What course of action should Americans take?, that is the question.
I agree. Calm down. Turn off the TV whenever a member of Congress or White House comes on, especially once they start to discuss how Clinton-Gore gutted defense and intelligence spending, etc.
Give blood and money to help the injured.
What course should the US take?
A major re-think is in order. One hopes that someone has a moment of clarity.
How many hundreds of billions spent yearly on defense, security, and intelligence (not counting law enforcement at all those levels) and this still happens?
I think those in charge on the current watch really need to be held accountable. Expose them for the frauds they are. Bush hunkers down in a bunker somewhere, and then releases some bogus claim that Air Force One was a target. What a hero. Doubly so, since he used how much press time to talk up anti-missile defense technology that may never work.
At least Giuliani showed he's got guts, however stupid it was to put his emergency command center at the base of the biggest target.
Anyway, America needs to deal with its grief. You can't do that if all you have is revenge in your heart. The gov't and media orchestrations of grief are far too quick and not real. Like what I saw on TV with the fire policeman singing Amazing Grace. It had all the authenticity of feeling as the National Anthem being sung at the 96th Mets game this season. And why should Washington be doing this when NYC is still pulling bodies out of the wreckage?
False grief and poorly focussed rage is what the establishment will use to push the agenda forward, so as to distract from the galling fact that the US wastes all that money on its 'security' and gets none.
Those of us on the left shouldn't back this bogus 'loyal opposition' crap.
Yours, Charles Jannuzi Fukui, Japan