It’s been a quarter century, but the fury and grief have not dimmed in the slightest. James, Steve, and Charles recall that fateful day and reflect on life in America since.
A few recommended articles for commemoration:
“The Martyred Towers,” James Lileks – Substack
“Look Back in Anger at 9/11,” Charles CW Cooke – National Review
“The Untold Pre-History of 9/11,” Chris Naylor – National Interest
“What Mohammed Atta Was Trying to Tell Us,” Ayaan Hirsi Ali – Tablet Magazine
This week’s episode is 100% ad-free, as we take up the somber subject of “memory against forgetting” (to borrow Milan Kundera’s useful phrase) on the subject of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, and we didn’t want to risk getting an automated ad for “Jihadis-R-Us Truck Rental” or something. John was at the Dept. of Justice that day (and late into the night); Steve was four blocks from the White House (and due to meet there at 11 am that morning), and Lucretia was overseas in Germany toward the end of her stint there as a military spouse (and mom to young children that she never once thought about strangling).
In addition to personal reflections, we go through a few of the key issues that became urgent that day, such as the necessary transition from regarding terrorist acts as criminal matters to seeing them more properly as acts of war, requiring a war-fighting mentality. This necessary shift remains controversial, of course. John recalls this in detail in a piece for Civitas Outlook, “Remembering 9/11 and the War We Fought.” Don’t miss it!
For 25 years, CAIR and other American Muslims have, with considerable success, promoted the idea that the prevailing message of 9/11 is that it would be Islamophobic to tar Islam with any semblance of blame for the mass murder on 9/11 carried out by Arab Muslims in the name of Islam. It is statistically indisputable that the vast majority of Muslim American citizens are not in any way currently involved in terrorism or violence; therefore, as we are told, any imputation of fault to Islam would be unfair. We even permitted a mosque to be included in the building that replaced the Twin Towers.
We are also told that any Quranic suras calling for violence apply only to long-past historical contexts and that violent jihad is only permissible in self-defense and even that jihad really means a personal struggle for a deeper spiritual life. Oddly enough, millions of Muslims (including the 9/11 terrorists) have apparently misinterpreted their defining texts for centuries. Was the violent conquest of much of the Christian world, the destruction of tens of thousands of Christian churches and synagogues, the enslavement of millions (probably 14 million mostly European Christians and 10 million Africans) all just pre-emptive self-defense in search of a deeper spirituality or perhaps merely an honest and forgivable misreading of the Quran and the Hadith?
This isn’t a 9/11 story, but it kinda is. I am over the fact that I came so close to dying on that day. I was supposed to be on United flight 175 to LA on that beautiful cloudless Tuesday morning. I made that flight many times for work. My customer this time was east of Fresno, so the plan was to fly to LA and drive up. I hated flying on Mondays. It was only a couple of hours more than flying to San Francisco. My customer was beyond pissed. He was ready to send the machines back. I was the engineering manager, so I had to go. But I refused to go. I insisted on going on vacation instead. My boss said any of us, including me, could be replaced. I told him to do what he had to do. I took the time off and painted my kitchen. Listening to God is the only reason why I am here to write this today at 12:48 AM on September 11, 2026.
The gate at Logan Airport was always the same. It changed a lot since then, but UA175 was all the way down the end of the Terminal C hall, then turn right all the way to the end. I have nightmares about the morning I didn’t have. I got Dunkin coffee, and then I would have run into my classmate Brian Sweeney. We weren’t friends, but I would have recognized him. (Please say a prayer for his family today. PLEASE VIEW THIS LINK.) I know his sister, and I have gotten closer to his older brother over the years since. I have just seen him tonight, and he is the same hollow guy I’ve known for years. It’s sad.
The issue this week on Conservative Crossroads: Has the Trump administration done enough to advance a pro-life agenda? Kris Ullman, the President of Eagle Forum, says, “No.” Eric Teetsel, CEO and publisher of Chronicles Magazine, says, “Yes.”
The pro-life agenda and the Trump administration’s advocacy coming up…
Yes, that is actually what Tucker Carlson and his lunatic guest Jess Elofson concluded recently. Further, they decided that mixing letters with numbers is fake math. Math being a subject Tucker regards Elofson as having “high” knowledge of because he can build a wood kiln. Jess Elofson is a ceramicist, so I’m not sure why we would care about his views on algebra or Jews.
