9/11…20 years later

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After the 9/11 attacks occurred 20 years ago, the last thing on Americans' minds was our partisan differences. That's not to suggest that we didn't have very real ideological disagreements—we did, of course—but at that moment in time, they instinctively faded to the background as we united first and foremost as Americans against a common threat. Fast-forward two decades, and we're in a very different place. Hyperpartisanship combined with technologies that allow hate, disinformation, and conspiracies to spread far and wide in an instant have allowed dangerous strains of political extremism to fester here at home. It seems impossible now to unite against a common threat, as the bonds of trust among our fellow Americans have been broken. But our challenges—a still-raging pandemic, ever-costlier natural disasters, economic strife, racial unrest, and foreign threats, to name a few—remain no less daunting now than they were then, and they require our attention and cooperation. To competently
address them, we need independent, unifying servant-leaders who tell the truth, stay above the partisan fray, and offer common-sense solutions that not only help the American people, but also strengthen faith and confidence in our democracy. Otherwise, dysfunction will continue to fuel the homegrown extremism that currently threatens our nation. Amid our shock and overwhelming grief on 9/11, we found a way to move forward as one. We can do it again. Now, as then, we must. God bless America. —Miles Taylor

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** Hartig & Doherty: The persistence of 9/11
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"It has now been two decades since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93—where only the courage of passengers and crew possibly prevented an even deadlier terror attack. For most who are old enough to remember, it is a day that is impossible to forget. In many ways, 9/11 reshaped how Americans think of war and peace, their own personal safety, and their fellow citizens. And today, the violence and chaos in a country half a world away brings with it the opening of an uncertain new chapter in the post-9/11 era." —Hannah Hartig & Carroll Doherty on ([link removed]) Pew Research Center ([link removed])

Hannah Hartig is a research associate at Pew Research Center, where she primarily studies U.S. political attitudes and voting behavior. Carroll Doherty is the director of political research at Pew Research Center.

MORE: Alleged 9/11 plotters, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, appear at Guantanamo pretrial hearing —CNN ([link removed])


** Wray: The lessons of 9/11 help us face today's threats
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"As we learned after 9/11, collaboration is essential. Increasingly, that means law enforcement partnering with private citizens and companies. Interrupting fast-moving threats such as lone actors requires individuals to share information with the authorities when something seems amiss. Countering sophisticated cyberattacks requires companies to work with the FBI and not go it alone. Developing such relationships necessitates a joint commitment to building trust and improving communication." —Christopher Wray in The Washington Post ([link removed])

Christopher Wray is the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

MORE: 9/11 hijackers were in plain sight in New Jersey before Sept. 11, 2001 —USA Today ([link removed])


** Olson: The price of forgetting 9/11
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"We have shown that we will forget and we do forgive. We will find it expedient to make peace with the Devil. And we will surely pay the price in the form of the next attack on our soil or in a restaurant in Paris or on a playing field in Spain. We will sadly soon realize: We can fool ourselves into thinking that we have made peace with terrorists. But terrorism has not made peace with us." —Theodore Olson in The Washington Post ([link removed])

Theodore Olson is former solicitor general of the United States and a Washington lawyer.

MORE: Army chief calls for Afghanistan review: 'Let the cards fall where they fall' —Defense One ([link removed])


** Hassane: Terrorism still claims victims around the world
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"Twenty years later, Americans' perceptions of what terrorism is continue to be tied to that morning, but let's not forget other acts of terror committed since 9/11—the genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar, the persecution of the Uyghurs of Xinjiang province in China, and the many other mindless acts of violence that shake us to our souls. The homegrown far-right extremism that we see today threatens to engulf us and our future generations in mindless violence unless we act with urgency to protect the fruits of our democracy and our country's rich tradition of religious freedom." —Taha Hassane in ([link removed]) The San Diego Union-Tribune ([link removed])

Taha Hassane is an imam and the director of interfaith/public relations and youth programs at the Islamic Center of San Diego.

MORE: 20 years later, two more 9/11 victims are identified —NPR ([link removed])
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** Ackerman: How 9/11 gave us 1/6
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"Those who committed acts of insurrectionist violence should of course be prosecuted. But responding with security measures instead of discrediting the leading voices of insurrection will only support the insurrectionist narrative of government persecution. Insurrectionists' allies will use such expanded security tools once they return to power. 'I am not a terrorist,' insisted Adam Newbold, a former Navy SEAL who posted that he had breached the Capitol. The war on terror had accustomed him to think that he could not be one by definition." —Spencer Ackerman in The New York Times ([link removed])

Spencer Ackerman is the author of "Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump."

MORE: From election to Covid, 9/11 conspiracies cast a long shadow —Associated Press ([link removed])


** Garrett: We were truly united once
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"The 9/11 terrorist attacks changed everything in a heartbeat, and we stood as one—truly one nation, under God, like the pledge that we all rehearsed so many times to start our elementary school days. It seems surreal that Congress—Republicans and Democrats alike—stood together on the Capitol steps to sing 'God Bless America.' It seems surreal that when President George W. Bush—who, lest we forget, handled the immediate aftermath of 9/11 with remarkable poise and reassurance—delivered his address to the nation before a joint session of Congress a little more than a week after the attacks, he received a standing ovation from the left side of the aisle as well as the right. It seems surreal, not because it was unthinkable that it happened, but because of what we've become in the 20 years since." —Ben Garrett in ([link removed]) The Independent Herald
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Ben Garrett is the editor of
The Independent Herald.

MORE: Slotkin, Kinzinger, and Crow discuss how 9/11 changed their course and how it continues to influence them as lawmakers —The Washington Post ([link removed])


** Britt: We can be united again
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"Sadly, we are no longer one nation under God, indivisible, seeking liberty and justice for all, but we can be. … No potion or tonic can cure this present sickness or break the nation's fever. When justice, equality, and humanity are cast aside and replaced by fear and loathing of our fellow Americans, we no longer have a United States. The lessons I learned from 9/11 are many. Among them are: an eye for an eye is destructive vengeance, one-eyed kings will always find followers, and our country is at its best when it is good. Always remember. Never forget." —Bill Britt in Alabama Political Reporter ([link removed])

Bill Britt is editor-in-chief of the Alabama Political Reporter.

MORE: Remembering that day 20 years ago, and the pride and patriotism it inspired —The Columbus Dispatch ([link removed])
"Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining."
—George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States

It is again, September.

When summer departs, autumn approaches, and the skies above New York, clear of smoke, heat, and haze, are so often so perfectly blue.

And I am reminded of the first four lines of "Try to Remember," which has always been bittersweet, even poignant.

But never more so than after that obscenely beautiful Tuesday morning 20 years ago.

"Try to remember
the kind of September
when life was slow
and oh so mellow..." —Jim V., New York
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** The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.
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