CNN

Change for the worst, more divided than ever

Under George W. Bush's "leadership", we became a broke, paranoid, torturing society. I've been hopeful that we can find our way again, but the healthcare debate has shattered those hopes significantly.

After 9/11, the American people have become paranoid of Arabs. Bush scared us into thinking that anybody who is of Islamic decent could be a terrorist in disguise. Thankfully, President Obama is working to restoring our faith and hope in the future of our country.

Shamefully, I think we have become a mean nation.

People seem to be more out for themselves than in the past. I base this opinion on the fact that many people seem to think those who lost their jobs deserved it. And that those who lost their homes deserved it. And that those who have no health care deserve it.

On the days after the 9-11 attack Americans seemed to come together as a family and concern and love poured over the land. Now, that is gone.

Also, since the 9-11 attack we have not appeared to raise our educational standards any, so that many people STILL have no clue that the hijackers were NOT Iraqis, nor were they Afghan citizens. (Maybe a lot of people still are not aware that those are different countries.) And I imagine that lots of Americans have no clue about what caused those people to want to blow stuff up and kill people.

I hate the thought that the people killed on 9-11 and the soldiers we have lost since then in this senseless war have not, through their sacrifice, brought a better situation to our country.

God bless those who died, and God help us.

It's harder to get into public builidings, even thoughs with no value to terrorists, air travel is more inconvenient, Bush and Cheney busted the budget on a war of choice in Iraq and ruined our reputation by violating the Geneva Conventions on both torture and on designating captured combatants as prisoners of war. Other than that, not much has changed (except maybe for the fact that the Republicans have lost all credibility).

There is a complete lack of trust between people anymore, and it seems to be getting worse. We look at each other with suspicion and wonder if the person we're looking at is going to go postal and kill everybody they see! I don't think we will ever completely trust anyone who looks middle eastern, and that's really not fair to the decent, honest muslims in this country who are just trying to get through everyday just like the rest of us.

We got over Pearl Harbor and we'll get over 9/11. That's not because we Americans aren't a sympathetic lot but we concentrate on getting back on our feet and unite to kick butt. Even Rome was sacked but America is ever vigilant and defiant!

We don't see the red, orange and the other colors of the day being broadcast like they were. We now hear about Republican discontent over this protracted war since the President has shifted the bulk of the fighting from Iraq to where it all began: Afghanistan. A memorial has not been completed. The Dixie Chics never recouperated from Bush's black-ball. Black Water is in hot water, Haliburton and KBR could use some CPR Our first responders are not responding well to their medical maladies, The torture staff at the prison of ill repute swapped uniforms but not tactics, we brought the torture to Gitmo but it's about to git, and the books are rolling off the presses!
Soldiers come home and maybe somebody shakes their hand here and there, the Va hospitals might get visitors now and then, coffins continue roll off the returning planes with honor, disabled and other vets line up for a number in the unemployment line.
The civilian death count mounts and there is no end to this. Afghan and Iranian election probes. Get in line we're still trying to get ours to work right. Nope, not much has really changed Jack.

Unfortunately we have joined the rest of the world. It was bound to happen after enjoying the ride during the years following WW11. I hope this country is up to regaining our footing and moving ahead in this century. It won't be easy. Things are different now, with the rise in world competivness, population migration, shortage of resources, etc.., and the ability of rogue states to keep the international stage on edge, drawing our resources away from true worldwide problem solving. We will see if we have what it takes.

Poorer, less self-confident and much more polarized.
The climate has become tense and acrimonious.

The country has changed just the way that Al Quieda wanted it to. It has divided us, such that we are a more polarized country than any time since the Civil War. Texas even wants to secede from the union.

It resulted in our jumping into knee wars in some places, at least Iraq that were never that involved in the first place.

And the very way that they said thy would kill us...economically. President Bush spent untold money overturning the leader of Iraq, after we had spent years suppporting the Bad mand of Bagdhad in its war against Iran, just a few years before. It crashed Wall Street. It has ruined our economy.