You’ll want to watch the video of the exchange (NSFW). It was so funny, I’ve enjoyed it multiple times.
The primaries are nearly finished, and Labor Day is behind us—that means it’s officially midterm season! To mark the occasion, Henry catches up with Cook Political Report’s Erin Covey to discuss the races that look competitive now in mid-September and how she’ll gauge contests as we approach November. From consideration of surprising events and the movement of outside expenditures, Henry and Erin dive deep into the circumstances that might yield a good election return for either party in a midterm that’s more of a toss-up than polls might suggest.
Henry has tonight’s RNC midterm convention in mind as he rants through the kind of messaging Republican candidates should adopt for this unfavorable cycle. Plus, he thinks through one of the great puzzles of the current system: If the parties are increasingly doing the heavy lifting on ballots, what should we make of the record sums being spent on candidates?
In my youth, I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.
— Benjamin Franklin
Even back in the days of our Founders, it was self-evident that what we now call public welfare
was a bad idea. He realized that when the poor became dependent on the dole, they became poorer. Their impoverishment showed up in several ways: they became lazy and lethargic, unmotivated to take on the effort of managing one’s life. They saw little advantage in supporting themselves, expecting instead to be taken care of. They developed a sense of entitlement and lost the drive to extend themselves to achieve self-sufficiency and to provide for their families. When state-provided funds ran out or were withdrawn, the recipients were enraged by the deprivation. Welfare does nothing to empower people, nor does it benefit society.
Ray and I were talking yesterday about what has been going on in Seattle recently. In particular, there have been multiple shootings and homicides, among other mayhem, along the route that he normally drives to and from his athletic club near Pike Place Market downtown. I write about it here: https://rushbabe49.com/2026/09/07/seattle-today/
I know that his Maps app always lays out the fastest route, even when he is not remotely time-pressured, and he is conditioned to always look for the fastest way, even when not necessary. His Maps often routes him down surface streets and back roads when it judges that the route is faster than the freeway, and he mostly just does what it tells him to do.
This week on Freedom to Learn, DFI Guest Host Angela Morabito is joined by Daniel Buck, American Enterprise Institute Research Fellow and Director of the Conservative Education Reform Network (CERN). Daniel breaks down the student behavior crisis facing America’s K–12 classrooms, explaining how persistent low-level disruptions contribute to teacher burnout. He also reveals the progressive ideological imbalance facing teacher preparation programs today and what can be done to fix it, defends the importance of standardized testing, and shares how schools can restore the parent-teacher divide.
Pedagogy of the Progressives: A Review of Syllabi from Graduate Schools of Education, Sept. 9, 2026, by Daniel Buck: https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/pedagogy-of-the-progressives-a-review-of-syllabi-from-graduate-schools-of-education/
The horror show that was the Lindsay Clancy trial may be repeated if the civil suit defendants (four psychiatrists, four health care facilities, and three nurse practitioners and therapists) choose to go to trial rather than settle. I have no expertise as to what the standard of care was in this case or whether there was some breach. I do expect that emotional factors will loom larger than legal or medical issues.
My prejudice about psychiatry is that it involves ad hoc mixtures of talking and numerous drugs to an end where, if the patient actually improves with respect to emotional and mental health, then the psychiatrist takes credit, much like a professional rainmaker whose rituals seem effective if it actually rains or like Anthony Fauci expecting to be regarded as the hero who defeated COVID after it faded naturally entirely on its own.
Hey folks. As the title says: long time no see. I hope all is well.
A lot has happened since last I saw you, both personally and societally. My husband, JY, and I have permanently relocated to Texas and spend our time in there (daughter and three granddaughters) and Arizona (sons #1 and #3 and six grandchildren) and California (son #2; no grandchildren – yet – so he doesn’t get as much of our attention. Recently married, so hopefully that situation changes soon.)
World renowned for his beauty and his above-average thoughtfulness, Yuval Levin joins the guys. Why does he describe his work as gratitude for America? Why can’t you script a career path? Why do we overcomplicate questions of virtue? Is it true that Ben once sheared a sheep with Yuval in western Nebraska? All this and so much more.
