As I watched the news this morning, I wondered what happened to the America of 9/11 -- or better, of 9/12, 2001.
We were so united in those terrible days. The loss of so many lives. The courage of Todd Beamer, a man none of us had ever heard of, who with some of his fellow passengers brought down the final plane in a field where the only loss of life would be their own. The first responders running into those towers -- and into Tower 2 after the first building fell. The horrible choice faced by those trapped by the fires, whether to burn or jump.
The next time any of us wants to say something horrible about another American because he's of a different political viewpoint to our own, or treats another American contemptuously for any reason, we should remember 2001, and hold our tongues.
The Le Monde headline of 9/12 read: "We are all Americans today." The glass in this country is so much more than half full, and we should put aside our differences and our grievances and our judgments and stand together and be grateful for all of the blessings we enjoy. Probably wishful thinking, but there it is.
