20250120 - A Failure of Imagination

It's Been Quite a While

I expect these posts to be infrequent for now, but I was inspired by yesterday and would love to hear from my old readers.

Way back in 2001, on the fateful morning of September 11th, we faced, as a country, one of the most unfathomable tragedies in our Country’s history. Shortly after that terrible day, in one of its first course of action, Congress met and managed to agree that an understanding of what happened should be prepared so that we could learn from the day’s events.

In due time, The 9/11 Commission Report was published. I felt it was almost the duty of Americans of all stripes to read the book, consider its consequences, and apply the lessons of that horrible day.

I read the book and it was indeed sobering. For me, what I remember most about the book were not some arcane detail. Rather it was the near poetic synopsis of the reason 9/11 was able to occur.

A FAILURE OF IMAGINATION

When all was said and done, a ragtag group of 20 hijackers (one was in jail in Minnesota) turned the world upside down. The final tally determined the sum total of the effort was achieved for about $500,000. A paltry sum when we consider the far-reaching consequences.

When people become disaffected, angry, and embrace cultish ideas, no matter their reasoning it can unleash the most unexpected of consequences. The final analysis of what happened that September morning was:

The 9/11 Commission's final report identified "failure of imagination" as a key factor in the United States' inability to prevent the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

I thought of this late last evening and was inspired to return to Substack, if only for a day. I don’t know for how long or in what circumstance so for now, here’s one post. I’ll see if in the coming days I want to continue.

For now, the only thing I want to do is provide you with a poll. Polls were one of my favorite elements whenever I wrote a post. I always tried to pick something topical. I hope this fits the bill.

On the first day of President Trump’s return to office I thought I might give EVERYONE a chance to check in with how they feel. The theme is simply your memory of January 20th, 2025. If I don’t provide an answer that works for you, PLEASE check in and share your best answer that works better for you. Hope that some of you meet me in the comments. I wish there were more options but I see that Substack still limits us to five options :). BTW my picture today was at the swearing in. Apparently hand on the Bible is now optional :)