We’ve had a weekend of looking backward at notable events: 9/11 and the reign of Elizabeth II. Both are engrained in our minds for their import, and both mark days we will long remember because of the audacity of those who wish us harm, and our surprise by it and changes made to our way of life because of it, and a long-lived life of legacy to history represented by the seventy-year long reign of Her Majesty.
While we mourn in both cases, we face forward with the obvious losses of freedom because we now, too late, one would note, recognize threat to our very way of life, and therefore have had to self-limit out innocence and nonchalance in thinking freedom is free. We now know it is not. We now remove our shoes at airports, have created a huge government Homeland Security organization, and have voluntarily lost our freedoms under the Patriot Act. We have become vigilant, although because few other attacks have attracted international attention, we have once more become complacent. Yes, we have killed leaders who may have been responsible for planning and executing the original horrible acts against New York, Washington, and an unnamed target, and we still house Guantanamo prisoners who have never faced trials or consequences. We have learned to live with Muslims among us, no longer in the first-suspicion of a whole religious group because of the actions of a few.
In the case of the Queen, we bless her efforts to stay out of politics, yet show her photos with world leaders. We admire her work ethic, all the while ignoring the huge problems in her own country of huge social and financial difficulties, fueled somewhat, I suppose, by the cost of maintaining royalty in a time when it seems anachronistic and wasteful. The celebrity status of the few has been criticized for years. Yet, in the rich panoply of history, when we think of generational sustainment of a figurehead list of the Victorias, the other Elizabeth, the Charles I who lost his head, and the other historic figures the protocol follows lockstep because tradition, not practicality, says it must be so.
Still, the world admired the Queen, except perhaps how she somewhat shunned two daughters and granddaughters-in-law. Some would see it as snobbery; others would suggest that family squabbles occur even among the rich, famous, and royal. Even Shakespeare wrote about intrigue and even criminality among those in and seeking power. While the Queen’s devotion to country, duty, and civility is to be admired, in the end of things, she is now relegated to history and another, one who has waited his entire adult life while she held on to her role, finally upholds his role: that of succession. Meanwhile, commentators question his leadership ability, and are concerned about Charles II’s successor already. And now, security has finally been focused on even the little ones who one day, should the monarchy outlast its critics, see their succession to the throne as kings of England.
So, we stand on the events of this weekend as commentators unwrap the files of pre-prepared films from the “morgues” as newspapers used to call them. Already files are prepared on heads of state so at a moment’s notice, their photos, videos, and quotes are ready for publication at a grim announcement’s need. We saw it with John F. Kennedy. We will see it at the death announcements of Jimmy Carter, or Bill Clinton, or even, dare we say, Donald Trump. Their files are assigned to junior reporters, ready to be shared with the world the moment the producers say, “Get me the files on. . .”
There were no such precedents for 9/11. No one could have imagined such an event on that bright Tuesday morning twenty-one years ago. But, to be sure, reporters are dispensed to the latest shooting, or mass casualty event to make up history at a moment’s notice. That’s just the way life is these days. The immediacy keeps us glued to live reports, and millions will watch endless coverage of funeral processions, services by the Anglican church of England, and no doubt horse-drawn carriages kept for these occasions throughout the centuries.
And we will respect the traditions, and wait for the next occasion when we mourn together. That’s just what people do.
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