Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning

Alan Jackson, the great country singer included those lyrics in his beautiful song about 9/11. Tomorrow we recognize the eighth anniversary of that event. I remember the shock, disappointment, anger, and horror I experienced that morning and over the next several days.

I also remember that although there was some very real ugliness, I felt like Americans and even the world had come together in a way that I hadn't seen in a very long time.
It is interesting to think about our "journey" over the last eight years. What have we learned from it?

I agreed I think with the majority of Americans that finding the perpetrators and ensuring that this kind of thing would never happen again was a primary objective. I am sad to find us engaged in two wars in some part directly connected to that event and feeling a little like we haven't made much progress understanding Islam or its followers and that in our desire to punish the guilty we have alienated a lot of others.

When I look at some of the angry rhetoric being exchanged over economic policy, health care, and related issues I wish we had some of that bipartisan spirit that we exhibited post 9/11 to addressing some of our current domestic issues. Don't mistake what I am saying, I am not an apologist for terrorism. I still firmly believe that those responsible for 9/11 and other terrorist incidents should be hunted down and prosecuted with a degree of finality that sends a message.

Maybe I am naive in believing that the current economic and health care situations also represent a crisis. Why can't we collaborate on solving those issues. I will admit I don't have a cogent answer.

So I guess what I will have to settle for is gratitude for the thousands of men and women in our armed forces who have served and will continue to serve to allow us to "debate" our differences. They don't get to debate policy, they just protect their country, some of them with their lives.

So amongst others I will fly my flag tomorrow in memory of those who died and those who serve. I will think back about the heroes during those immediately following days. I will also think wistfully about a nation standing together and hope it doesn't take another tragedy to unite us to that level. What will you do?