Thomas Friedman's op-ed Addicted to 9/11 today was right on the money. He addresses Kerry's hope that America can get back to a state where "terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance", and says, "The idea that President Bush and Mr. Cheney would declare such a statement to be proof that Mr. Kerry is unfit to lead actually says more about them than Mr. Kerry. Excuse me, I don't know about you, but I dream of going back to the days when terrorism was just a nuisance in our lives."
I would certainly like that, and having lived in England through the IRA's mainland bombing campaign I can remember what it felt like. I can still recall the moment when I caught myself looking at a package in the sidewalk and, for the first time in years, didn't immediately think panic "Bomb...?". It's a good feeling. Naive? I don't think so; just getting things into proportion and being careful rather than obsessive.
Friedman concludes, "Lastly, politicizing 9/11 put a wedge between us and our history. The Bush team has turned this country into The United States of Fighting Terrorism. [...] I want a president who can one day restore Sept. 11th to its rightful place on the calendar: as the day after Sept. 10th and before Sept. 12th. I do not want it to become a day that defines us. Because ultimately Sept. 11th is about them - the bad guys - not about us. We're about the Fourth of July. Just so.
Posted by geoff2 at October 14, 2004 10:18 AMInteresting parallel, I doubt even in our hyper state of alertness that many people in the US think twice about unattended packages, I do, but I was in Europe a lot during the 80's.
I wish I felt more safe with the new security measures, when they were first announced I thought it would be like Germany or Ireland during the 80's where everyone and everything was searched and less like random searches by seemingly minimally trained personnel.
In my above comment I was referring to the new "airport" security screening. Sorry.
Posted by: Susan in St. Paul at October 14, 2004 03:25 PM