Misread Signals

The biggest long-term problem with the events of September 11, 2001, it turns out, wasn't the shock to the American psyche. It wasn't -- you may be surprised to learn that I believe this -- that it dragged us into a war on the political-philosophy-which-isn't that is terrorism.

No, the biggest, most outrageous, maybe the most cataclysmic* problem with 9/11 was that we, collectively, learned the wrong lesson:

A wake-up call, yes. Reveille. But it wasn't calling us to a War on Terror -- that is, on bullshit of a particular kind. It was time for a War on Bullshit of all kinds.

By now? We're waaaay overdue.

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* The jury's still out on that one.