It has turned neighbor against neighbor, and religion against religion.

In those and the other ways Bin Laden predicted before the deed was done.

Randy, Shrev eport

Dumber, meaner, and more paranoid. Works for me.

Let's see, we've gone bankrupt while fighting wars that we still haven't won. We've been split down the middle ideologically, and are now incapable of having civil debate about anything remotely political. We've gotten xenophobic to the point of worrying that the president is a secret Muslim Communist Nazi who will destroy us all. We jump to the conclusion that anything bad happening must have been caused by terrorists. We allowed the previous president to twist and warp the constitution in the name of keeping us safe. Most importantly, more than 5000 soldiers have died and thousands more are forever scarred physically and psychologically. I'd say we're pretty far from what was considered normal on September 10, 2001.

I think the biggest change for many is the fact that more people than ever do not trust the government. When we go to war in the wrong countries and then say OOPs one loses a lot of trust. The money that is and has been spent the last eight years over 9/11 is staggering and then to have been told oops. I'm more afraid of the home terrorist and fear mongers.

Oregon

That possibility has now become a reality in our national consciousness. Pearl Harbor is still a background reality probably until all of us baby boomers have passed on. We need to be vigilant without acting like victims. We were sure jumpy today….including CNN….

Jack,
Simple we have gone psychotic. Lost all sense of reason and balance.
We have spent a trillion dollars for what? How many lives saved? None that have been documented.
But boy have we lost our freedoms.
We still kill over 21 thousand innocent people a year on our highways. Do you see any rush to save those people. The other 21 thousand who die are mostly too tired to be safe driving, working 2 minimum wage jobs and going to school.
No with a transportation system that KILLS 42 Thousand a year without a whimper why get excited about a one time event that only killed 7% of 42000? We are now past 108 times the deaths of 9-11 in 8 short years on our public highways.
Get a grip folks.

Jack , thanks to the actions of Bush , Cheney and Rove our country
has been polarized so much , it will take years for us to become a
rational , united and compassionate society.

We have developed our own version of Islamic terrorists who call themselves the Right Wing of the Republican party. Watch what happens in the next few days and months. Their insanity which is fueled by Limbaugh and Palin and condoned by weasels hoping to get re-elected, is ready to erupt into full scale violence.

We went through "prosperity" in 03-06. We went into a depression in 07-08. Interest rates rose that led to a housing crash and burn, which led to the Stock Market crash, which led to a banking and insurance crash, we had bank failures, 401(k) losses, pension losses in the billions of dollars, job losses in the millions, Bernie 'Madeoff', The big three nearly out of business. No, worries, all this added up to the biggest world wide financial disaster of all time, and the Chinese are ready to foreclose on the US.
But, in the grand scheme of thing's,it's "Just another day, in paradise"

We’ve lost that tremendous spirit of unity we felt immediately afterward. I am appalled by the disingenuous call to mark this day as a day of “Service” rather than remembrance and respect for of those who lost their lives that day and onward serving our country.

We are also becoming complacent in our security measures as more time passes and letting our guard down. This only invites another disaster indeed!

Jack,
I don't think we have changed much at all. Our ports and borders are still wide open, besides, it's very hard for our country to defend against anyone person or country that's willing to die for the terrorist ideas that they believe in. I ask you, how do you defend against that kind of mentality?
Carl in Illinois

How has the U.S. changed? Let me count the ways. It has changed superficially if you look at the NY skyline. It has changed emotionally and forever for anyone who lost a loved one. It has changed politically for lack of trust in the President (just take a look at the HC debate) and deception by the government. It has changed economically, unless you think we would still be in this recession even if we weren't fighting a war. And that's just the tip of the ice berg.
Lucy
SF, CA

The bloom has gone off the rose - we've become a nation of cynics.
9/11 brought the fairy tale of invincibility to an end and trust in the future is gone. Resentment of foreigners, despite rhetoric to the contrary, is very real. Many no longer believe in the nation's leaders. It caused a sobering change in the attitude of what had been, before the event, a vibrant and resilient society.

