Lost Innocence
Everyday life, when everything feels different
Whether Shelest will ever test his mettle in battle is uncertain, given that most people now believe Bush's "war" will consist mainly of quiet, covert action, not displays of might. "We have received a slow education of how complicated this is," says Cooper of the Natchez Democrat. Such complexity will make it harder to keep public support strong over time, observers say. "It's become a think-tank war," says Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution. "That's not even CNN, that's C-SPAN."
Tough talk. Yet small battles have already broken out at home. Two journalists--in Oregon and Texas--were fired after writing pieces critical of the president's actions on September 11. And when Politically Incorrect host Bill Maher characterized as cowardly the U.S. launching of cruise missiles at distant targets, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer responded, "There are reminders to all Americans that they need to watch what they say."
Behind the tough talk is a pervasive sense of vulnerability. Some, like the man who contacted American Science & Surplus in Skokie, Ill., inquiring about its steel aircraft cable, are searching for the ultimate safety net: "I live on the 14th floor," his E-mail began. Is the cable "strong enough to use in the event that my wife and I needed to rappel down the outside of the building?" And fear has indeed inspired people to spend: on gas masks, bottled water, and guns and ammo.
A bunker mentality isn't the only response. Around the nation there are signs of a devil-may-care approach, with reports that people are drinking more--and more expensive--liquor, giving in to vices like smoking, and relaxing limits on red meat. And while rentals of movies about attacks on America like Independence Day have catapulted to new popularity since September 11, other Americans take comfort in wrapping themselves in the flag: Lee Greenwood's 1992 album American Patriot, featuring his song "God Bless the U.S.A.," is topping sales charts.
But the country may not be quite as fragile as it was just weeks ago. Humor, perhaps the ultimate measure of the American mood, is slowly regaining its footing. "There is a service to perform, and it's probably a gentler version of what we usually do," says political satirist Harry Shearer. "The job [now] is to point out the ways that people, especially those in power, go off the sanity tracks. We're probably normal enough that you can start saying that Bush's rhetoric sounds like it comes from a comic book." The online newspaper The Onion went back to work last week with satiric headlines like "U.S. Vows to Defeat Whoever It Is We're at War With."
Some comics are even targeting Osama bin Laden. "It's easier to make fun of Hitler than the Holocaust. It's easier to make fun of bin Laden than the acts of terrorists," says Larry Mintz, director of the Art Gliner Center for Humor Studies at the University of Maryland. But the jokes don't feel like much of a weapon. "The problem is that people still fear him," Mintz says. Still, on the outskirts of Charleston, S.C., a starkly lettered sign reads: "Yo' mama, Osama."
With Mary Lord, Lewis Lord, Dan Gilgoff, Carolyn Kleiner, Holly J. Morris, Nancy L. Bentrup, Betsy Streisand and Jeff Glasser
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