9/11 Still Shapes 100 Million Americans 25 Years Later as FISA, Conspiracies and Gaming Echo
Updated
Updated · USA TODAY · Sep 1
9/11 Still Shapes 100 Million Americans 25 Years Later as FISA, Conspiracies and Gaming Echo
3 articles · Updated · USA TODAY · Sep 1
Summary
Nearly 100 million Americans—almost one in four—have no personal memory of Sept. 11, yet the attacks still shape daily life, from airport security to the lives of 2,977 victims’ families and sickened responders.
Section 702 of FISA, the post-9/11 surveillance authority that expired in June, is stalled in Congress, reviving the long-running fight over how much liberty Americans will trade for security.
2013 Snowden disclosures helped flip public opinion against broad surveillance, while critics in today’s debate call the law unconstitutional and supporters warn the lessons of 9/11 are fading.
More than 6 in 10 Republicans now back Trump’s false 2020 election claims, reflecting how 9/11-era distrust and Iraq-war deception helped move conspiracy thinking from the fringe toward mainstream politics.
Since 2003, war-themed games led by Call of Duty have turned post-9/11 conflict into mass culture, and critics say the White House, Pentagon and DHS now borrow that imagery to recruit young Americans.