Have the terrorists won?

My friends Mary Ann and Stan were visiting from Chicago. They had left the house to go for a long run, and I was straightening up. We had planned to go on a hike and then cook a nice dinner later, so I wanted things to be orderly.

I flipped on the TV in my bedroom to check the stock futures and that's when I sawthat a plane had flown into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. Iassumed, as did the commentators, that it was a private plane accident—because, really, whatelse could it be. But then the second plane hit, and the accident was ruled out.Details began to trickle in. I watched. Mary Ann and Stan got back from theirrun and I pulled them into my bedroom to see what was happening. There was wordof an attack in DC. The towers fell.

We were, of course, horrified. But what could we do? Whatgood would be served by watching the news coverage of the tragedy—already labeled aterrorist attack—whenthat coverage would surely reveal little actual "news" and would, most likely,simply show the images over and over and over again. So we prepared for ourhike. We'd leave the TV behind. We'd find out what was going on later.
A friend called from DC. He's also a friend of Stan and MaryAnn's. He was on his way, he said. His government office building had beenevacuated and he didn't want to go home. So he was coming out to see us—150 miles from the city.It complicated things, but we figured we'd make it work. I didn't have acellphone then, but we'd deal with it.
And so we headed to Crabtree Falls, a beautiful trail in theGeorge Washington National Forest not far from where I live. It was a gorgeousday—just like inNew York and Washington—andthe woods were beautiful. Quiet. Peaceful. We didn't talk much. We walked. Wewere calm. We thought. Mostly I thought about how grateful I was not to bealone.
Somehow we managed to rendezvous with our DC friend. We madedinner—I don'trecall what it was—andthen talked about what had happened. And our DC friend watched TV, although therest of us could not.
That's how I spent the day. Since then, I've been horrifiedto witness the changes in our country. So many Americans have channeled theiranger in ways that will almost certainly make things worse, that it makes methink that the terrorists accomplished even more than they thought they wouldor could. A deep wedge has been driven between Americans. And some Americansseek exploit that division for political gain. Our discourse has never beenless civil—at leastnot my lifetime.
But I don't think the situation is hopeless. I would like tothink that all of us would understand that the way we defeat terrorism isremember who we are—theUnited States. We are one country—notjust a country of conservatives and liberals, but a country of Americans. Whycan't we share the sacrifices needed to make our country strong again? Why can'tAmerican investors accept slightly lower profits from corporations in order toput more people to work? Why can't the wealthy agree to pay slightly highertaxes in order to put our financial house in order, and in order to ensure thatno American goes hungry or is denied medical treatment? Why is that asking somuch? Because if it is asking toomuch, then we're doomed.