Gary in Scottsdale, Arizona

Our civil liberties have all been trampled in the name of security. We are wasting billions $$ just going through the motions to make it appear that we are safer.

You try to travel via airplane and the Barney Fife's as TSA officers are strip searching 92 yr old grandmothers in wheelchairs looking for bombs. All while millions of illegal Hispanics are just walking across the border to settle in the U.S. untouched.

But, it is all "smoke and mirrors" as our actual security is worse now than ever before.

I watched the ttwin towers burn and collapse from West 23rd Stree in Manhattan. Then I watched dazed people streaming uptown. Some, as they passed by my building, saw the sofa in the lobby and came in for a rest, but the management of the building soon ordered the staff to hustle people out and put up a no trespassing sign. They also put up a large American flag. So it has been ever since, Americans becoming more "patriotic" and less sympathetc and more distrustful of one another.

Nothing has really changed, Jack. People have resumed their lives, especially here in TX. No one really cares about anyone else. Oh they talk with a silver tongue, but as long as there's beer and football life us good. We are pathetic!

Jack,

We have accepted torture as a legitimate practice. Our treasury has been emptied because Bush chose to borrow to fight his wars instead of raising taxes as every other president with a war to fight has done. We are now too frightened to trust that we can keep all of our rights and freedoms and still be safe. We see our gov't as inept and unreliable. Because of 911 and our responses to it, we are a far poorer and less honorable nation than we were pre 911.

Rich Green
San Clemente, Ca.

The US has changed a great deal, but not in the way you are thinking. It has become more disrespectful of every one and every thing, even the president is disrespected on national TV and in front of the world. And because we are becoming self destructive just to keep the other guy from winning, we are near becoming a third world country. We have no manufacturing to speak of and do nothing but shuffle papers all day long – that is those who have a job. But we do nothing meaningful anymore other than pile up debt. We haven’t won any wars since Korea and the one we are in now will be our downfall. 9/11 was the first shot in an economic war and because we think it is a war that can be fought with guns, we are losing it. OBL couldn’t have asked for a better outcome from his opening salvo in 2001. We walked right into his trap because we had a fool for a leader.

Angry, that's how I feel.

After 9/11 America had world support & could have prevented where we are today except for the wmd lies we were told. Now, it's like a brush fire that's spread everywhere. The Bush administration struck the match in Iraq & the flames are spreading through out the globe.
David, Las Vegas

It has been a dreadful litany of loss of freedoms veiled as ways to keep us safe.

We are broke thanks to needles wars and uncontrolled spending under the umbrella of safety, we lost many civil rights and we did not get Bin Laden.

With 9/11 in the backs of their minds, many in America just don't trust anyone anymore. And why would they? Now that we've finally freed the White House of Tweedle Dumb and Darth Vader, it's time to start doing things for all Americans. Health care would be a nice start, but, the fear-mongers can always tap that 9/11 film footage and scare the far-right into believing just about anything.

in a lot of ways. our leaders nearly crashed our economy, they've deepened the political and ideaological divide, and they're putting the futures of our children in the hands of china and other countries that hold our debt. but worse yet, many americans have begun to forget why we even had to deal with 9/11. our government failed to finish the work in an unstable country, they were short sighted in their plans, and they allowed partisan politics to control the discussion. today, we are at it again. we keep this up and it will only be a matter of time when we will have yet another rude awakening.

We are less safe now than ever. Because of Bush and Cheney's torture policies we have created thousands of new terrorist recruits looking for revenge. Meanwhile the casualties mount in Afghanistan. Bush had eight years to make our ports safer, he did next to nothing to make them and us safer. Billions upon billions of our tax dollars are being wasted every day in Iraq, not to mention Iraqi civilian and American lives.

