9/11

Today is September 11th. It is a horrible thing that I can't think of the attack on the twin towers without my memory becoming polluted by all that has happened since. It seems to me that the casualties of that day were the tip of the iceberg for the damage those terrorists managed to inflict on our country with their box cutters and our naivete. I wish I could remember just those victims and feel the appropriate amount of sadness for their tragedy and the tragedies of their surviving families, and I think as an American, I ought to be allowed that kind of mourning, and yet, it has become impossible for me not to also think of George W. Bush, perpetual war, the energy crisis, this recession, torture, secret prisons, secret phone taps, and now our violently polarized politics. We should remember those days after September 11th today when we all swore that we wouldn't let the terrorist win. Maybe, eight year later, we ought to all renew that vow.