September 11th

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “After 10 Years, Names and Memories Echo,” describes our nation’s commemoration of September 11th, the dedication of the new national memorial at Ground Zero, and the honoring of the occasion by the victims’ families and our country’s leaders.

President Obama and President Bush and their wives walked together in a picture of the unity that we had after that terrible event. And the victims’ families had the solace of the reading aloud of the names of their departed loved ones on this solemn day of remembrance.

It’s hard to know what else to say about this 10th anniversary; it’s really all been said in the faces of the stricken families. The flags and the words don’t really get at the heart of the matter, but I was struck by one observation of President Obama. To paraphrase, that the debate about how to respond, our civil liberties, waterboarding and Guantanamo has been fierce, but that it’s the fierceness of the debate itself and how we resolved it in a democratic manner, at the ballot box, and in the halls of Congress, that has proved to be the strongest reaffirmation of our values and the best response to the terrorists actions.