Some Chicago Boyz know each other from student days at the University of Chicago. Others are Chicago boys in spirit. The blog name is also intended as a good-humored gesture of admiration for distinguished Chicago School economists and fellow travelers.
In October 2002 a friend of mine, Tom Holsinger, wrote about 9/11/2001 and the people on Flight 93 — Our fellow citizens who rose up and fought Al Qaeda, when all others, our military, our political leaders, our law enforcement, were frozen in surprise — at the strategypage.com web site.
Students of American character should pay close attention to Flight 93. A random sample of American adults was subjected to the highest possible stress and organized themselves in a terribly brief period, without benefit of training or group tradition other than their inherent national consciousness, to foil a well planned and executed terrorist attack. Recordings show the passengers and cabin crew of Flight 93 ordinary Americans all exemplified the virtues Americans hold most dear.
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Certain death came for them by surprise but they did not panic and instead immediately organized, fought and robbed terror of its victory. They died but were not defeated.
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Ordinary Americans confronted by enemies behaved exactly like the citizen-soldiers eulogized in Victor Davis Hanson’s Carnage and Culture.
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Herman Wouk called the heroic sacrifice of the USS Enterprise’s Torpedo 8 squadron at the Battle of Midway “… the soul of America in action.” Flight 93 was the soul of America, and the American people know it. They spontaneously created a shrine at the crash site to express what is in their hearts and minds but not their mouths. They are waiting for a poet. Normally a President fills this role.
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But Americans feel it now. They don’t need a government or leader for that, and didn’t to guide their actions on Flight 93, because they really are America. Go to the crash shrine and talk to people there. Something significant resonates through them which is different from, and possibly greater than, the shock of suffering a Pearl Harbor attack at home.
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Pearl Harbor remains a useful analogy given Admiral Isokoru Yamamoto’s statement on December 7, 1941 “I fear we have woken a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve.” They were giants on Flight 93.
This is the spontaneous memorial wall erected by Americans for the passengers and crew of Flight 93 in a field near Shanksville, PA.
5 thoughts on “The Giants of Flight 93, Plus 17 years”
I thought this was well-put:
“The Era of Osama lasted about an hour and half or so, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty.”
Abdulmutallab initially cooperated with investigators, then stopped talking. The decision to read him his Miranda rights, advising him of his right to remain silent, generated criticism from a number of mostly Republican politicians.
Of course they were Republicans ! Obama got him shut up quickly.
That’s a good speech. But the delivery is just awful. Reading speeches isn’t his forte, at all. His inaugural address, the Poland speech, and this, are really great, and so much better read than watched. He’s unparalleled in his freewheeling rallies, and on twitter, but these sorts of speeches are not his thing.
Trump’s delivery isn’t that bad. It’s because his ad-libbing and extemporaneous speeches are so very effective and persuasive that the formal speeches sound flat in comparison. Using the teleprompter often constrains him into a perfunctory mode that dampens the enthusiasm. However, I don’t think this speech was that way. I felt he was emotionally connected. It was fine.
I thought this was well-put:
“The Era of Osama lasted about an hour and half or so, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty.”
–James Robbins of UPI, cited here:
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/33842/
Indeed.
The last airplane hijacking, at least of an American airliner.
Robert Reid learned the hard way,
So did Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab .
Abdulmutallab initially cooperated with investigators, then stopped talking. The decision to read him his Miranda rights, advising him of his right to remain silent, generated criticism from a number of mostly Republican politicians.
Of course they were Republicans ! Obama got him shut up quickly.
That’s a good speech. But the delivery is just awful. Reading speeches isn’t his forte, at all. His inaugural address, the Poland speech, and this, are really great, and so much better read than watched. He’s unparalleled in his freewheeling rallies, and on twitter, but these sorts of speeches are not his thing.
Trump’s delivery isn’t that bad. It’s because his ad-libbing and extemporaneous speeches are so very effective and persuasive that the formal speeches sound flat in comparison. Using the teleprompter often constrains him into a perfunctory mode that dampens the enthusiasm. However, I don’t think this speech was that way. I felt he was emotionally connected. It was fine.