John
Anderson, Indiana

For the worse.

In eight years we have become torturers, allowed ourselves to be terrorized by the War on Terror and we have lost over 4,200 troops in a war that had no basis in reality. We are finally realizing we can’t rid the world of every terrorist or spread democracy to every nation on earth. We have been made more fearful of anyone that doesn’t look like us, but are beginning to realize that was overkill. In other words, we are beginning to recover from a horrible experience on 9-11, followed by an even worse experience, eight years of Bush-Cheney torture, useless wars and fear mongering instead of rational thinking and planning.

Simple Jack. We have a new normal.

There is an illusion of safety, we aren't any safer. Our rights are being eroded...

Jack, The United States will never be the same again. We have the patriot act and rise of a police state. Everything american citizens do now is watched by big brother. Oh and I should mention the fact that we will never be able to afford anything because these wars are killing our monetary future

Whether or not our safety is compromised, I think that people are more aware of the threat of danger than they were before, sometimes to the point of paranoia. Even today, my family is scared when I leave the safety of my Midwestern home to travel to big cities on the coast. Racial tensions have also risen. I work with international students, and many of the Arab students are called names and treated poorly, when they have nothing to do with terrorism and are simply here to get a better education than they can get back in their home nation.

Jack, why don't we ask the older Germans this question? I'm sure they have had decades to think about it since the Reichstag fire.
Civil liberties? Gone. Freedom? Gone. Trusting the Government? Gone. Remember Joe "you liar" Wilson and his lie about yellow cake?

The government is taking advantage of our weakened state to push politics through that normally wouldn't make it. Even Obama hasn't done anything to calm down heightened anxiety following post-9/11 .

Also, we are all taking a lot of Xanex because we're terrified that we're going to be bombed every minute. The prescription drug companies love it.

We've become a nation driven and easily manipulated by fear.

Hey, news flash. The country is broke. Mission accomplish!

America has changed alot since 9/11. Less than 2 hours on that day led to 3000 civilian deaths, thousands of military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, trillions of dollars in debt paying for the wars, and a changed airline industry

I think you are still living with the effects of the Bush doctrine by natural default which was to go after the bad guys and keep up the security which cannot be reduced naturally because of the reality of threats still exists today; but hopefully you will be experiencing a new way of facing the causes of such hatred in our world and I hope we would in the process feel better about reclaiming our place in the world! God Bless you all!

Not all that much has changed. As could have been predicted, once again an American president lied to us so he could kill more people. This time is was for the sake of oil. Other times, it has been for even less rational reasons. I think the inconvenience of air travel today is a trivial price to pay for security. But I wish they'd leave our Grannies and their handbags unmolested. For Pete's sake! Once again, bureaucratic heavyhandedness and lack of common sense trumps fairness and civility.

How has the nation changed?? We are now 8 years closer to HELL..
Wish there were something I could say was better, but try as I might, I can think of nothing.

Why...Only one reason...GREED

We allowed congress and the executive to take away too many freedoms we had taken for granted. We lost a large chnck of out liberty. Due our government's extreme over-reaction, the 9/11 terrorists achieved their ultimte goal.

We have become a meaner more disrespecting bunch of people.

As only a very small part of the U.S. (I'm under no illusions!), I had a dream last night that I was on a plane and it was hijacked and that it crashed. The reason? Because it was the anniversary of 9/11 and the terrorists wanted to do something to commemorate it, so they decided to crash the plane I was on.

I would like to have thought I had changed in the eight years since 9/11/01, when, for months afterwards, I was traumatized by the events of that day, but at least in this one American subconscious, in dreams, my fear has not lessened.

Julie Van Dyke
Dover, Pennsylvania

Does it matter? We're headed back to where we were..."CHANGE" back.

