images

The events of 11 September changed the way that we understand the world. Everyone says it. You can see it in the eyes of New Yorkers interviewed on the Today Show. Yet, in national discourse, in the language that our leaders explain the events, it seems to be business as usual. I have a theory about this.

Cataclysmic tragedy reminds us of our impotence against nature. It reminds us that "Fortress America" is no refuge from the realities of creation. It reminds us that we can not escape from the world. American cowboys think differently, though. In the face of the phenomenological realities of existence our leaders maintain the charade that we are different from the rest of the world.

These images are meant to be jarring. The frame can be read in two ways, depending on its juxtaposition. This is intentional. It reminds me that there are different ways to view every statement.