Simon--
As an American participant in this discussion, I greatly appreciate your
thoughtful words. What we are witnessing is the aftermath of evil ideas made
deadly, and an assault on innocent lives that perhaps compares only with the
London Blitz. Like the Blitz, evil rained down on the innocent; an idea
morphing into a monstrosity unleashed cool, calculated wrath on men, women
and children. (Has anyone noticed that there was a girl of 2 years old on
board one of the ill-fated flights?) Especially for those living in Europe,
I think this kind of connection can be deeply understood. If not, then the
horror of the televised images must surely make it clear.
It's ironic that there has been this ongoing discussion of ``Pearl
Harbor.'' My parents lived during the actual attack; my father enlisted in
the Navy on Monday Dec. 8, the very next day. The post-war generations,
certainly in the U.S., have now experienced their own Pearl Harbor. There is
a growing sense here that life will not be the same. Indeed, life has now so
exceeded ``art'' that it can only humble everyone. You can't help but feel
the winds of history kicking up huge gusts, blowing us all in a certain
direction. None of us know where that direction may be. We are past that
point of Gramsci's ``interregnum.'' We will now see if we possess Lincoln's
``better angels of our nature.''
Robert Koehler
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