Jack,

Thank you for asking the tough questions. I live near Minneapolis/St. Paul Intl. airport in a direct flight path. I must say that ever since 9/11 my guard has been seriously elevated. Whenever I see an airplane flying in a different flight path my immediate thought is whether this is another attack on US soil. I ALWAYS think about this. Quite a change from 9/10/01.

we as a nation has changed so much since september 11. with goin on planes and everything else. We will never go back to the way it was before than too much happened that day and it will never change. Its just like Pearl Harbor it will never be forgotten. Airports are gonna stay the same for now on and hopefully the security will get even better so we dont have to go through this again.

Fear. Always FEAR. That's all we hear during the Bush administration. Be afraid. Be VERY afraid. We're still hearing it. But this time, not only is it on terrorism, but on that black man that is our President. He was duly elected, but for some reason, that doesn't matter. There is something suspicious about that man. He can't be good for the country. He is trying to push socialism on the American people. Bunk. People are just as stupid as sheep and that's a slam on sheep. Someone said tell a lie long enough and everyone will believe it.. My gosh, today, you only have to hear is on Fox News and it's all over the world as TRUTH. After all they are fair and balanced. Right?? I don't think so. If the senate that showed his backside the other night is an example of fair and balanced, we're all in a deep pile of fecal matter.

Roosevelt said we have nothing to fear, but fear itself. We need to stand up together. Pull together to better this country that has been so badly damaged with all the lies of the last administration. The government on both sides needs to quite trying to fear us all into doing what they want to do. They need to pull together and do what is best for the good of the whole. They're not. And nothing will change. So tonight, we'll all go to bed and have a nightmare of all the 9/11 we've seen on TV today.

Since 9/11 we are in a war within two countries. Afganistan and Iraq. I don't see the long term benefit of either. al queda is gone from afganistan and there was never a reason to be in Iraq! Didn't we learn from Vietnam? Thousands of dead young Americans for nothing. I guess we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.

Jack,

How have things changed? You don't need 8 years to know that things have changed dramatically...I don't worry so much about 911 anymore...the primary concern is now 9/12 and onward...At home, we have done a poor job of politicizing the consequences of these events. We have sacrificed our freedoms for an extremely uncertain good. We live under the precept that we have been safe for 8 years after the attack, but at what expense? US Patriot Act...Pre-emptive strikes, indefinite 'wars', Osama is presumably still alive, Mid-East continues in a downward spiral...much has changed Jack...but not for the better.

The country has polarized since the 9/11 attacks into Blue and Red states, with little compromise likely. The rotten Bush/Cheney administration of lies, fear-mongering, corruption, domestic spying, and the trampling of laws has taken its toll on this country. Now we have people for whom abortion rights, gay rights, health care reform, etc. are political issues rather than social issues. Everything is now politiczed because of Bush/Cheney and their lies.

9/11 taught us that we are not invulnerable from international attacks because we have two oceans on either side. We have ramped up security measures at the expense of our personal liberty, but as time goes on we are becoming less of a national security state. Thankfully, we are starting to leave some of the fear mongering behind and are moving solidly towards the future together.

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." That said, we should remain vigilant against terrorists either foreign or domestic, and not forget Oklahoma City either.

I look forward to living in a country that doesn't torture or forget is fundamental principals because of fear and hate.

We've experienced near-tyranny while we were kept cowering in fear and told to go shopping. We were divided into “them” and “us” and forced to hand our freedoms over while the warriors made off with our national treasures, literally and figuratively. We became everything our Founding Fathers fought so hard against. I don't see us ever being the same. The love ones lost on that horrible day would not recognize what we’ve become.

No thanks to Bush and Cheney's power mongering, we are slowly coming to believe as FDR did: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself".

The sad part within our country is Americans finally realized that their is vulnerabilities in our armor. The republicans took that to an extreme and hurt our country's image and finances to their gain, but our demise. But Americans in general are a hopeful people, we stand strong in the face of danger. Too bad the previous republican administration didn't use it to make us stronger, but what do you expect from a group who let Americans die after a storm and took five days to respond. We are returning and hopefully those who stand against our country for their own gain will lose in the end. Just ask Madoff..

