Every generation looks back on its own childhood as an idyllic time, but every childhood inevitably ends. The first wave of Baby Boomers, born after World War II and too young for the Korean War, saw their idyllic era come to an end with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, followed by the escalating Vietnam War and social strife that accompanied it. Millennials, my generation, remember the 1990s through the same rose-colored glasses. Our childhoods ended when the second plane hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
The 90s were objectively a special time. The Cold War was over and the threat of nuclear annihilation was lifted from the Earth. Political debates centered on tax rates and welfare reform, and even Democratic President Bill Clinton said abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.” Our government was producing the first budget surpluses in a generation. The internet was opening up a whole new world of possibilities, Hollywood was producing blockbuster after blockbuster, and Michael Jordan, Mark McGwire, and John Elway were thrilling sports fans across the country. It seemed like America had crested a hill after a long, tough climb and was set for unparalleled prosperity for the foreseeable future.
Then the second plane hit the World Trade Center.
In the weeks, months, and years following 9/11, the United States tried to adapt to a brave new world. We launched invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, meant to destroy the terrorists who planned the attacks and prevent anyone else from ever having the power to carry out another. The Global War on Terror spread to other Middle Eastern and African nations, drawing America into conflicts in Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, and many other faraway places. A new system of airport security was created, leading to absurd situations like having to throw out juice bottles before boarding an airplane. Government security services were reorganized into the Department of Homeland Security, while the USA PATRIOT Act was passed to enable better interagency cooperation, but was later revealed by Edward Snowden to justify warrantless spying on American citizens.
What didn’t happen following 9/11 is almost as important as what did. The United States did not take a hard stance against Islam, nor did we restrict immigration. In fact, we did the opposite. President George W. Bush went to a mosque and called Islam a “religion of peace.” More migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from Islamic countries came to America in the years following 9/11 than in the years prior. Left-wing news outlets became more concerned with “Islamophobia” than with the still-present threat of Islamic terrorism. Today, a Muslim socialist is mayor of New York City, while Democratic influencers such as Hasan Piker have said that America deserved 9/11.
The days following 9/11 saw an outburst of unity in America not seen since World War II. Remember Democrats and Republicans gathering on the Capitol steps to sing “God Bless America” together? That unity was never going to last, of course, but if only we had known how fleeting it would be. Democrats in 2001 believed—at least publicly—that we should control our border, that marriage was between a man and a woman, that boys are boys and girls are girls, and, perhaps most importantly, that America was a great nation. How many Democrats believe those things today? How can we share unity with people who have such fundamentally different beliefs about what our country is and what it should be?
How many Democrats, such as Piker, Zohran Mamdani, or Ilhan Omar, believe that America was the villain in the story of 9/11?
Fixing this situation will require soberly confronting where we went wrong. As a nation, we abandoned the Christian foundation of our society, we abandoned the idea that America is a people worth preserving, and we lost confidence in ourselves and our countrymen. We adopted the lie that all cultures are equal; even that other cultures—including those that motivated the 9/11 attacks themselves—are superior to our own. We became the stereotypical liberal who won’t even take his own side in an argument. The conservative movement wasted a generation of blood and treasure on foreign wars on the premise that we must fight them over there lest we fight them here—but then we brought “them” here anyway.
On September 10, 2001, the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York City, and you could meet your family at the airport gate. Today, the Taliban rule Afghanistan, Zohran Mamdani is mayor of New York City, and you have to wait by the curb to see your family. Is this progress?
The only constant in human history is change. We cannot go back to the world of the 1990s, the world that ended on September 11, 2001. The only way out is through. The best time to correct course after making a wrong turn is immediately. The second best time is now.
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About Brian Almon
Brian Almon is the Editor of the Gem State Chronicle. He also serves as Chairman of the District 14 Republican Party and is a trustee of the Eagle Public Library Board. He lives with his wife and six children in Eagle.
