For the next 24 hours, let’s can the politics

In the days after the terror attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, American politicians showed great restraint.

All by itself, that is worth remembering. Because when there is political advantage to be taken, most elected officials and their handlers feel it is their patriotic duty to take it.

Yet in the aftermath of the destruction of the World Trade Center towers and the damage to the Pentagon, officials of both parties – within the White House and the Capitol – kept their finger-pointing to a minimum.

Perhaps they did it out of respect for the victims and their rescuers. Perhaps they did it because they sensed Americans would object. Either way, we needed it.

It didn’t last. Within a few weeks, tacticians and strategists were nood- ling over how to make 9/11 work for their party, for their politicians. It was cynical and predictable and made that brief respite all the more noticeable.

Today is the sixth anniversary of the attacks by al-Qaida operatives that changed America. We are supposed to call it Patriot Day. But it may as well be Politics Day. The primary form of commemoration – in Washington, D.C., at least – will be to take political shots disguised as lessons learned.

Under the cover of honoring the dead, too many will exploit them for partisan gain. They will reference one of the most potent symbols in American history to paint their own beliefs as noble and their enemies’ beliefs as crass.

They’ll use 30-second television ads as amplifiers, not because that’s the best way to debate important issues but because it’s the best way to play to our emotions.

Maybe it remains too soon to commemorate 9/11 at all. It is not yet an event from our past because what began that morning is still happening. Get on a plane, cross the border, pass in front of a government building or installation, read a paper, watch the news, browse the Internet. The attacks continue to affect our politics, our culture, our society.

The biggest issue of our day – the war in Iraq – cannot be discussed without reference to 9/11. One side says it was a rational response to the attacks, while the other says they are unrelated. One says the war on terror starts and stops there, while the other says the war has made us less safe.

It even resonates in seemingly small events. We’re asked to help identify men acting suspiciously on a state ferry, and it triggers a nasty debate over whether such a request is an example of heightened awareness or a paranoiac trampling of rights.

On Sept. 11, 2002, the first anniversary was commemorated with the dedication of the Harbor Flag at the entrance to Tacoma’s Thea Foss Waterway. The huge flag flew above a large globe, both designed as symbols that the best response to 9/11 was to reach out to the world rather than recoil from it.

It was accomplished with labor and donations from local governments and local businesses, from longshoremen and firefighters and trade unionists and contractors.

A big crowd gathered to watch students at Baker Middle School and residents of Narrows Glen Retirement Community unveil the globe. In brilliant sunshine the flag was raised, then lowered to half-staff in memory of those who had died the year before. Below, the Tahoma Girls Choir sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

There were no political speeches, no partisan messages. The day was used to look back and look forward, but in hope – not despair.

But that first anniversary came pre-elections and pre-Iraq War; there is much less chance now that 9/11 will be commemorated in ways that don’t divide us, but unite us.

So here’s one idea: To honor those who died on 9/11, how about we agree not to exploit them for political gain for a full 24 hours? It’s hardly a sacrifice, given that there are 364 other days – 365 in presidential election years. Make Patriot Day about patriots, not partisans.

It’s just one day, but it’s that day.

Peter Callaghan: 253-597-8657

peter.callaghan@thenewstribune.com