Crash Course: Your memory of 9/11 is probably wrong

[View this email in your browser]( Your daily update from [Salon](. Written by [Brett Bachman](. Your memory of 9/11 is probably wrong With the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks looming this weekend, Americans of all persuasions are taking time to recall their own memories from that tragic day — especially New Yorkers, for whom the anniversary holds special meaning. But, given its significance, 9/11 is also a day that has been chronicled and dissected so exhaustively that many of our own memories have blended together with news coverage and depictions in pop culture. For proof, look no further than the rich history of politicians and public figures making false statements about the events that day (remember the Muslims who "cheered" in New Jersey as the Twin Towers fell? Pure hokum). For most people, however, these half-remembrances take the form of innocuous details that, upon consultation with friends and family, never happened at all. [Mary Elizabeth Williams published a beautiful meditation on this phenomenon Wednesday for Salon]( outlining the ways that memories, especially traumatic ones, can be modified over time. "I am not a journal writer, but ten days after 9/11, I tried to write down everything that I could recollect about it. 'I must have eaten lunch and dinner; I must have bathed the baby and read her stories, but I don't remember,' she wrote, adding, 'What I remember is the smell as I fell asleep.' Less than two weeks after this intense experience, I had already forgotten so much of it." "In time, I would replace the forgotten with new, unreliable memories, creating a day that exists to some extent only in my imagination. But I still vividly remember that smell; it's burned into my mind. When I think about it, it's like I'm right back there. A bright Tuesday morning. Primary day. My bagel and coffee. My baby sleeping fitfully in the crib next to the bed. A sudden noise. And it feels as real as if it happened today." On the ground in Orange County California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing a much-tighter-than-expected recall election this month, and the longtime Republican stronghold of Orange County may make or break his chances of staying in Sacramento through the end of his term. [Salon contributor Kasia Anderson was on the ground this week]( to see firsthand how the vast suburban county may swing — bringing home anecdotes about QAnon rally attendees and "Gavin don't surf" signs that have sprung up around Huntington Beach ("an especially damning brand of homegrown scorn," she writes). Orange County exists in Anderson's report as "a roiling mix of contradictions, at once laid-back and buttoned-down, beachy and preachy, forward-looking and reactionary, behind the "Orange Curtain" and newly, or nearly, flipping blue. From one block or even one building to the next, residents may inhabit different political universes, consume different media, mask up and vaccinate or refuse to do either." And depending on who you ask, the recall represents an equally dizzying array of possibilities — "a referendum on Newsom's leadership, particularly during the COVID-19 crisis; a chance to undo some of the damage caused by the 2020 vote; an opportunity to leverage momentum from 2020 and push for further change." It's hard to say, then, who may win the race — but it's also true that simply assuming that California remains a liberal stronghold would be incredibly foolish. "[Republicans] may not have the numerical advantage that they had 10 or 20 or 30 years ago," Dan Schnur, a political strategist and director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, said. "But it appears that what they lack in numbers, they're making up in fervency." (Photo via Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images) - TrumpWorld is on vacation in Brazil. [Is Jair Bolsonaro planning his own Big Lie?]( - Kristi Noem [vows to outdo Texas abortion ban, signs executive order]( restricting abortion medications - Withholding sex is not the answer to abortion bans: [The spectacle of celebrity "pro-choice" activism]( - From deer and dogs to rats and mink, [COVID-19 has spread to the animal world]( - Trump's 9/11 plans [include hosting a boxing match with "no holds barred commentary"]( - California recall shows [Republicans will never give up the Big Lie]( - Kellyanne Conway [refuses to quit Air Force Academy board]( demands Biden fire her - Director Bretten Hannam spoke to Salon about [making their road movie, "Wildhood"]( - Anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers [now present a real threat of violence]( - "So you agree, Republicans are just like the Taliban?": [Texas lawmaker mocked for odd comparison]( - Norman Solomon on [what the media won't say]( "The American people live in a warfare state" - And, finally, Professor Krystale Littlejohn on [the gendered burden to "Just Get on the Pill"]( Not a subscriber yet? [Sign up]( to receive Crash Course. Democrats, it's now or never in the fight against tyranny Texas Republicans are on a tear this year. They've enacted more than 600 new laws, including draconian election restrictions and a new near-total abortion ban that effectively ends Roe v. Wade protections in the state. Democrats have pledged to battle these developments — but pledges are about all we've seen so far, [former Salon Editor-in-Chief David Daley and Roosevelt University political science Professor David Faris write]( in a scorching piece this morning. "One might presume from all this that the Democrats are a weak minority party with few cards to play. They're actually a weak majority party that refuses to play its hand. Democrats control the presidency and both houses of Congress. Thanks to Republican gerrymandering, this is highly unlikely to be true by January 2023." "Common sense suggests that might increase Democrats' urgency to act. But while every week brings frightful new reminders that a decades-long Republican strategy of constitutional hardball has driven us to the edge of enduring an extended period of GOP minority rule, Democrats remain terminally unwilling to muster the power necessary to counter it. Republicans are committed to seizing power by any and all means. Democrats are committed to … maintaining the filibuster? During the first month of the Biden administration and this new Congress, Democrats could and should have acted. We are in month nine. We are in quicksand." Bearing particular blame for our current predicament, Daley and Faris write, are Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. There is still time, of course, to pass desperately needed pro-Democracy reforms — but that time is quickly coming to an end. "The names of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema will take their places in history alongside Neville Chamberlain as synonyms for feckless appeasement. And this Democratic Party will be remembered for serving as the handmaiden for a tyranny that could last generations." (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images) - "[Erika Jayne and the Runaway Narrative]( New York Magazine - "[Michael K. Williams was more than just Omar from The Wire. He elevated Black identity onscreen]( Vox - "[America’s Worst Right-Wingers: A TNR Readers’ Poll,]( The New Republic - "[Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio Was Once a Regular Miami Kid. Now He's in Jail,]( Miami New Times Greg Abbott isn't dumb — but he sure wants you to think so Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said some foolish things Tuesday. Specifically, when asked about victims of rape being forced to carry a baby to term, he said the state's new abortion law "provides at least 6 weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion." That is, of course, not how pregnancy — or the new law — works. He later said the issue won't be a problem, because Texas was planning to "eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas." Like clockwork, liberals rushed to dunk on the "dumb" Republican for comments that fit in all too well with their already existing worldview. But, [as Salon's Amanda Marcotte argued Wednesday]( that interpretation isn't only wrong — it lets Abbott off the hook. "Ignorance is a forgiveable sin, easily corrected with education. But most of the folks involved with writing and passing anti-abortion laws understand biological facts and standard medical practice perfectly well. Indeed, they leverage that knowledge to craft clever laws that sound reasonable on their face, but actually make providing safe abortion impossible. For instance, the last time Texas tried to ban abortion, they did so by requiring abortion providers to have hospital admitting privileges, which sounds reasonable to the average person. What peeople in the know — including the law's drafters — understood, however, is that abortion doctors couldn't get hospital privileges. Hospitals only give such privileges to doctors who actually admit patients, and abortion doctors don't do that, because abortion is a safe outpatient procedure akin to getting a cavity drilled." "It's the same story with the latest ban. The people behind it are playing a little game. They know the media will use the standard medical terminology 'six weeks.' That sounds like a long time, but patients actually have, if they're very lucky, only two weeks. That kind of media manipulation is not a matter of being dumb, but being both clever and deeply evil." (Photo via Getty Images) Have a tip for Salon? Feedback on this newsletter? [Let us know](mailto:brett.bachman@salon.com). [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( Copyright © 2021 Salon.com, LLC, All rights reserved. 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