Stardate 20011018.1221 (On Screen via long range sensors): I'm no fan of the National Review, whose positions are ordinarily far too reactionary for me. But I must confess that this satirical piece is right on target. It imagines what current commentators would say about the
Doolittle Raid in 1942.
Most of those "quoted" are among those on the left who have been getting the most flack from the right (and from the mainstream, and even from others on the left) for their absurd statements; in some cases searching for a "deeper meaning" to the attack (evidently more than 5000 dead isn't enough meaning for them) or to try to figure out why those who attacked us did it, in hopes that we can learn how to alter our behavior in future so that they won't do it again. I believe what is really happening is that these people are in denial. We are in a war now, it is going to be a long and bloody war, and we will be involved in combat many times. Afghanistan is the first battlefield but it won't be the last; this will be a long and hard struggle. We in the US will be attacked again; our soldiers will fight, and some of us and some of them will die. We are going to kill a lot of people in other countries, too. That's the kind of thing that happens in a war.
But I think that deep down these folks are hoping against hope that there will be some sort of talisman, some magic phrase they can invoke which will turn back the clock and prevent this from happening. Each generation faces a major test; this is ours. Inevitably some people fail the test. (discuss)
