I have never mentioned this before for fear of being misunderstood, but one thing I remember about 9-11 was thinking that people needed to calm the fuck down. It was a terrible thing, but still just a terrorist attack, a criminal act. Our economic infrastructure, military capability, and most of the population were not substantially affected. In tangible effects, it was not in the same class as events like the Tokyo firebombing or the First Day on the Somme or, for that matter, the Flu pandemic of 1918. The death toll was smaller than the Battle of An Loc, in which I had personally participated. There would be war, but no rationing, no conversion of industry, no defensive mining of harbors, and no draft.
I think the media milked it for all the marketable pathos they could conjure up and I know that loved ones of some of the victims see it the same way. The Bush gang saw it as a heaven sent opportunity to mute critics, force their agenda on the world, and enrich their clients. They are still at it.