In a changing world, some things don’t

by Jack Stapleton, Jr.

As Adam said to Eve at the moment they were being expelled from the Garden of Eden: “Don’t worry. We are just living in an age of transition.”

That throw-away joke, attributed to one of our earliest ancestors, seems to have become today’s byword in America, and it is considered profound if one declares, “Since September 11, everything has change.” Indeed, the declaration is so sweeping that I have yet to hear an opinion expressing the opposite view. Here’s one opinion that does.

If everything has changed in our country, then why are all of us now leading what could fairly be called traditional lives, closely resembling those before September 11?

Except for the dialogue, nothing much seems to have changed in Washington, despite heightened security for our elected officials and all manner of excuses for political chicanery, buck-passing and favoritism. If you think Congress has changed, contemplate members’ ease in overcoming fear while increasing their own salaries to every-higher heights. Despite the alleged changes, Democrats are still attacking Republicans. Our President is still pledging to reverse the recession by lowering the tax rates of large corporations.

Oh, it’s true, fewer of us are flying commercially these days, and those that do complain about long delays, which raise questions whether it’s faster to hitchhike then fly United. It’s also true, there are more flags on display than anytime since World War II, back in the days when one was considered unpatriotic without a chest tattoo of the Stars and Stripes.

Looking at today from the standpoint of change, I suspect our country has become a trifle more cautious about where we go and what we do, but otherwise transition in 2002 hardly holds a candle to the changes in America after the Revolutionary War or the Civil War or the Great Depression (although frankly, I never felt the world “great” should have been used as a prefix). There’s nothing wonderful about losing not only one’s job and home or farm but one’s self- respect and pride, all of which went out the window in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Now that really was transition.

I seriously doubt that the horrible tragedy in New York will become any more than an historic occasion for the vast majority of us. Only a reactive handful of our fellow citizens were directly affected. Like the sinking of the “Titanic” or the San Francisco earthquake, we may remember the date, recall pictures of the damage and even heed warnings against crossing the Atlantic in a steam-driven vessel or venturing out to visit that strange city in California.

I’m not quite certain why the Twin Towers tragedy came as a surprise to anyone involved with our national security. Bill Clinton’s “experts” in this area warned six or seven years ago that America was a sitting duck for terrorists. The warning came after, not before, the very first terrorist attack on New York. As far as I know, Clinton did nothing about the warning. Neither did those ever-vigilant patriots on Capitol Hill. After all, who’s going to let an alarmist security expert foul up the more important business of log-rolling, special interest bills and raising enough money to run for another term? It’d give odds it didn’t stop Gary Condit, or any of the other lechers hanging around the Capitol, from making time with an attractive congressional intern.

If America is in transition, can someone please tell us when we left the State of Normalcy?

[Missouri News & Editorial Service, Inc. Copyright (C) 2001 MNES Corp.]