These are among the most disturbing of the 9/11 e-lore items received; they are, by far, the most overtly racist items in the archive, even extending the xenophobia about Muslims to African-Americans, in a couple of cases.

After the attacks, a number of news analysts discussed the psychological need to identify a lone "enemy" upon which to focus one's anxiety and anger, pointing to the example of the U. S. government's focus on the figures of Hitler and Tojo during WWII. Several of these analysts observed that without a single "target," public support for military action often waned, and that if the "enemy" was not killed or apprehended, Americans often lost faith in government leaders. (Several cited the failure to capture or kill Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War as a key factor in the first Bush administration's failed reelection bid.)

These psychological and political dynamics seem very clearly reflected in these items. Even though an explicit link between Bin Laden's Al Quaeda network and the 9/11 attacks had not been clearly established when most of these items were circulating, it seemed clear that Bin Laden nevertheless had become the popular target for electronic "retaliation."

Since these were all items I received from solicitation (and not spontaneously), it's hard for me to imagine what the "natural context" in which they might circulate would be, and how they might function in such a context. They clearly seem designed to vent frustration and channel violent impulses in a "creative" way, though the ones including O. J. Simpson seem to be doing something even more insidious, even as they comment on popular culture. And if you aren't a fan of Rowan Atkinson's "Mr. Bean" television series, the final item may be the most frightening of all!