Jack in the last 8 years this country is turning into the USSR. Thanks to the PATRIOT ACT, paranoia about the next 911, two wars in the Middle East our popularity dropping around the World.

Of course this country has changed and not for the better. We are so parinoid we're have no qualms about giving up our civil liberties for absolute "safety" that will never exist.
It's a shame to say but in my view the terrorists have won. The government monitors our every move and it's all for naught. I have no doubt we'll be hit again and if we are I hope I die too. I don't want to be around for the aftermath.

9/11 distracted Bush jr into thinking america's enemies were foreign, and caused him to ignore the domestic left-wing socialist threat. And we will soon be paying (A LOT) more health/energy taxes as a result of bush jr's failure.

Has become more polarized
It has serve as an excuse for the leftist to show their true colors and the right as defenders of the statu quo
The ethical values have deteriorated, the character of the people has dissipated, its dog eat dog and the very same fiber of the society has changed for the worse.

Saying "We Will Will Never Forget" definitely has its limits. In the weeks following the attacks we were a gentler, kinder, more courteous people. Waving each other on from our cars,making polite comments to strangers on bank and grocery lines. Didn't take all that long for us to get back to road rage and selfishness.
Personally, I'm ashamed that we did not rebuild immediately. 8-10 years is an embarrassment.

Sadly there are still so many that continue to think Sadam did it and had WMD's, sought yellow cake uranium and had Al Quada connections.

You can tell who they are, they've declared jihad on America and throw metaphorical shoes at a President who WON with a 9% margin. Bush's 3% margin in a rigged election gave him a mandate and "political capital". Obama's detractors bleat like pet goats as their numbers shrink.

Those who hold American Democracy in contempt while exporting it elsewhere are truly an enigma aren't they?

(It's pronounced Tuh hatch a pea) accent on the hatch.

I think that as a country we are all still suffering from PTSD and that has massively contributed to the incivility we now treat each other to.
We are all still looking for the "enemy" to defeat and not looking to heal ourselves and move on. We need to find a way to make our enemies, if not friends, at least not hostile to our existence. That is seldom done with guns and war.

The security checks that we all have to submit to have just made life more difficult for law abiding Americans.The bad guys,well they always seem to think of new ways to strike!We just have to be one step ahead of them.9/11 has been a wake up call that we ,as Americans better remember and not become complacent.

Americans now know we can not be a parent to the whole world. We are no longer complacent and hopefully we don't go around bullying other nations again.

I was in second grade at the time of the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. has become more aware of how vulnerable we really were. It has broaden our look on Islamic terrorism and though sad it is, it united us as a country. We've become very protective of ourselves and have become xenophobic towards all Islamic people.

Philly,
PA

We've become the Chicken Little nation. Every event is seen as a new crisis where the sky is falling. And the electronic media are complicit in fostering this irrational fear. We are such childish, gullible people!

Tucson, AZ – Our own unfinished business in Afghanistan bit us in the butt on 9/11 – Bin Laden used to be on our side there. W Administartion response varied from paranoid to ludicrous, after fumbling the handoff from the previous Admin. We are much more inconvenienced, no less safe, and face a yammering crowd of know-nothings who just don't get it. Problem in Afghanistan is not Taliban or dope, it is the ruin the country is in, partly our fault. We do not need troops there, we need to spend money there building the place and making local friends. We have to buy the opium, not try to stamp it out at the expense of the local farmers. We must discredit the Taliban, not play whack-a-mole chasing them. It will take years, more forces, and ten times as many engineers and cops.

