Fox News contributor and former Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters expressed his hope on Fox News today that people would not give in to “scaremongering” and stop “seeing al-Qaeda under every prayer rug and be proud.” Host Megyn Kelly cited a recent column by Charles Krauthammer arguing that al-Qaeda has been weakened because of the “massive and unrelenting war on terror.”

Today, people all over the world will be mourning the tenth anniversary of 9/11 in their own personal manner. Those who came to the memorial service today were treated to a special performance by Paul Simon.

While defending the United States’ current military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, Senator John McCain acknowledged that most Americans are not in favor of further military intervention in the Middle East, and discussed how changing mores in the region have affected the influence of terrorist groups.

In a personal note on his show today, Bob Schieffer recounted his personal memories of 9/11 and wondered if Americans would ever be able to come together again as they did in the wake of that fateful day.

President Barack Obama and former president George W. Bush spoke at the site of the 9/11 memorial, and both reached back into old texts to put into words their feelings on this very emotional day for the nation.

In a heartfelt tribute to the victims of Flight 93, Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton visited the field in Shanksville, PA, where passengers on that flight managed to get the plane to land, evading its ultimate destination. Both Presidents gave their perspectives in solemn addresses, President Bush reminded the audience that the event was a reminder for our nation to “serve the cause of freedom,” while President Clinton concluded that the heroes of that flight reminded us that “humanity is what matters most.”

A decade after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the state of New Jersey has erected a monument to its victims that day– the Empty Sky Memorial, which features the names of the 746 New Jersey victims of 9/11 and is designed to supplant the void in the New York skyline where the Twin Towers were, from the perspective of one standing before it. Today, Governor Chris Christie spoke at its dedication, reminding the audience that it is the loss of those whose loved ones died that remains paramount from that morning.

Chris Matthews concluded his last program before September 11, 2011 with a heartfelt attempt to explain what had happened to the national consciousness in this past decade. Something was missing from the America he so dearly loved, he explained; the “national soul” had been replaced by partisan bickering and rendered the nation aimless along the way.

Mike Huckabee‘s weekly round at Fox & Friends this morning was far more somber than usual, as the topic of discussion naturally gravitated towards the September 11th attacks and the ceremony planned for tomorrow. Huckabee took offense at the secular nature of the ceremony, arguing that it was not “the politicians [who] were the heroes of 9/11,” but the clergy, and that anyone who would protest Muslim clerics at such a ceremony would be “inappropriate” and “ridiculous.”

America is starting to forget September 11th, 2001. It is a natural process– much of today’s population was either not born at the time or too young to remember, and those cursed with being merely alive but not participating in the true grief of the event are growing exhausted of the burden. Many in the media will implore us to forget the day, to move on with dignity, but the temptation to trivialize the pain lest “the terrorists win” comes at a significant detriment to those who can’t forget what they don’t remember.

On tonight’s edition of The O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly and Geraldo Rivera debated Mayor Michael Bloomberg‘s decision to leave first responders and members of the clergy out of a 9/11 memorial on the World Trade Center site this Sunday. Taking a broader perspective of the national dialogue on 9/11, Geraldo referred to Ground Zero as “the most over-politicized, the most bitterly-partisan piece of real estate on earth.”

The media coverage this week (and coming weekend) that dutifully aims to commemorate the “fateful day” of 9/11 has, in many ways, ironically cheapened its memory, at least in the eyes of some. During an appearance on The Dylan Ratigan Show, MSNBC contributor Touré called out the 9/11 nostalgia in such a way as to literally move his host to a speechless moment of self-reflection that rarely seen on live television.

“It’s critical that we remember the heroes of 9/11 and those who are still fighting in an endless war,” Joe Scarborough tells the Huffington Post of “Reason To Believe,” his new vaguely anti-war 9/11 tribute song. Released by Sony Records in collaboration with JAM, Scarborough and his Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski‘s production company, it’s as mawkish as country songs wont be, but really not so bad.

On Fox and Friends Wednesday morning, anchor Steve Doocy and Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. lamented the way 9/11 was being politicized by both journalists and supporters of the Obama Administration. Fox News detractors might see the following clip and openly wonder who has been politicizing 9/11 over the last decade. But no matter, the Fox and Friends audience likely agrees with everything that Johnson claims.

