The 911 Ethos

Burt Blumert was watching a speech on PBS by Joel Meyerowitz, the semi-official photographer of the post-911 World Trade Towers site. At one point, he described the “flag vs. bag” question. A “bag,” ho-hum, was the remains of a broker, a trader, a customer, an office worker. Scoop ’em up and that was it.

A “flag” was the remains of a government employee, at which point work stopped, a special detail held a somber slow-march procession complete with taps, and a special gurney was used to carry the body, complete with a government flag. This taxpayer-taxeater distinction made perfect sense to the photog, who enlarged lovingly on it, and the importance of not mixing up the two categories, at which point Burt turned off the TV to avoid kicking it in.

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9:49 pm on February 3, 2007