The American news media seem to think it's verboten to show images of the Twin Towers getting hit and collapsing seven years ago today.

Think about it. When was the last time you really saw it? They seemed to stop showing it in 2002 or so.

If you had, say, a 5-year-old at the time of the 9-11 attacks, he'd be 12 now. And he may not have any vivid visual memory of the event.

What gives? Is it just old news? Is it too "insensitive" to Muslims? Is it politically incorrect?

Are the media afraid of inflaming our sensibilities? Afraid we're a bunch of children who can't handle it?

This was hardly the view after Pearl Harbor. The rallying cry for decades afterward was "Remember Pearl Harbor!" (Yet, we were able to become the best of friends with the Japanese.) The cry today seems to be "Don't remind me!" Or, at least that's what the media seem to think of us.

MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann recently apologized sarcastically to his audience after a video tribute to the victims of 9-11 was aired during the Republican National Convention. Olbermann has made no secret of his preference for Democrats over Republicans. But his other point, other than to disparage Republicans, was that footage of Sept. 11, 2001, shouldn't be aired on American television.

Why the heck not?

On one level, that patronizing, condescending attitude is just inane. If we can handle Britney Spears kissing Madonna on MTV, we can handle anything.

But on another level, that attitude is dangerous.

If American news media are determined to protect our sensibilities, then they'll end up doing a pretty poor job of informing us. How will we know where to expect the next threat if our news media are too timid or too politically correct to reveal our enemies or remind us of what they've already done to us? How can we deal intelligently with a world we're not allowed to see?

Exactly how soft have we gotten since 1941?

Talk show host Glenn Beck recently suggested, not even half jokingly, that video of the World Trade Center attacks should be aired every day at noon, or maybe every hour. He's exaggerating, but his point is that we need to keep that image fresh in our minds, or we'll never truly be living in the real world and we'll lose sight of our enemies and the fact that they're still out there plotting.

And, as we've seen, the real world has a way of sneaking up on you and biting your backside.