Despite having no real connection to the other, why was this and 9/11 so intertwined with each other into the zeitgeist?

They're both tragic events that politicians exploited to pass draconian laws.

>>937109403 (OP)
Dylan and Eric(the shooters at columbine) were actually really close friends with osama bin ladin(the leader of al Qaida, the group that did the 9/11 attacks)
Osama was actually a class mate of theirs. He did the 9/11 attacks in their honor.
He was supposed to be the 3rd shooter, but he actually stayed home from school that day because he had a case of the cooties.
A very common sickness amongst kids.

So when he missed out. He understood that his friends were right. So he got to work networking other teens on myspace, moved back home, and set up the attacks.

>>937109403 (OP)
They are both considered catalyst tipping points for major shifts in society. Neither one was the first of their kind, but both were unique national tragedies in which political action, social movement, and public outcry were monumental in measure.

>>937109403 (OP)
People hardly ever mention Columbine anymore.

>>937109403 (OP)
Eric Harris actually made a strangely prophetic allusion to 9/11 at the end of his edgy NBK manifesto.