Little Brother in Ames wondering what might’ve been.

Well, the answer is upon us. ESPN’s College GameDay crew will be outside Jack Trice Stadium for No. 10 Iowa (+4 1/2 ) at No. 9 Iowa State (3:30 p.m., Ch. 7). Inside, big, hungry, emotional dudes will bump bellies and trade helmet paint with the Cy-Hawk Trophy on the line.

“Everyone will be talking about the state of Iowa,” Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz said, “so that’s a good thing.”

It’ll be close, low-scoring and, considering how wide-open college offenses have become, an old-schooler’s delight. Whether or not Iowa running back Tyler Goodson was right to call this Iowa State’s “Super Bowl” — disrespectful? — the Hawkeyes will have their hands full.

Both defenses are rugged. Remember the names of Cyclones tight ends Charlie Kolar and Chase Allen — 6-6, 260 and 6-7, 250, respectively, and made for the NFL. Add a mobile four-year starter in quarterback Brock Purdy and a star running back in Breece Hall, and the Cyclones have the edge offensively. Streak over, 23-17.

At least the Big Ten always has Ohio State to hang its hat on. No. 12 Oregon (+14 1/2 ) at No. 3 Ohio State (11 a.m., Fox-32) is one of the sexiest non-conference games of the season.

Last time the teams met, seven seasons ago, the Buckeyes dismantled the Ducks in the first College Football Playoff title game. The Ducks haven’t been the same since, but they’re back on the uptick and have a monster in defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux who can take over any game, anytime. Except, perhaps, for this game, this time. Think of Thibodeaux as a West Coast version of Chase Young — one of the greatest Buckeyes to ever do it — but he has a sprained ankle and likely will be limited if he plays.

Still, Oregon’s recruiting has been lights-out the last few years. On both sides of the ball, the Ducks can run like no team Ohio State will see in the Big Ten.

“We have to understand that it’s not just going to happen in the first five minutes of the game,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said. “We’re in for a battle here for 60 minutes.”

Maybe not 60. Go Bucks, 38-24.

Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images
Illinois needs to really bring it in Charlottesville.

OTHER WEEK 2 PICKS

Illinois (+10) at Virginia (10 a.m., ACC, 890-AM): Is this the right game or the wrong game at this time for the Illini? It’s certainly an opportunity for Bret Bielema’s team to show what it’s made of after a win against Nebraska followed by a loss to UTSA, but road games out of conference have been brutal experiences for the Illini for a long time. A battle with a middling ACC team? Come on, that’s not so scary. Cavs in a tight one.

Indiana State (+26 1/2 ) at Northwestern (11 a.m., BTN, 720-AM): Larry Bird isn’t running out of that tunnel for the Sycamores. (Look, just pretend he was great at football, too.) It’s a total mismatch, but that’s just what Pat Fitzgerald’s defense needs after the shredding Michigan State did in the opener in Evanston. Wildcats, 34-10.

Wyoming (+7) at Northern Illinois (12:30 p.m., ESPN+, 560-AM): The Huskies are flying high after a shocking win at Georgia Tech, but the Cowboys have some ballers on offense. Upset alert.

Toledo (+17) at No. 8 Notre Dame (1:30 p.m, Peacock, 780-AM): How gassed are the Irish after their 41-38 overtime win at Florida State? It was a short week for them, too. Irish by 14.

Washington (+6 1/2 ) at Michigan (7 p.m., Ch. 7): Everything makes more sense when you have a quarterback, and the Wolverines just might have that guy in Cade McNamara. The Huskies are coming off a humiliating 13-7 loss to Montana, but they’ve got more juice defensively than most Big Ten teams. Go Blue, 23-13.

No. 21 Utah (-7) at BYU (9:15 p.m., ESPN): It’s the best rivalry nickname of them all: the Holy War. The Utes have won nine straight head-to-head, and there’s nothing holy about that kind of abuse. Make it 10, by 10.

My favorite favorite: Kentucky (-5) vs. Missouri (6:30 p.m., SEC): The Wildcats are going to be a tough out for anybody in the SEC East. A basketball school? OK, yeah, but please.

My favorite underdog: Connecticut (+35) vs. Purdue (2 p.m., CBSSN): The Huskies have already fired their coach. They’re unimaginably terrible. Yet it’s our sworn duty to take a five-touchdown underdog at home.

Last week: 5-5 straight-up, 6-4 vs. the spread.

Season to date: Same.