A wise philosopher once said that our personal freedoms would not be taken in one act of oppression. Instead they would slowly be eroded away. That is what has happened since 9/11. Just how much of our freedoms do we sacrifice in the name of security. How much is enough. How much do we compromise our devotion to freedom. Here in Washington the security measures are usually to protect a member of Congress or the President over the general public. Obama arrivied in Washington after 9/11. He knows not what this city looked like before the post 9/11 consciousness took over. To Obama the oppresive scenes during his Innagural of closed bridges, military road blocks and people fenced into pens on the National Mall are normal. He never saw Washington as it was when we were free to enter the Mall for a celebration without being searched or caged.

The skies are now filled with rainbows and lolly pops. I whistle a gay, jaunty tune as I skip to the bank to collect the vast abundance unemployment allows me. What, me worry? Who needs health insurance anyway? Life has never been better.

It seems the terrorists have won. When a country loses its sense of civility, cohesiveness, common purpose and aspirations as a result of a devastating situation and the response is one of retaliation, that sentiment bleeds across every aspect of our lives. I think the rhetoric of blaming and accusing others, including those within our own country, has been amped because the appearance of lack of safety has made us as a nation more suspicious.. more callous. It will take years and another generation not directly burned by the fuel of hatred to help bring us back to a sense of peace.

I will tell you how it has changed. To know the US government was behind it is quite unsettling. And no, no it is no longer a conspiracy theory. There is hard evidence to support it: The basement explosions heard and felt by everyone in the area before the towels fell and documented by multiple media sources, the explosive residue (thermite) found in the rubble by independent scientists not affiliated with the US government, not to mention the architechs and engineers who are re-examining the videos and even people in US government who openly admit to it. Is it really a deniable secret? Get real, see the facts... US won't be the same.

We've become cowards. We're afraid of our shadows so we torture people to feel secure. We fear violence so our government takes away our freedom. The moral high ground has crumbled under our feet. Bin Laden's attack did exactly what it was supposed to. It brought out the worst in the best nation in the world.

9-11 changed America as the sacking of Rome by Alaric and the Visigoths in 410 A. D. changed the Roman Empire. After Rome suffered three days of damage, death and some destruction, Romans through out the Empire felt very vulnerable until their Empire collapsed. We today eight years after 9-11 feel just as vulnerable. And now we hear voices to stop fighting the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. If we do not defeat there, we will have them here. This is the time when it counts to consider how important it is to defeat and destroy Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The world and the terrorists are watching what we do!

Yes, things have changed.I cannot believe I agree with Pelosi on bringing our troops home.Let's put them along our border with Mexico and protect us from the drug gang violence.

The United States has experienced a defiant and irreversible change in the way we live, and the way we perceive the world. More over, fear has absorbed our media, the government has infiltrated our liberties, and our brothers, sisters, parents, and friends have been dropped into two wars that seemingly have no clear ending. We used to abide and live according to judgement, now, our judgement has been over shadowed by a codes of red, orange, and yellow.

Jack,
Vermillion, South Dakota

The U.S. has made a change for the worse since 9/11. Our homeland security has increased its' measures drastically. Not that this is a bad thing, but when over $100 million is spent alone to protect a president for just one night, thats says something. Are we really protecting all of us, or just a few of us?

Yes, it's changed a lot and there's no going back. The biggest change outside of NYC was when GW Bush blew trillions of dollars and over 4,000 more lives in that stupid war in Iraq, cut the taxes to the rich and allowed the banks to run amok with bad loans and credit.

The aftermath of 911 has seen what was left of the american democracy shredded. Whether the Bush people were actually behind 911 or just allowed it to happen, there has clearly been a whitewash. The official story is so full of holes, and with hindsight we can see how the Bushies were prepared for this event...not in terms of prevention but in terms of how to use it to lock americans into a fear state, making most americans malleable enough to willingly give up liberty and freedom in exchange for the Bush/Cheney version of security, corporatocracy.

The US had a opportunity, right after 911, to use the event to propel the world towards peace. Instead our so-called leaders used the event to loot the treasury, to institute crimes against humanity as US policy, and to bring the world even closer to another world war.

