Ch-ch-ch-ch Changes: Sorting through the unanticipated aftermath of 9/11
The smoke and dust from the ruins of the World Trade Center towers has finally cleared, and visitors to the site — an estimated 3.6 million of them, according to The New York Times — can now breathe easier as they gaze down into the hulking crater or up at the gap in the skyline…
Beating Around the Bush: In the year since the terrorists attacked America, more questions than answers remain
One year has passed since Sept. 11. Yet we, the American people, still don’t know exactly what happened. There are still no plans for a public investigation of how more than 3000 Americans lost their lives, or of what could have been done to prevent the attacks or reduce their impact. Secrecy has been the…
What’s Left? Political columnist Jim Hightower on Saddam, civil liberties and the American Flag
Jim Hightower is the U.S. left’s closest equivalent to the right’s Rush Limbaugh — only much funnier. Both commentators have been able to attract and hold mass audiences (though Limbaugh’s has a lot more mass) by making ideology sound like common sense. Each speaks persuasively to everyday Americans in language they understand. Hightower will be…
Show Down? Assessing the impact of 9/11 on the performing arts in Vermont
An appropriate headline for last year’s performing arts preview might have been “Curtains.” As we were putting the finishing touches on the issue — which spotlights the upcoming entertainment season — three terrorist-controlled planes stole the show with an unprecedented act of U.S.-focused aggression. We were glued to the national news all day, but there…
Four Play: An abundance of acting companies helps Middlebury make a scene
To tell an Arabic love story right after September 11 would be a real good thing to do,” instructor Steve Small tells the dozen-and-a-half high schoolers scattered on the theater seats before him. “I’d like for you to listen to Arabic music. Who do we have for musicians?” “I know someone who could come in…
The Political Gutter
Let’s make believe for just a second, okay? Just imagine the existence on Vermont’s political stage of a stridently partisan, pro-Democratic political Web site that chronicled the alleged illicit sexual activity of leading Vermont Republican politicians. Just imagine the titillation, reading about Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Douglas and the passionate fling he had back in…
“Changed” for the Worse
Through some miserable twist of calendars and fate, this column is scheduled to run on the very anniversary of the day everyone now calls 9/11, without elaboration. No elaboration is needed, which is why we’re getting so much of it, I expect. The papers are all talking about how the world in general and the…
Bully Pulpit
One year ago this week, the U.S. had the world’s sympathy as we tried to pick ourselves up from terrorist attacks on our soil. For a brief moment, we were the victims of open hostility, and the world community saw us as vulnerable, hurt, even fragile. Bush went into hiding; the smoldering remains of the…
Ontario Scenario
When air traffic was grounded after the 2001 terrorist attacks, movie stars at the Toronto International Film Festival rented cars to drive home across the heavily fortified border. Like other expected celebrities, Mick Jagger couldn’t get into Canada for his scheduled media blitz. Screenings were cancelled for the day, parties for the remainder of the…
