Thomas Heller

Frankly, I was disgusted with the 'America After 9/11' episode's obvious aim to connect 9/11 to Jan 6th. I turned it off within six minutes, after footage of Jan 6 quickly surpassed that of 9/11. This is, in my view, the same type of corrupt 'stealing' (e.g. elections) and 'lying' -only this time history- that PBS commentators, correspondents and anchors have so thoroughly derided over the past five or so years. It's despicable. Curiously in the hours immediately preceding the Frontline program, my social media (Facebook) experience also happened to betray some sort of "coordinated messaging" getting started among questionably sentient but reliable "echo- posters" on Facebook. One unforgettable post (which likewise attempted to connect 9/11 with white domestic terrorism in the U.S.) read, "I think the first 9/11 was Oklahoma City" to which another someone quickly added "I agree." The poster -or rather his talking-points supplier- apparently had NO awareness of notable events prior to OKC such as the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, Pan Am 103, the first WTC bombing, the Munich Olympics, the Achille Lauro hijacking, and numerous airport bombings in Europe. A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes. Today's media not only accelerates that speed, but amplifies its volume many fold and has instantaneous global reach. "Coordinated messaging" through social media, as in this example, has permeated media outlets and platforms, infiltrating and poisoning the realm. Clearly, the divisive effect of this episode (its aim?) is apparent in the severely bimodal distribution of the 138 ratings given so far to Frontline here. Congratulations to all at PBS for fueling these fires.