"They win when they do anything to change the way this great nation runs." "They win when we are not seen," said Senator Joseph R Biden from Delaware. The determination to remain free despite everything was admirable. Congress will convene tomorrow," said Senator Tom Daschle, the Democratic majority leader. "As representatives of the people, we are here to declare that our resolve has not been weakened by these horrific and cowardly acts. Who could not be touched by the dozens of Congress members from both parties who stood side by side on the East Front of the Capitol on Tuesday evening and pledged that they were united behind the president and the country? There was applause as they vowed that Congress would be in session on Wednesday. There was the paramedic with a camera strapped to him, who watched the cloud of dust rush at him, sheltered behind a car, and then, on finding that he was not hurt, walked back into hell again to see if he could help anyone else. ![]() The fact that people stopped as they ran from the meltdown to talk to the cameras, to bear witness, a sense of civic duty even at this time of crisis. ![]() And it was then that we saw what is really, truly great about America. Twin edifices of America's greatness, of its ability to reach up and touch the sky, had been destroyed. The incredible vulnerability of New York, the capital of the world, had been exposed. ![]() Terrorism had struck at the very heart of the very idea of America. Last Tuesday night, instead of watching the regular episode of The West Wing, we were watching the unfolding story of a country in shock. Those of us who watch The West Wing on Tuesday nights do so with a healthy dose of irony, an indulgent sneer at the show's folksy American values of patriotism, tradition, old-fashioned moral integrity and a belief, above all, that America is great, greater than the sum of its parts and ideas.
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