Has it really been seven years?

The Election and September 11

On this, the seventh time the United States has observed the events of September 11, 2001, one may say with confidence: Forget national unity.

That John McCain and Barack Obama had to set aside their differences over the war on terror to stand together this morning at the grim hole that was the Twin Towers testifies to the political divide that emerged after September 11.

While the government has broken up several terrorist plots in Buffalo, Los Angeles, New Jersey and Miami, these real-world events have been overwhelmed by the political battles over the Bush antiterror policies -- the Patriot Act, Guantanamo, warrantless wiretaps, military commissions, CIA interrogations of terror suspects.

So begins a fine article by Daniel Henninger in The Wall Street Journal today.


Read the whole thing.