On previous anniversaries of 9/11, there have been dignified, moving, unifying ceremonies at Ground Zero honoring the victims of that horrible day and marked by the reading of the names of those who died– including, of course, dozens of innocent Muslims.
Suddenly this year, everyone– and by everyone I mean blogosphere obsessives, anti-Muslim bigots, cable news channels, insane Christian pastors and the like– has gone a little crazy as the anniversary approaches. There will, of course, being dignified ceremonies this year, but they are likely to be drowned out by intentionally divisive rallies and stunts. It’s not as if the threat from Islamist extremists is notably more imminent than it was on the previous eight anniversaries– unless you consider plans to build an Islamic community center modeled on an inclusive Jewish community center in Manhattan, to be an imminent threat.
So what’s changed?