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Big Game Hunting: Iowa State gets a belated shot at Iowa; Ohio State welcomes OregonSteve Greenbergon September 10, 2021 at 7:41 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears at LA Rams: Week 1 injury report is worrisomeRyan Heckmanon September 10, 2021 at 7:13 pm

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Chicago Bears at LA Rams: Week 1 injury report is worrisomeRyan Heckmanon September 10, 2021 at 7:13 pm Read More »

Park District to install life rings on Pratt Pier in Rogers Park in wake of Cisneros drowningFran Spielmanon September 10, 2021 at 5:22 pm

Chicago Park District Supt. Michael Kelly speaks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for the bridge replacement project at Irving Park Road in the North Center neighborhood. | Mark Capapas/Sun-Times,

“I don’t love that decision. … Anything that gives a semblance of comfort to going in that water where it says, `Do Not Swim’ [encourages people to break the rules], but we’re gonna do it,” Park District Supt. Mike Kelly said.

The Chicago Park District will install life rings in staffed locations along the lakefront and on Pratt Pier in Rogers Park — where swimming is off-limits — to prevent a repeat of the drowning that killed 19-year-old Miguel Cisneros.

A rower at St. Ignatius College Prep who spent his freshman year at Columbia University taking classes online, Cisneros drowned on Aug. 22 after jumping off Pratt Pier in Rogers Park where swimming is prohibited.

There were no life rings on the pier at the time. In fact, the Park District had removed life rings that had been installed by Rogers Park residents.

On Friday, Chicago Park District Supt. Mike Kelly reversed that decision.

He announced that life rings would now be installed on Pratt Pier and at staffed locations along the lakefront and at Park District-controlled areas along the Chicago River as part of a six-point safety plan.

The plan also includes “restricted access” through installation of fencing; additional signs; adding swimming regulations to all e-registration forms; and educational outreach that includes teaching more kids to swim by the time they reach fourth grade.

“There will be a life ring at Pratt Beach, which is normally a manned location. There will be a life ring on the pier as well. I don’t love that decision. I cannot stress enough, folks. We’re in the life-safety business. We’re in the teach-kids-to-swim business. Anything that gives a semblance of comfort to going in that water where it says, `Do Not Swim’ [encourages people to break the rules], but we’re gonna do it,” Kelly said.

“I’m not above the city. I’m not above the citizenry. … I have a loved one who was saved by a life ring years ago on the Chicago River. So, I get it. It doesn’t make my job any easier as the head of the Park District. But this decision needs to be made. There will be a life ring on the pier. there will be a life ring at the beach. There will be life rings on all manned beaches.”

Under fire from Cisneros’ friends and family, the superintendent was asked whether he regrets his decision to remove life rings installed on Pratt Pier by Rogers Park residents.

“No. … I don’t regret [it]. I don’t regret. I think I made the right decision then. I think I’m making the right decision now,” Kelly said.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot was asked a similar question after joining Kelly to cut the ribbon for the newly reconstructed Irving Park Road Bridge over the North Branch of the Chicago River.

“What we need to do is focus on how we can go forward. The life rings are important. To my simple mind, they’re like a fire extinguisher. You don’t want to encourage people to burn the buildings down. But if there’s an emergency, you have it there. The life rings are the same thing,” the mayor said.

“There’s a lot of undertows up and down the lakefront. It looks calm. But we know every year, people are challenged by struggles that they have with the lake. So we’ve gotta just keep educating people about how to enjoy this beautiful, incredible asset that we have but do it safely. Adding life rings are gonna be important. But it’s gotta be coupled with the signage and the awareness of the risk and dangers inherent in the body of water.”

Like Kelly, Lightfoot expressed misgivings about sending mixed messages by installing life rings in areas where swimming is supposed to be off-limits.

“The lake is beautiful. There’s no question about it. It certainly calls us on a bright sunny day like today. But the lake is also dangerous. … People should not take unnecessary risk. Be careful,” the mayor said.

“And while I believe that we absolutely need to expand the availability of the life rings, they are not a panacea to common sense and being smart about how you engage with bodies of water. … People do swim in the river. But there are unknown challenges and risks underneath those waters. The same with the lake.”

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Park District to install life rings on Pratt Pier in Rogers Park in wake of Cisneros drowningFran Spielmanon September 10, 2021 at 5:22 pm Read More »

Downstate men plead guilty in US Capitol breachJon Seidelon September 10, 2021 at 4:48 pm

A pair of Downstate men pleaded guilty Friday to charges stemming from the breach of the U.S. Capitol, admitting they spent about 20 minutes inside the building on Jan. 6.

Federal authorities in May charged Douglas K. Wangler and Bruce J. Harrison, both of the Danville area, for their role in the Capitol breach. They are the second and third known Illinoisans to plead guilty in connection with the event.

Wangler and Harrison each pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, a Class B misdemeanor, and face no more than six months behind bars. Their sentencing has been set for Dec. 16.

At least 14 Illinoisans have faced charges so far in connection with the breach.

