It Can’t Happen Here… Never again… Or can it – Or has it?
The Problem with 9/11/2001…
It happened in a day and grabbed our attention, but it took years of preparation. We’ve been lamenting and memorializing it for 25 years, yet we still haven’t learned a goddamned thing — look where we are today.
“Winning the war requires planning and patience. Losing it requires nothing at all.”
Napoleon Bonaparte said, “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” And we’re quietly sitting on the sidelines, watching and ‘screwing the pooch’ in grand style.
Guess What… Our enemies have access to the same historical information we do, and many of their leaders were educated at our top colleges and universities. The biggest difference is that they’ve learned from it, adapted it, and use it to their advantage. But we ignore it, dismiss it, and actually believe that our prominence protects us from the lessons of thousands of years of history.
I’d planned to stay on the sidelines about this, but the media’s insincere wailing, gnashing of teeth, and feigned outrage this morning pushed my resolve and my medication to the breaking point.
The 9/11 attack was a terrible event in our history. We should remember it forever, but we need to move past it, address the enormous problems facing us today, including the very problem that led to this attack, and learn the lessons it teaches. But… we’re still playing the partisan blame game.
The attack on New York City was an attempt to cripple our economic engine. They had no idea how America worked back then, but trust me, they do now.
Socialist mayors and Islamic fundamentalists running for office and already in office?
You’ve GOT to be shitting me!
We’ve allowed it to become another tool of partisan division. Several radical groups use this event to define themselves and to fight for control of America. They’ve already captured our attention and are taking control of critical sectors of our government. It’s a tool to poke us in the eye and to remind us how vulnerable we are.
Ilhan Omar’s “Some people did something…” comment is a reminder of how deeply these radical insurgents are embedded and how sacrosanct they believe themselves to be. They are elites in our government who believe they are untouchable. It’s not just Ilhan Omar; it’s the entire Radical Left, operating with perceived impunity.
And we play right along with them…
Wake up, America! This is just one of thousands of daily clashes in the battle, and it shows their particular contempt for America. These immigrants are here to disrupt the normal functions of our republic; the republic we are in jeopardy of losing, I might add. And we nod along in agreement. We sanction… we condone their actions by putting them in office.
Do any of you remember the 1950s Red Scare and the McCarthy era? He was right, you know; maybe a bit overzealous, but on the money nonetheless.
There are several other examples I could cite, but that’s not my reason for this commentary. We need to wake up to the fact that this is our doing and therefore ours to stop.
When will we wake up to realize our enemies don’t give a rat’s ass about which party is in charge? As long as we’re fighting among ourselves, we’re distracted and vulnerable.
How many simultaneous wars are we currently fighting? The answer is 7, if you care to check. Our military is spread across the globe in 7 major operations, tying up 174,000 troops, consuming precious military resources, and playing the waiting game to see what runs out first. Will it be the military supplies and resources or our patience on the home front? Believe me, the Military-Industrial Complex is doing backflips for joy as we blow up $1500 drones with a million-dollar missile.
Who’s winning this war?
On the home front, we can’t define the difference between a boy and a girl; we let men play in women’s sports; we have over 20 gender descriptors; 55 political parties; sanctuary cities; cashless bail; cities that want to defund and abolish the police and that allow $900 shoplifting sprees; states that want open international borders; judges who help illegal aliens escape custody; students who protest for gay rights in countries that punish gays by killing them and who cannot find the country they support on a map or globe; and political parties that support free healthcare, tuition, and food and want to free all prisoners, but ignore the impact of their suggestions.
If America is to survive, we must learn from history, not just the major events of thousands of years ago, but specifically from our mistakes over the past 250 years, most importantly those in the 21st century.
I know I’ve used this quote hundreds of times over the years, but this is a perfect reason to use it again:
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” ~ George Santayana, 1905, from The Life of Reason.
Our attention is so thinly spread that we cannot possibly monitor all the significant precursors, especially those related to our idea of geopolitical isolation and safety from foreign instability. We bring our enemies to the table and then forget their nefarious intentions because our internal squabbles are immediately most important, yet these guests learn volumes simply by watching. I cannot ignore the mainstream media’s culpability not only for publishing the nitty-gritty details but also for inventing their own colorful versions and accounts. I doubt that many of our enemies grasp the nuance. Maybe some do, but we’re telling the world that America is a complete cock-up. And we seem to be proud of it!
Here’s the dilemma, as I see it.
It is mathematically and logistically impossible to guarantee 100% safety and security when tens of millions of unvetted people are in this country without verified identities and intentions. I don’t suggest any wholesale witch hunts or roundups; that won’t resolve the immediate problem facing this republic, but I do believe there is a compromise position
I firmly believe our issue is a matter of National Pride and Identity.
We have been a deeply polarized and fragmented country since 9/11. Patriotism and pride are the culprits. The majority of older generations express high levels of national pride, while younger generations increasingly define their patriotism as a desire to critique and reform systemic social issues. This political gridlock over national security and immigration exposes a deep ideological split over the very meaning of the United States.
