Eight more days until 9/11’s 10th anniversary…every time I watch another episode of “Rising” on either Discovery or the Science channel, I am so proud of my country and its inhabitants.  What terrorists did to those buildings full of innocent people and their savers was unspeakable.  What has arisen from the ashes is emblematic of this country.  So, off hand, I’d say their intention to draw us into a bloody war in the middle east was successful, but only as an interim step.  Where they grossly underestimated us was in our response to disaster.  Instead of watching reruns of Pearl Harbor (remember those great CGI shots of planes diving?) they watched Black Hawk Down, and drew the wrong conclusions.  Guess Osama wouldn’t get an “A” on his MBA case study for this one.  Oh, yeah – that’s right – he’s dead.  I wonder if anyone in his family – maybe his mom – mourns his passing.  Porno-watching, egomaniacal, false prophet.  What kind of a man follows such a man?   Porno-watching, insecure losers looking to follow anyone that says they know the way.  That’s a sad indictment of an entire culture.  But then the Arab spring in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libya – maybe Iran next? – says maybe that’s no longer the vision young, middle-eastern men want to have for themselves.  Contrary to my son’s opinions, I have great hopes for the Arab spring – maybe the times they are a changin’ for those young people.  We can only hope.