[The following is adapted from the speech I will be making the first day of Rosh Hashanah this weekend]
The world is sick. Humanity is dying out. And this is not because of external forces, but entirely driven by tendencies that, in the big picture, can only be described as broadly suicidal. Individuals, communities, entire nations, and Western Civilization writ large have lost the desire to live. It’s a uniquely modern phenomenon, caused by the conditions of modern life. Survival is no longer hard, and people have generally decided that life is not worth the hassle.
In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of the Ohio State University speak with Owen Stearns, CEO of Excel Academy Charter Schools. Stearns discusses his more than two decades of experience in charter school leadership and education reform. He shares how his formative educational experiences and background in strategy consulting shaped his approach to leading Excel, which now serves nearly 2,000 students across six schools in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He explores Excel’s academic expectations, distinctive school culture, teacher leadership, and focus on strong outcomes in reading and math. Stearns also discusses serving urban students and families, supporting students at risk of falling behind, and managing the network’s expansion while maintaining academic quality. Finally, he examines Massachusetts’ charter school landscape, the political challenges facing the sector since the 2016 ballot initiative loss, and what policymakers and charter leaders can do to support high-performing schools.
With the recent passing of Gloria Steinem, I have some questions for feminists.
Why are you still angry? You won. The following statements are generalizations—of course, there exists anecdotal evidence to rebut each statement. Nonetheless, there is consensus that they are currently generally true.
The Marquis de Lafayette came to America at age 19, on his own dime, to earn glory on the battlefield. He quickly became one of the Revolution’s greatest believers, and spent the rest of his life admiring the spirit and goals of the American Revolution and the republic it birthed.
Author Ryan Cole joins us this week to discuss his book, The Last Adieu, which chronicles Lafayette’s tour of America 40 years after the Revolution. Visiting every state, and meeting with surviving veterans and leaders, along with the next generation of prominent Americans, his experience gave him a unique perspective on the country he helped create.
Apropos of the Lindsay Clancy trial, soon to be Saint Fulton Sheen, had this to say:
Bishop Fulton Sheen, half a century ago:
"Just think, my dear ladies, of how many mentally disturbed women we are going to have in the United States in the next 10 or 15 years when the guilt of abortion begins to attack the mind and soul.". 🤯 pic.twitter.com/eaX6xcOQkr
— L A R R Y (@LarryOConnor) January 12, 2026
Before Lehman. Before AIG and Bear Stearns. Before Fannie and Freddie. Before TARP and bailouts became part of the American political lexicon, there was a hedge fund in Greenwich, Connecticut, whose vulnerability to collapse was considered so dangerous that the Federal Reserve of New York commanded a meeting of the most powerful financial institutions in the world and told them — told them, they did not ask — to write checks and stated dollar amounts. Technically, no taxpayer money changed hands, but the template was established: private losses, socialized risk. The idea of “too big to fail” or maybe “too connected to fail” was established. At least the people responsible, the people who were supposed to be the smartest guys in the room … any room … lost everything in the process. It’s only fair that those who nearly burned down the house went up in smoke.
There is a seemingly particular troika of personality traits common in financial failures … Big Brain. Big Ego. Big Mouth. It may seem strange to imbue a hedge fund with a personality, but Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) of old money, white-shoe Greenwich, Connecticut, had one, and it embodied this lethal troika.
A lot of ink has been spilled over the MOST HISTORIC OIL DEAL IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD that Trump announced last week. But much of the hysteria is misplaced because few people know what was actually agreed and who the players really are.
First, consider the structure of the deal. Venezuela is transferring 17 oil concessions to North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), which has a total of 65 billion barrels of proved reserves (about 20% of Venezuela’s total proved reserves). NABEP will invest $100B in refurbishing the fields and oil infrastructure.
The AfD regional win in Germany (44% of the vote with 78% turnout) is the harbinger of a fundamental schism in Europe between self-determination and rule by an elite class.
There are incredible inertial forces within the EU resisting any change — whether to energy policy, immigration or national identity. The AfD has been barred in former elections, and their counterparts in other countries have been banned; the existing order is not going to simply hand over power.
I’m afraid so.
It may or may not have anything to do with the recent purchase of The Telegraph Media Group by Axel Springer for a little more than half a billion pounds in mid 2026. Axel Springer also runs the German brands Bild and Die Welt (German-language brands billed as leaning “center-right”), as well as the US brands Politico and Business Insider (English-language brands leaning “center-left” or just wholly “left”).
Nevertheless.
I was fired several times from my first job, but they always brought me back.