Seeing actress Anne Heche on television the other night clinched a haunting feeling that’s been lingering in the back of my mind for the past several weeks.

It seems the last time I saw Heche on television was deep summer eight years ago. Then, a network spent an hour or more of prime-time featuring Heche who had broken up with Ellen DeGeneris; Heche claimed to have an alter ego from another dimension. I kid you not. This was prime-time television fodder in early September 2001.

Of course, a few days later, any national discussion of Heche and another dimension were gone. On Sept. 11, 2001, it felt like the entire nation had entered another dimension.

That’s the eerie thing about seeing Heche on television again recently. This summer has felt similar to the summer leading up to 9/11.

Both summers represented the first year of a new president. In both, the country has been divided down bitter partisan lines.

Both summers witnessed groups questioning the legitimacy of the new president. In summer 2001, some still claimed George W. Bush stole the election from Al Gore. In summer 2008, some still claim Barack Obama is not really a U.S. citizen.

In both summers, one party dominated both the White House and Congress.

In 2001, the nation’s attention glommed onto what was called “the summer of the shark.” National news focused on a series of shark attacks.

In summer 2001, there was the disappearance of Chandra Levy and her connection to then-Rep. Gary Condit.

The past few months in 2009 may be described as the “summer of Michael Jackson,” as well as the usual round of disappearances and scandals.

There’s been far more serious issues this summer than the summer of 2001. We remain at war in two nations. The economy remains unstable. There’s a serious debate about health care. In 2001, there was an attitude that history is dead and all’s well in the world.

Yet, even with the serious issues linked to summer 2009, there’s still a national sense of distraction, a willingness to be pulled into circuses, an instinct to ignore possible crises. We stop everything for a celebrity’s passing. We turn the serious need for a health-care discussion into a sideshow of yelling and obfuscation.

There is a sense of a blithely pressing forward.

All of this has lurked in the back of my mind, just a thought. Nothing against Anne Heche, but the sight of her sent a chill down my spine.

One should not live in fear. One should, however, remember the past and take note of a haunting sense of deja vu.



Dean Poling is The Valdosta Daily Times assistant managing editor.