It’s a perfect storm of technological, cultural, and political shifts over the past two decades that brought us here. While 9/11 initially united the country in intense patriotism, that unity gradually crumbled as we began to experience separate realities.
The mainstream media, algorithmic echo chambers on the internet, the Portable Altars of Enlightenment (smartphones), and specifically tailored not-so-social media algorithms fundamentally changed how we consume information, its quality, and its message. It split the narrative into outrage and political bias, rather than a unifying national pride. It divided us into ideological silos, where opposing views were not just wrong but immoral.
It promoted a shift from ‘Reforming’ to ‘Condemning’ our history. A major generational divide emerged over how the American Story is told. Older generations adhere to a classical narrative of American exceptionalism, believing we are inherently good and occasionally flawed. Conversely, younger generations and progressive institutions moved toward a framework centered on our historic injustices, such as slavery and displacement. On one side, traditional patriotism feels like necessary loyalty; on the other, it feels like blindness to historical and systemic evil.
We’ve chosen to separate ourselves geographically and socially over the past 20 years. We choose where to live, which churches to attend, which institutions meet our needs, which political alignment speaks to us, and which neighborhood associations, unions, clubs, and tribes we belong to. That’s when political parties stepped in to fill the void, becoming a source of personal and tribal identity and belonging.
This profound ideological rift fundamentally transformed America from unity to intense political disagreement and a society experiencing ‘affective polarization,’ in which two sides not only disagree on policy but genuinely hate each other.
The most immediate casualty is the federal government’s failure to solve long-term problems. Bipartisan compromise is treated as treason, incentivizing lawmakers to block legislation rather than find the middle ground. This results in a permanent state of crisis governance, leading to routine government shutdowns, frozen judicial appointments, and an inability to address critical structural issues such as immigration reform, the national debt, and entitlement spending.
It’s given rise to ‘Two Americas” economically and legally. A paralyzed and fractured government, down to the state level, creates a country where citizens’ basic rights, tax burdens, and daily realities depend entirely on the color of their state’s map.
Red States aggressively push forward deregulated business environments, strict border enforcement, restrictions on abortion access, and the expansion of gun rights
Blue States move in the exact opposite direction, establishing aggressive green-energy mandates, higher tax rates to fund social safety nets, sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants, and strict gun-control regulations.
We are not geographically sorted, where corporations and individuals actively migrate to states matching their ideological views, further deepening the divide.
Historically, American foreign policy stopped at the water’s edge, presenting a unified front to global adversaries. Today, that unity is gone! Our adversaries, such as China, Russia, and Iran, openly exploit our internal divisiveness, using targeted cyber-disinformation campaigns to fan the flames of domestic anger. Now, because the White House has brought about a total reversal of foreign policy and international treaties, global allies no longer view us as a reliable, predictable long-term partner.
That is not to suggest we roll over to accommodate international whims, but rather that strong positions on non-interference and on functional, mutually beneficial trade agreements should prevail over reactionary, punitive tariffs. Adopting a bullying posture does not promote international collaboration and participation; it further alienates us from potential partners.
America’s internal stance must reflect our unity as a republic and as a nation. This is the face the world sees in this age of instantaneous global information.
We can continue to slice and dice this country into ever smaller pieces or decide to change direction.
We will either survive this crisis or succumb to its destructive power. If we hope to survive and thrive as a republic, we need to pull our heads out of our collective asses and see what lies ahead.
United we live, divided we fall.
In 1858, President Lincoln cited Mark 3:25 in his speech. He said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided.”
On June 18th, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte’s decisive historical defeat permanently ended his reign as Emperor of France. Fought near the village of Waterloo in modern-day Belgium, the battle concluded over two decades of recurrent warfare across the European continent.
From where I sit, this is our Waterloo.
As my father often remarked, “It’s time to shit or get off the pot.”
For the Amalgamated Heavy
‘The devil you say…‘
September 11, 2026
~ the Author ~
Charles R. Dickens Was Born in 1951, Is a Veteran of the Vietnam War, for Which He Volunteered, and the Great-Great Grandson of the Noted Author, Whose Name He Shares.
He Is a Fiercely Proud American, Who Still Believes This Is the Greatest Country on the Planet, With Which We’ve Lost Control and Certainly Our Direction. He Grew Up in Moderate Financial Surrounding; We’re Not Rich by Any Stretch, but Didn’t Go Hungry – His Incredibly Hard Working Father Saw to That. As Most From That Era, He Learned About Life From His Father, Whose Story Would Take Too Long to Tell, Other Than to Say That, He Is Also a Fiercely Proud American; A WWII and Korean War, Veteran Marine.
Charlie Was Educated in the Parochial System Which, Demanded That You Actually Learn Something, and Have Capability to Retain It Before You Advance. He Attended Several Universities in Pursuit of a Bachelor’s Degree, and Chased the Goose Further to a Master’s, and Has Retained Some Very Definite Ideas About Education in This Country.
in Addition, Charlie Is a Retired Blues Guitar and Vocalist – a Musician. This Was His Therapy Career. Nothing Brings Him as Much Joy as Playing Music, and He Wishes That He Could Make a Living at It… but Alas… Life Goes on!