9/11: The Beginning of the End of the Great American Century

With the 10th annual remembrance of that fateful fall day, you will be privy to many stories of soldiers and first responders, of families and fathers, of bravery and heroism; my reflections on 9-11 and the past decade are none of that, at least not directly.

Ten years ago I was serving the city of Madison, WI as one of her aldermen. My reverence of the positive power of good governance fueled my drive to pull for the people. I believed that proper oversight could bring fractious factions together. I ran for public office in part to demonstrate that governing could be conducted for and by its own purity and principle.

Since that day someone thought it a good idea to mix planes and buildings, I have come to understand many things: how divisiveness brings divide, how confrontation destroys sympathy and good will, and how my distrust crystallized into full-blown cynicism of the intent of some in government.

On September 11, 2001, America was the light of the world, a nation that others looked to as a model. On September 12, the sympathy and hearts of the planet were on our side. Soon thereafter, when the line in the sand was drawn - "You're either with us or against us." Our bluster blew away that outpouring. Now, at the beginning of the end of the Great American Century, many around the world suspect our nation's motives and intentions.

I had suspected something fishy after the 2000 presidential election - rife with election tampering and a Supreme Court presidential selection - but I still had faith in the process of politics. After 9/11 and the U.S. invasion and occupation of foreign nations - nations not necessarily responsible for the attacks and which happened to be on top of our oil - I began to fear my trust had been misplaced. Everyone had been turned into an enemy - despite being with or against anything - and made to submit to extraordinary searches, including removing our shoes and ultimately going through full body scans. My impressions were further confirmed when the military operations were initially dubbed Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) .

Next came the exercise in futility that was the search for weapons of mass destruction (WMD's) , including presenting false information to the United Nations, Congress and the American people regarding centrifuges and yellow-cake uranium. It began to seem to me that every reason to given to go to war was no more than a series of moving targets that were excuses that risked significant blood and treasure.

More so, evidence came forward that the re-election of President Bush in 2004 could be attributed to more irregularities . It was then that I fully recognized the peril to the purity of politics. All Republican governmental actions had created a super-saturated slurry of suspicion in my mind as to their intentions.

Just as I thought I had lost all confidence, a presidential candidate with a message of hope and change - Barack Obama - came onto the horizon. With his ultimate election to the presidency in 2008, I was fueled with a new passion. This passion would, however, be short-lived.

Congressional Republicans have targeted President Obama, more out of politics than over policies. Talk about him being a one-term president and how this is his Waterloo were the final acts. Partisan politics had become the seed around which my cynicism crystallized.

I now am a full-blown political pessimist. I meet every motive with suspicion first; pragmatism has gone by the wayside. My belief in the efficacy of governance has been destroyed, mostly because of perpetual partisanship. And it all seemed to start with the events of 9/11.