It's hard to believe it's been eight years since that dreaded day. My thoughts and prayers go out to the loved ones of those who lost their lives.
The Big Picture has a photo tribute. Here is a link to Glenn Reynold's blogging that day. The New York Times has an article about the fears of New York becoming a fortress city that never came to pass. Half of Americans think the other half has forgotten the impact of the 9/11 attacks.
Here are my own thoughts on how September 11th led me towards pursuing a PhD.
1 comment:
I don't think anyone has forgotten that day, but the difference is in the lessons learned.
I'm actually alarmed most by those in that poll who would dare say the other half of the country has forgotten the impact; that's a rather arrogant assumption.
Sadly, that poll indicates that nearly three-out-of-five Americans (59%) say the country has changed for the worse since those attacks.
Terrorists seek to undermine civilization; in this Bush's speech on 9-20 was correct.
Andrew Sullivan phrases it beautifully: Moreover, we still have a civilization to defend. What I have since learned - and learned hard - is that we can undermine it ourselves more surely than the enemy can.
This was a time that cried out for incredibly wise leadership, and sadly, we did not get that.
Instead, we embarked on a course that would see American leadership throw away much of its moral authority, invade a country in no way associated with 9-11, and actually resort to using torture.
Bin Laden turned out to have outsmarted Bush and Cheney, and we are still recovering.
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