In the modern world of viral crowdsourcing, video and photos of even the most mundane event are available, from every conceivable angle, with lightning speed, so it is remarkable that, ten years later, new video from 9/11 has just surfaced. On CNN Sunday night, anchor Susan Hendricks introduced a piece of video from a now-deceased witness who videotaped the aftermath of heroic Flight 93 from about 15 miles away. His family has apparently just made the video available now.

Media outlets across the spectrum are gearing up for the tenth anniversary of 9/11 with a variety of specials, retrospectives and in-depth interviews. CNN, however, is offering something markedly different from its competitors: a glimpse into the lives (and, in some cases, the tragic deaths) of women who acted as first responders, and who are [...]

Unsurprisingly, we’re currently being inundated with tributes to the victims, survivors, and heros of 9/11. However a video picking up steam online this week makes a wonderfully simple and beautiful ode to two of the biggest victims of that horrible day; the Twin Towers themselves. The video edits together clips of nearly every film appearance the buildings made in their time in the sky. Seeing how directors frame their shots to perfectly capture the Towers is an amazingly effective way to remind us just how iconic they were.

With the ten-year anniversary of the attack on 9/11 less than two weeks away, many in the media are looking back at those tragic events with renewed context and perspective. Last night, Lawrence O’Donnell joined the chorus of his fellow opiniotainers, though with a remarkably different take. In his “Re-write” segment, the MSNBC host took an incredibly harsh look at the myth of 9/11 sacred cow, Rudy Giuliani, and deduced that some incompetent decisions made by then New York Mayor actually “cost lives.”

A couple of weeks ago, we reported that Fox News’ Shepard Smith was contributing to Fox News’ digital-only eBook, Rise of Freedom: The New World Trade Center, which became available on August 23rd.

In the eBook, Smith looks back on his experience covering the 9/11 terrorist attacks. An experience, he recalls, that moved the veteran reporter to tears.

President Barack Obama took a little time to commemorate the upcoming 10 year anniversary of the September 11 attacks, giving special attention to the way that horrific event brought out the best in so many Americans who rushed to others’ rescue, gamely donated blood and (in the case of young school children) even donated what little allowance money they had to charitable causes in the aftermath of the terrorist attack.

He also informed Americans of where he’ll be during the anniversary of the event, and what they can do in remembrance.

Journalist Peter Schnall offered a revealing interview with Turnstyle about the effort that went into convincing former President George W. Bush to discuss his memories of 9/11 with National Geographic for the channel’s upcoming documentary special. As it turns out, Bush’s people were quite open to the interview and, after what turned out to be months of negotiations, agreed that he would sit down with Schnall for an incredible four hours, without having interview questions presented to him in advance.

“He answered all the questions,” Schnall shared. “We sat down for two hours each day. He had no notes, he never got up. It was a very interesting journey.”

Previously, we’d told you that the National Geographic Channel is planning to air a 9/11 special focusing on former President George W. Bush thoughts during and after the terrorist attacks that demolished the World Trade Center towers and seriously damaged the Pentagon.

Nat Geo (as all the cool kids are callin’ it) offered a little preview of the special, providing further insight into the moment between Bush first learned that a plane had hit the towers (and surmised, as many of us did, that there must have been some unfortunate but isolated issue with the plane or the pilot) and when he was informed that the United States was, in fact, under attack.

With the stock market plummeting today, the President turning 50 years old and that summer staple of Sharia Law fear looming dangerously in the news cycle, it was probably a good call on Jon Stewart‘s part to turn to the always comical “culture wars” for material today. And it delivered– sure, Lou Dobbs griped about Latino Spiderman and the Fox crew railed against contraceptives, but tonight, the atheists took the cake for opposing the display of the 9/11 cross at the New York memorial.

Mike Huckabee made a midweek stop on the O’Reilly Factor tonight prompted by the controversy surrounding his new children’s education cartoons. One cartoon in particular that explains the events of September 11, 2001 has received significant criticism, both from those who believe the cartoons are biased in favor of the Bush administration and those that worry Huckabee is making money off the terror attacks. Today, Huckabee addressed the latter, saying criticizing him in such a way would be like condemning Michael Moore or Steven Spielberg for their work.

This morning on Fox & Friends, hosts Gretchen Carlson and Steve Doocy took a look at Richard Dambakly‘s reaction to news that the government’s insistence that the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act does not cover cancer. Dambakly, who was working for Verizon at the World Trade Center, was diagnosed with lymphoma following a four months-long exposure to Ground Zero in the wake of the September 11th attacks.