Life in America, post 9/11
Category: Thinking Allowed...
Posted Monday, September 12, 2005 at 04:08 PM [GMT-6]

I'm not really a very contemplative guy. I tend not to dwell on the past, and I spend a lot more energy dealing with the "whats" in life than the "whys." Don't ask me why; I just told you that I'm not very contemplative.

So it came as a surprise to me when late yesterday I realized that the time I was happiest and most content to be an American was the period immediately following September 11, 2001. Even as I could scarcely bear to consider the vulnerabilities that had been exposed by the horrifying events of 9/11 and the pain that had been generated by the crimes of that date, I was never prouder of the unity and -- OK, I'll say it -- the love Americans showed for one another, beginning at Ground Zero and radiating outward, across state lines and socioeconomic categories and political alignments and religious barriers.

For one brief and shining moment, we truly were one nation, united and indivisible, with the collective will and ability and vision to accomplish whatever needed to be done.

How far we've fallen in four years. Even though we're again seeing the strength of the American spirit in the aftermath of Katrina, it's no longer the dominant voice. No, the dominant voice is now uglier, more strident. Whatever unity we once had has been shattered into a million agendas based on the petty need to prove that we're smarter, stronger, more perceptive, wittier or just plain better than everyone else who doesn't agree with every jot and tittle of our arbitrary tests of dogma.

It's not that I think we need to agree on everything. That would, in fact, probably be a terrible thing, because none of us has all the correct answers. What I'm growing weary of is how badly we treat one another while we're disagreeing.

I'm including myself in that indictment, by the way.

God help us as a nation and a people when even a 9/11-magnitude tragedy isn't enough reason to unite.

[By the way, Jim does a much better job than me at articulating the situation and the first steps to dealing with it.]