Four years ago today

Four years ago today, I got to evacuate my Pennsylvania Avenue office and walk for several hours to Bethesda. My building was on the possible flight path of Flight 93, the plane that was shot down in Pennsylvania. (Despite what the administration and recent films may tell you, I still don't think the passengers brought that plane down.) On my trek home, I looked back and saw the smoke rising from the Pentagon. Everything was unearthly quiet, except for the fighter jets and occasional helicopter overhead, all of which made everyone look up and cringe slightly. The mass pedestrian exodus from the nation's capital was something to behold. It was also something to behold the general level of civility, which is generally unheard of in these parts, but that is another post. Suffice to say that I was never happier to see the people I loved than when I finally arrived in Bethesda.

There's probably a lot more I could ramble about regarding 9/11 right now. One of the questions would be to ponder "what have we learned since then?". However, given the seemingly unending conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with recent events along the Gulf Coast and the American government's demonstrated ineptitude, I'd say the answer to that question would be: "Very little."