Documents alleged that Wangler could be seen in an 11-second video standing in the Capitol Crypt on Jan. 6, pumping his right fist in the air and chanting, “U.S.A.”

An FBI agent who viewed surveillance footage from the Capitol said he spotted Wangler with Harrison, who later told authorities he wore a New England Patriots jacket on Jan. 6 because of its patriotic colors.

Federal authorities say this image depicts Bruce J. Harrison inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.U.S. District Court records

“If walking around and singing some patriotic songs is a crime, then I guess I am guilty,” Wangler allegedly told someone later.

The videos allegedly showed Wangler and Harrison entering and exiting the Capitol, but the agent wrote that “none of the videos I reviewed depict Wangler or Harrison damaging property or participating in other violent acts.”

Wangler appears to have a connection to an obscure Star Wars character named Quinlan Vos. Posts previously viewed by the Chicago Sun-Times on Wangler’s Facebook page — which is no longer available — made reference to the character, who bears a resemblance to Wangler.

Wangler’s defense attorney has said Wangler had a “paid gig” working for Disney as a model.

Disney officials have not responded to requests for comment.

The defense attorney also told the Sun-Times in May that Wangler and Harrison “feel extreme remorse” about their role in the breach.

“If they could do it all over again, they would not have gone,” he said. “It wasn’t what they thought it was going to be.”

Bradley Rukstales, a former CEO from Inverness, late last month became the first known Illinoisan to plead guilty in the Capitol breach, which prosecutors say has led to what will likely be the largest criminal investigation in U.S. history.

Rukstales admitted he tossed a chair toward U.S. Capitol police officers who were “dozens of feet away,” and he had to be dragged behind a police line to be arrested. He faces up to six months behind bars, and his sentencing hearing is set for Nov. 12.

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Downstate men plead guilty in US Capitol breachJon Seidelon September 10, 2021 at 4:48 pm Read More »

Big 12 extends invitations to BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and HoustonStephen Hawkins | APon September 10, 2021 at 2:29 pm

The Big 12 extended membership invitations Friday for BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston to join the Power Five conference that will be losing Oklahoma and Texas to the Southeastern Conference.

The eight continuing members of the Big 12 unanimously approved the applications of the four schools.

The moves come six weeks after the SEC invited Texas and Oklahoma to join its league in time for the 2025-26 season. There remains the possibility that could happen sooner, but the Big 12 is focused on its additions for now.

After identifying its primary expansion targets last week, the Big 12 moved quickly to make it happen. The four schools had previously been vetted and interviewed by the league in 2016 when it considered expansion before staying at 10 teams.

BYU said all its sports will begin Big 12 schedules in the 2023-24 athletic season. BYU is an independent in football, but competes in the West Coast Conference for basketball and its Olympic sports.

UCF, Houston and Cincinnati are in the American Athletic Conference, which requires members to give 27 months’ notice if they plan to leave the league, though there could be negotiations between the schools and that league to reduce the time before beginning Big 12 play.

“Today’s news confirms what we have said all along regarding our status as a power conference,” AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco said. “The irony that three of our schools are being asked to take the place of the two marquee schools which are leaving the Big 12 is not lost on us. Our conference was targeted for exceeding expectations in a system that wasn’t designed to accommodate our success.”

Aresco said the AAC expected Houston, Cincinnati and UCF to “abide by the conference bylaws to ensure an amicable and orderly transition” as the league considers its options.

The Longhorns and Sooners have said they will honor their current contracts with the Big 12 and do not plan to join the SEC until 2025, when the conference’s current television rights contracts with ESPN and Fox run out. If they did stay, the Big 12 could have up to 14 members for at least a season or two.

With the additions, the Big 12 will be spread across eight states and three time zones. There are more than 2,300 miles between the UCF campus in Orlando and BYU in Provo, Utah. Once settled in the Big 12, the Knights and Cougars will both face average trips of around 1,300 miles each way when traveling for conference games.

West Virginia still will average about 1,100 miles each way on the road, but the Mountaineers at least picked up a relatively short trip with Cincinnati just more than 300 miles from Morgantown. Houston faces much shorter trips for its Texas-based foes.

“Joining the Big 12 Conference is a historic step in our institutional journey and signifies the tremendous growth and success attained academically and athletically over the last decade,” Houston chancellor Renu Kahtor said.

Half of the league’s 12 charter members will remain when Texas and Oklahoma are gone.

The Big 12 began play in 1996, when all the Big Eight Conference teams (Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) joined four Texas schools from the old Southwest Conference (Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech) to form a new league split into six-team divisions.

Arkansas had left the SWC a few years earlier to join an expanded 12-team SEC, starting play there with South Carolina in the 1992 season. The SEC is now set to grow to 16 teams, with its last four additions all coming from the Big 12.

