Another Anniversary

I've been wondering all day about how to acknowledge the date above this post. It was particularly odd today, at least in Chicago, because not only is it a Tuesday again, but it was a fresh autumn day, very reminiscent of six years ago.

Like most people, I suppose, I'm distressed by the way this date has become politicized, but I was afraid that anything I wrote, particularly while General Petraeus is testifying before Congress, would just add to the politicization. So I finally did what I should've done in the first place. I went back to see what I've done on this date in the past. In 2005, I was still overwhelmed by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but when I read what I wrote last year, I wasn't sure I could necessary improve on it. I'm sorry to say that, aside from the lack of construction at Ground Zero, which has since picked up, most of the post still applies. We're not in such fear of an imminent terrorist attack, but it's still the specter of al Queda we're fighting in Iraq. Osama bin Ladin still has the freedom to record and release videotapes (or have they gone digital in the remotest caves of Afghanistan and Pakistan?).

On the bright side, we've elected a Democratic Congress since I wrote that, and though it doesn't always seem like it, that makes a big difference. But to elaborate more on that just now would move in that politicization direction I wanted to avoid. There'll be time for that soon enough. For now we should just take the time to reflect on what we've lost and where we go from here.