History will remember leadership, as history does, but the cultural wound will scar over.
Part of it is because at a deep level we all understand that one of America's best aspects is that in times crisis and chaos we overcome the trivial dividing lines of politics, ideology, and race.
Courage, strength, and goodness are a choice we make every day. 9/11 didn't create those things in us.
It just reminded us they were there all along.
/end