The Big 12 has been a 10-team league since the last significant round of conference realignment a decade ago that started with Nebraska going to the Big Ten and Colorado to the Pac-12, before Texas A&M and Missouri left for the SEC. TCU and West Virginia, the two teams added then, are both now in their 10th Big 12 season.

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Big 12 extends invitations to BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and HoustonStephen Hawkins | APon September 10, 2021 at 2:29 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears: Week 1 will be an inflection point for 2021 seasonAnish Puligillaon September 10, 2021 at 3:00 pm

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Chicago Bears: Week 1 will be an inflection point for 2021 seasonAnish Puligillaon September 10, 2021 at 3:00 pm Read More »

With COVID-19, a new 9/11 every dayNeil Steinbergon September 10, 2021 at 12:58 pm

A decade ago, I looked back at Sept. 11, 2001 on its 10th anniversary, recalled its “crashing planes, burning buildings, tumbling bodies” and noted, “it hardly needs to be recounted now.”

Of course not. Because the wounds of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the hijacked flight that went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, were too fresh to require much description, but too raw to overlook.

Remembering was a duty. The lives lost that day — almost 3.000 — demanded attention. Demanded to be put into context, to understand how enormous a loss it really was.

“More Americans died on 9/11 than in the War of 1812,” I wrote. “It was the bloodiest morning on American soil since the Civil War.”

Things have changed. In 2021, we don’t need to reach into the 19th century in search of perspective. We can look back to a week ago Thursday — 9/2 — a date which will live in obscurity, when 2,937 Americans were killed by the current foe attacking our country, COVID-19.

Or Feb. 10, when 3,254 died. Or Jan. 21: 4,135. Or hundreds of other days. About 650,000 Americans slain, out of sight, the nation hardly noticing, never mind honoring its loss. Yet killed all the same by a far more lethal foreign assailant.

It’s impossible to weigh 9/11 without looking around at today.

Okay, it is possible. Lots of Americans do it. Post the black velvet painting of an eagle shedding a tear, crank up “Wind Beneath My Wings.”

Too many Americans wallow in that kind of thing, indulging their infinite capacity to portray themselves as victims, continually attacked, suborned, betrayed, their recent election victory snatched away by forces they can’t identify, in a fashion they can’t explain, never mind prove.

To them, 9/11 is a gift, the gift of being wronged, which gives them carte blanche to unleash their inner demons. A convenient moment to take out the syringe of self-pity and shoot up. A godsend, a chance to hate the people they already hated, to lash out at immigrants, the dark-skinned, people of a different religion.

Could there be a greater disrespect? To turn 9/11 into an excuse.

Sept. 11 hurt our nation, and caused unfathomable suffering to the innocent. But those precious lives lost were only the start, the initial hurt, the center of an expanding shock wave of damage that followed. The wars in countries that had scant connection to the attack: Iraq, Afghanistan. Installing a ridiculous security theater that has billions shuffling shoeless through airport checkpoints, losing lifetimes in a different way. Creating a sadistic mockery of our legal system at Guantanamo Bay. Failing to care for those first responders who rushed to help, who worked the pile, and came down with diseases from the airborne debris. Easy to venerate a photo of three firefighters raising a flag on the rubble. Much harder to treat them for leukemia.

Sept. 11 made many Americans afraid, and a frightened population will follow a supposed strong man peddling the addictive drug of perceived safety, a fraud who promises to keep all the enemies at bay, then tries to wish away the ones he can’t, like a rapidly spreading disease.

Sept. 11 led to 20 years of American policy failure. Yet how can the response to 9/11 be criticized when COVID-19 represents failure on a grander scale? From the botched early reaction, when the disease was ignored and minimized, to now, when the intellectual heirs of that initial shameful surrender are seen across the country, unashamed, vigorously causing new deaths through vaccine refusal and an almost insane bias against masks and social distancing. How can we even pretend to solemnly mark a disaster of 20 years ago in the midst of such a widespread, ongoing calamity? It’s like holding a little candle ceremony in the chapel of the airport, joining hands and singing “Amazing Grace,” while an army of terrorists slip box cutters into their carry-ons and set out on today’s attack through unguarded gates.

How can you pretend to honor first responders of 20 years ago while mocking the nurses and doctors battling on the front lines right now? You can’t. Or at least, you shouldn’t. We suffer a Sept. 11 of loss every day. Sept. 11 was an outside attack, committed by enemies. COVID-19 is an outside attack magnified by our own ignorance, malice, fear, disunion and distrust.

Remember that on Saturday.

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With COVID-19, a new 9/11 every dayNeil Steinbergon September 10, 2021 at 12:58 pm Read More »