The NYTimes special A Nation Challenged looks to be the best anniversary coverage to check out.

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s is a must read as well. You got to give The Inquirer credit – it does something that the Times does not – actually link to non-affiliated sites.

I really like the Inquirer’s lead story, by Dick Polman, “Our Old Selves”:

…Now we know better.

Now we know that, even amid our continued mourning for those who died on Sept. 11, we can’t stem the most fundamental traits of our natural character, including our rambunctiousness, our love of argument, our impulse to question authority, our inherent pursuit of happiness…

By The Numbers: Statistics and facts

I see a divide in this country over September 11. It cuts north-and-south right at the California line. Californians don’t get September 11 — because it’s not about them. And isn’t everything supposed to be about them?

You can read the rest over at Jeff Jarvis’s site. Ya know what? I’ve noticed the same divide. But I don’t diagnose it’s source from the same roots as Jeff does. I mean – those sterotypes have to be wrong – right?

I think Jeff misses an important fact in his rant. We on the east coast experienced 9.11 in the present tense. We saw it live! I had my TV turned to CNN when the first plane struck. Many, many of us, saw the second plane hit live. I remember it vividly, “There’s been an explosion in the other tower! What happened? (they slowly replay tape to analyze…) My God another plane hit!” Many, many of us were listenting to the reports of planes in the air wondering what’s next. Then the Pentagon was hit.

On the west coast many experienced it as a TV show. Already punditized. Already produced. Already packaged for mass consumption. Planes already grounded. Fighters already scrambled. Country already safe. In this case – the difference between live and not live means everything. Most major media outlets, within 30 minutes of the first plane strike, were talking about terrorism. In those first few minutes we on the east coast experienced – the talk was of the end of the world. At least it was amoungst my family and friends. Did it seem as immediate and as close to everyone across the country?

I do not believe most people were up and about at the time to experience it live as we did here on the east. I’ve had quite a few conversations with folks confirming this. Phone calls shared, within my own company, from west coast homes to the east coast offices and were filled with concerns for how ‘we’ were doing. Didn’t you experience it too I wondered? We all experienced it. Yes we did. But there were differences. Distance, time, and the media, played major roles.

We were at work. They were in their homes. Sleeping or just waking up. Taking breaks for their showers, for their trips to work. Many of us ran from work to be home with our loved ones. They were already with them hopefully, or making the same hurried calls as we were to our loved ones.

Those differences were amplified during the next few days and months as funeral processions were taking place in the northeast. Everyone over here knows someone who lost a loved one. Everyone.

That is a huge perceptional difference. In my communications with west coasters… well I take that into account. I’m pretty sure with co-workers from the west – they take it into account with us on the east. Suffice to say, I think it probably would have been the same if the tables were turned. We all experienced it. Yes we did. But there is no denying distance, time, and the media. No denying them.

The main headline today at the latimes, “Everything Changed in NY” , and the nytimes, “A Nation Challenged”, sheds light. Distance, Time, and Media.

There is plenty of content out there to stir your anger. There is plenty to try and convince you to put it away.

But few make you think about what is actually going on.

Robert Wright’s A Real War on Terrorism series breaks down in better terms what is actually occuring and the real threats and opportunities ahead of us then anyone else. There is meat in there that will make liberals *and* conservatives angry. But if you take as a whole what he is saying – it makes sense. A must read.

Often quoted a piece that predicted all this The Clash Of Civilizations is a paper written in 1993 for Foreign Affairs magazine. Instead of giving you a direct link, the link takes you to CSMonitor’s analysis of the paper and further links so that you don’t need to read the paper in a vacuum.

Try and think of the larger picture.

Tony Blair, highlander. Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Looks like he just took someone’s head off don’t it?