American culture has not changed radically in the years since the attacks—certainly not as much as many predicted—and that may speak well of us.
John PowersAug 23, 2011
Even by the standards of a country notorious for losing its innocence every decade or sosurely our national anthem should be "Like a Virgin"September 11, 2001, would appear to deserve its oft-given moniker, The Day Everything Changed. The spectacle of those jets bringing down the World Trade Center wasn't merely unforgettable: It was revelatory. Theodor Adorno once wrote that a splinter in the eye is the best magnifying glass, and on that infamous morning, what came into sharp view was our vulnerability. We weren't accustomed to seeing our citizens slaughtered on American soil, at least not by people who weren't born here.
