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| Chris Matthews: Insults to the American soul | |
| 2001-09-16 | |
Only now, with the towers gone, do we Americans appreciate what our cities mean to us. In the War of 1812, British troops marched into Washington in 1814 and burned the White House, the Capitol and other government buildings. But that was long ago. Germans know what it means to see their cities in rubble. The Japanese know. The Poles know. The people of Iraq know. Now we know. "I can't tell you how sad I am and America is," President Bush told the people of New York on Thursday. "I want you to know there is a quiet anger in America. I can't tell you how proud I am of the good citizens and the extraordinary job you all are doing." But there was no more impressive politician last week than New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. He spent the days walking through the rubble, consoling the people of his city, urging unity. A combination of morale officer and grief counselor, he knew the indispensable power of being there.
We're talking about an amputation. New York can no sooner forget its lost World Trade Center than Ahab could forget his lost leg. The atrocities at the World Trade Center and Pentagon were insults to the American soul as well as injuries to our body. The grand cityscape of New York took years to take form; it took an hour and a half to change forever. Losing the World Trade Center is a permanent blow, as if Washington were to lose the Capitol, or San Francisco the Golden Gate Bridge. | |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |