I cannot let this day go by without posting something. I’ll start with the still relevant Against Rationalization by the much-missed Christopher Hitchens. Oh, how we could benefit from his wisdom now!

And I’ll add this wonderful Brendan Behan quote, a toast (of course – he was an Irishman, after all):

To America, my new found land: the man that hates you hates the human race.

Finally, some thoughts that have been percolating: I notice that 16 years after that awful day, so many seem to have forgotten its significance. This morning, there was more hurricane coverage than anything else, which, I suppose is understandable, but still, our short memory-span is disturbing. Many difficult and terrible decisions had to be made in the weeks and months after the attacks and now, so many are still blaming the U.S. rather than the Islamist fascists responsible.  The hijackers should never be romanticized as freedom fighters – the last thing any of them wanted was the expansion of freedom.