Remembering the Day When We Were All One

Five years after that horrific day in September 2001, the following letter appeared in TIME:

Five years after 9/11, our nation ought to be as united as it was on that tragic day. We should have held on to the outpouring of global goodwill and support we received then. We should have remained laser-focused on rooting out and bringing to justice those responsible for the attacks. We should have remained committed to making our homeland more secure. After 9/11 our nation should have rededicated itself to the Constitution, the rule of law and respect for human and civil rights. Like most Americans, I remember 9/11 with sadness, a sadness that deepens when I think of what our country could have been five years after the day when we were all one.

Today, eight years after 9/11, as we once more remember the horrors of that dreadful day and commemorate the thousands of Americans who lost their lives or were injured, I wish that Americans could be once more united on matters that are truly important to our country

Today, we have a new administration, a new party in power. Some of the issues and problems which had kept our country divided are no longer with us. Many of those issues have been resolved by working together, across party lines.

Some issues persist, such as the two wars that were precipitated by that dastardly attack.

Some issues and problems have only been replaced by new ones. Some real ones, such as how to revive our economy and how to tackle the health care crisis. Some fabricated or imagined, such as the rumors and accusations flying around the background, legitimacy, intentions, patriotism, and even the moral fiber of our President.

It is sad that, in addition to remembering those who we lost on 9/11, we also have to wonder once more what our country could have been eight years after “the day when we were all one.”

Image: Courtesy Wordpress.com