9/11, Five Years Later: How Has America REALLY Changed?

Time Magazine this week features as its cover story, this:...then they go into pointing out that, in fact, we lost quite a bit:

This has become the loss with no grave, no chance for mourning, because we still live it every day--the loss of that transcendent unity, global goodwill, common purpose born of righteous anger that wrapped us like a bandage those first months after the attacks: a President with a 90% approval rating, a Congress working as one, expressions of sympathy and offers of help from every corner of the planet. WE ARE ALL AMERICANS, said Le Monde.

That unity was never going to last. The world more easily prefers a superpower when it's wounded and weakened than when it rises and growls. But we have not merely returned to the messy family arguments of Sept. 10. We are divided at home, dreaded abroad, in need of a hard conversation about America's vital interests and abiding values but too bitter and suspicious to have it.

"We are all Americans"...I thought about that for a while, and realized that we can lay the blame squarely at the doorstep of the Republicans and Bush for this.

We Are All Americans...unless your name is Muhammad, or Ali.

We Are All Americans...unless your religion requires you to wear a turban on your head, or a burqa or caftan.

We Are All Americans...until you disagree with the President's "war."

We Are All Americans...unless you're a Democrat.

We Are All Americans...unless you're a liberal.

We Are All Americans...unless you complain about the loss of freedoms, the horrid prosecution of the military action in the Middle East.

We Are All Americans...unless torture disturbs you.

We Are All Americans...unless you question Israel's actions in Lebanon.

We Are All Americans...unless you're running against George Bush.

We Are All Americans...unless you work for a living, or your name is Warren Buffett or George Soros.

We Are All Americans...unless you live on a coast.

We Are All Americans...unless you're gay or lesbian.

We Are All Americans...unless you're foolish enough to actually pay taxes.

We Are All Americans...unless your state pays more in income tax than it gets back from the Federal Government in spending on programs and homeland security.

We Are All Americans...unless you're poor.

We Are All Americans...unless you go to public school and get left behind.

We Are All Americans...unless we can say you aren't.

(I can see this post will be updated frequently throughout the day, so feel free to leave ideas in the comments)

Elderta
We are all Americans... unless you're from New Orleans.

cathcatz
We are all Americans... unless you don't worship the way we say you should.

Jacq
We are all Americans...Unless you want to exercise your freedom of speech