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The attacks of two years ago sent our economy and our sense of security reeling. To recover, we must be willing to make sacrifices and act as a nation united.
Two years ago today, Americans suffered a loss from which we will not easily recover. Today, we will appropriately honor our dead and vow to move forward. Yet the future is not so easily willed back to normal. We are still struggling to make sense of the post-9/11 world. It has been easier to adjust to the new inconveniences of air travel than it has been to strike a reasonable balance between civil liberties and our security needs.
Terrorism is still a fresh threat, if not within our borders then elsewhere against our interests. While all of us should support our troops in Iraq, a growing number of Americans find it difficult to understand how that conflict will make us more secure. Our soldiers are being injured or killed almost daily, but it is not clear if we are making headway against the enemy or making new enemies.
Politically, we are divided at a time when we should be working together. Legislation on subjects as important as meeting our energy needs is decided in secret by a select few members of Congress. Bipartisanship has been made a dirty word, but it is a practical process to build consensus across a broad range of American interests.
Terrorism also delivered a serious, and lasting, blow to the economy. Financial markets were temporarily roiled and the airline industry decimated. On a more permanent basis, the federal government has been burdened with greater costs for homeland security and foreign conflicts.
Faced with such challenges, some of our leaders have failed to make it clear that all Americans are to share equally in the sacrifices ahead. Jobs have been lost at a record pace, yet most of the tax cuts and subsidies promoted by the White House and Congress bypass those most in need. After 9/11, how can a compassionate nation deny a hand to the unfortunate among us?
We are a resilient people, but we need to be honest in recognizing the difference between hollow symbolism and effective action. Driving a Hummer to the grocery store isn't equivalent to guiding a Humvee through the dangerous streets of Kabul or Baghdad. Our leaders may not have the courage to tell us this, but we cannot borrow and consume our way out of trouble.
The path forward will take more discipline and cooperation. The example we can follow was set on that terrible day two years ago, when some Americans gave up their lives to save others, and all of us, at least for the moment, gave up our petty differences to act as one nation.