Opinion : Approaching the 10th anniversary of 9/11 while forgetting all of its lessons

I have begun making plans for what to write about in 2011. On that list, of course, is the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the event that changed modern American history, and brought us war – and led to another war.

Throughout the year, and especially in the fall of the coming year, TV and newspapers – when they are not discussing the latest legal woes of some actor or reality TV show “star,” – will begin talking about the milestone, and whatever events our leaders plan to commemorate it.

They will show us footage of the events, interview survivors and rescuers, update us on where the 9/11 suspects who were not on the planes are now, and other details

And they will talk about the “day that changed America.”

When they say that, I am going to scream.

9/11 has not changed America.

Sure, it changed life for many – those affected directly by the attacks, soldiers who went to fight in the Middle East, and their families.

But as far as long-term changes, nah, we’re still the same country we were on 9/10/2001.

Our baseball teams now sing “God Bless America” along with “Take me Out to the Ballgame” during seventh inning stretches. Patriotism is still in vogue – as it should have been before 9/11.

But basically, we are still the same shallow, silly, indifferent nation we were.

I hoped that 9/11 would make our politicians better leaders, our intellectuals more intelligent, our television programming more relevant, our churches more spiritual, our comedians more funny, our media more concerned about reality than about reality show stars.

It did not.

I wrote in October of 2001 about how in March of that year, dozens of media outlets covered a misdemeanor trial of a rap “star,” while virtually ignoring the al-quaeda trial going on in the very same courtroom. The terrorists who blew up our embassies (the same people who had attacked the World Trade Center in the 1990s) were to be sentenced in mid-September, only a few blocks away from Ground Zero. And we heard virtually nothing about this on the news. But when a singer went to court for a gun violation after an incident when nobody even got hurt, the courtroom was packed.

Yet, I fear, if given the choice, most media outlets would do the same thing again….

I thought about all of this, and then I thought, “Well, maybe in New York City, people were affected in ways that causes them to behave better.”

I was wrong. This year, nearly 500 murders have happened in NYC –about the same as every other year since 2001. And within 50 miles of the White House, more Americans have died violent deaths since we first went to war in Iraq in 1991 than we lost in three wars in the Middle East.

And nobody seems to notice.

If the city most affected by the most horrendous act of terror in world history can’t change, why would the rest of us?

In a recent story about NYC murders, one of the newspapers -- no I do not understand why they did this -- asked for an "expert opinion" from Al Sharpton. Mr. Sharpton told the newspapers that he is "heartbroken" that black youths are not wearing Malcolm X t-shirts. Mr. Sharpton's comments, and the fact that some editor thought his opinion was worth seeking out, tell us more than enough about our the sad state of much of our society.

A few hours after the attacks, our members of Congress stood on the steps and sang God Bless America. You can bet there’s no standing and singing in unity there now.

So, the next time you hear someone talk about the lessons of 9/11, remember: We, as a nation, have basically forgotten them all. I hope we remember those lessons the easy way –without having to have another 9/11.