1941 and 2001 are similar. Both represented attacks that got us into wars. No argument there.

(Strickly speaking, 1941's attacks on ships weren't a big deal, Japan had done it before, so nothing, except the war, had changed. -- Likewise, 2001 wasn't a big deal, the WTC had been bombed before, so except for the "War on Terrorism", nothing had changed.)

However, in 1941, the attacks caused a general lessening of civil rights and justice problems, most notably the internment of Japanese Americans.

2001 the attacks are causing a general lessening of civil rights and justice problems. (An interesting justification - do we not learn from our mistakes?)

However, unlike 1941 where we declared war on Japan (Germany declared war on us, iirc), we're now attacking countries that weren't associated with the attacks.