U.S. has heroes aplenty, but its people are leading the way

  • David Broder / Washington Post columnist
  • Tuesday, December 25, 2001 9:00pm
  • Opinion

WASHINGTON — As we come to the end of a year like no other we have seen, a year none of us expected to endure, there is an understandable longing for things to return to normal.

Last week, for a moment, I thought we had a definitive sign that the crisis was over — at least in parts of the journalistic world. Fox News sent out an e-mail reporting the results of its latest poll: Most Americans, Rupert Murdoch’s network disclosed, still believe that Jon-Benet’s parents did it.

If what purports to be a news organization is back to asking people devoid of knowledge about matters devoid of importance, then maybe the shock wave of Sept. 11 truly has subsided.

But, of course, it has not. Another, more serious news venue, NBC’s "Meet the Press," spent all of its pre-Christmas Sunday morning hour exploring the moral and emotional aftereffects of the terrorist attacks with three reflective Americans: First Lady Laura Bush, Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Giuliani had just been named Time magazine’s "Person of the Year," but he wisely pointed to his city’s police, firefighters and rescue workers as the real heroes of the World Trade Center disaster. He and the archbishop and Mrs. Bush all spoke eloquently of the strength they had drawn from meeting with the families of those who gave their lives trying to save others there and at the Pentagon and on the highjacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania — and from those whose military kin are seeking to root out the terrorists in Afghanistan and other lands.

This was a difficult Christmas for all those with personal losses. But for the country as a whole, sympathy must be mixed with pride. What we have seen from the American people these past 15 weeks has been a demonstration of strength and purpose and generosity of spirit worthy of a great nation. The people have set the standard, and many of our leaders have risen to the occasion.

Giuliani is the most notable example. The edgy, aggressive mayor, embroiled in a messy marital situation, was transformed by the tragedy, which called out a combination of sympathy and steadiness he had not previously shown. He lived up to the example his constituents were displaying.

The outpouring of help for blood banks and charities was spontaneous and overwhelming, not just in New York and Washington but across the land. And noteworthy, too, was the absence of recrimination or scapegoating.

Instead of pointing fingers at those who might be faulted for the catastrophic failure of national intelligence agencies, Americans declared that they had found renewed reason to trust the government — and each other — to respond to the crisis. Even when the shock of the attacks is added to the anthrax scare and the decline of the economy, the rise in unemployment and the drop in the stock market, the people are registering confidence in the future and belief that the country is on the right track.

If Osama bin Laden believed he could break the spirit of this free country by a murderous assault within its borders, he made a terrible miscalculation. It has simply forged a stronger sense of unity and the resolve to defend democracy.

The public will has strengthened our leaders. President Bush has been converted from the hesitant partisan he seemed to many before Sept. 11 into a broadly accepted symbol of national unity and a reliable wartime commander in chief, whose judgment is reinforced by an exceptionally strong national security team.

Congress has changed — and improved, as well. True, there are still partisan disputes over domestic policy, especially on taxes and spending. Those will remain as long as the voters continue to waver in their party preference and give neither Republicans nor Democrats a clear mandate to govern.

But even in a divided government, with microscopic differences in the party balance in House and Senate, examples can be found of people working through their differences to enact useful legislation, not just on terrorism issues but on such fundamentals as election reform and education policy.

Those examples are important because there are challenges that cannot wait for the war on terrorism to end. With the war, the recession and scheduled tax cuts dissipating the promised surpluses, the budget next year will be the most difficult in almost a decade. The health care system is once again spinning out of control. The tensions between security measures and the protection of civil liberties are increasing.

All of this will test the judgment and temperament of our leaders. Fortunately, the people are showing the way.

David Broder can be reached at The Washington Post Writers Group, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071-9200.

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