Posted 1:45 PM by Gene

I really don't want to mention THAT DAY but because we can obsess over it nine years later -- and the obsessions are sure to double next year -- says Osama committed the most brilliant and forward-thinking act of evil in history, far smaller than anything Hitler and Stalin could have devised, but they'd be in awe of it. Clearly he knew he was striking at an America already politically and culturally hobbled; he knew a nation so hobbled could in time be brought down by its own doubts, and just as more than one writer has said Osama helped screw up our economy for the long haul (although he must thank the former Wizard of Oz and the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE), one must also note it led in time to the accession of a God with so many doubts about His nation He cannot think of a circumstance to defend it. And so it is apt that New York still has a hole in the ground nine years later, and the hole in our nation's being has not yet filled in either. A stronger nation, a nation sure and sound, would not have it there.

We should note this excellent interactive feature on the site. The hole is SLOWLY filling in, but it is still a hole, and it will be five or six years before the immediate vicinity is finished, and years beyond until the last remnants of construction have ceased. (Via CJR)