The result of the handling of 911 is a more violent world, a US which has become in many ways a rogue state, and a return to the days of the robber barons. George Bush, Dick Cheney, and their whole crew, should all be indicted and tried for their treason.

Standard fare, "Bush made us unsafe" blah, blah. The people who want us gone are extremely patient. they will wait until we are so preoccupied with fighting each other then they will strike. You think they care about Dems vs Rep. They hate all of us we are infidels and deserve to die the most horrible deaths they can come up with. There will be blood in the streets of the US its just a matter of time. And then we will do the same stupid thing as always point fingers at each other and accomplish nothing.

A sense of fear and paranoia has permanently been embedded into the subconsciousness of american people ever since they have seen the horrific images of 9/11. It's like a post-traumatic stress disorder. It's going to take a long time to heal that debilitating feeling of helplessness and anger. may god help us.

You defend by striking them back harder. They see anything less as a sign of weakness.

I stayed at home with my family and watched the footage and prayed alot for everyone who was affected, It was the most horable attack since Pearl Harbor on US soil. I still take time on this day and think of the people affected by this, but we need to get over the fear.It's hard but living in fear is no way to live. We can't live and say we are living when we are affraid of our own shadow.

We've become bigger whiners and complainers. Everyone is mad about...something. No one even knows what they're mad about.

Grow up, America.

Reality Check! That's what happened.
Applause the 10 + years GOP run government and their handshakes with the Devil! Those who speak with Fork Tongues do really get their Waterloo eventually! The Silent Revolution arrived and the tremors will be felt from end to end!

Ben Franklin hit it right on the head. "those who give up liberty for security deserve neither"

Well lets think about it.

Your economy hit the toilet and dragged down most of your friends with it, but that's a cyclic thing. You still let lobbyists direct the actions of your politicians. The media still tries to control public opinion by putting twists on the facts. For every truth teller on CNN there are 5 BS'rs on FOX news. There has only been one real change in America sense 911 and that is you are weaker by the thousands of dead and and tens of thousands wounded. If there are other changes I don't see them.

It was an inside job...8years came and went, don't really care....We are a jingoistic people..The President can't even talk to kids anymore....people don't have jobs, the rich keep getting richer, Capitalism is intact....We are now going back to Afghanistan, that's the only good point, because if they bring the troops home, what the heck are they going to do. just add to unemployment..keep them all there, thats what they signed up for!!...2012 is coming Jack!!

We now feel vulnerable. Our borders were trespassed upon and we will never again feel completely safe.

We feel violated much like a homeowner whose home was robbed. A homeowner who has had his/her home robbed never enters the door of the home without looking for signs of a break in. We are now like that. We look at each person in line while waiting for a flight.

We have lost a certain amount of innocence and entitlement.

Dear Jack,

In the 60's I believe it was Mr. Stills of Buffalo Springfield wrote:

"There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
A-telling me I got to beware . . .

. . . There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong . . . "

"For What It's Worth" . . . and I downloaded the MP3 just the other day. The internet does have some good uses.

9/11 caused Americans to become even more pathetic as a society than ever before. It created a "me first" society insead of a "we first" society. Everyone just looks out for themselves. Our freedoms have been taken away in the name of security and Bush made sure we are more isolated from the world than ever wo that other countries hate us even more. Class warfare is real, rascisim is real. The rich have made a mad grab for all the wealth at the expense of the middle class. Obama is trying to change this and I give him high marks for trying. Unfortunatly the sinicle, devisive politics of today would rather see us fail as a society rather than either side have a sucesss at making things better. I'm really starting to hate living here and I think about Europe or Canada often.

For us on the west coast, on 9-eleven itself I am ashamed to admit it all seemed so surreal. Many have said it looked like a Hollywood disaster movie. It was a kick in the butt for sure, but as time has passed I sense fear of terrorism has waned. The sad part is our government busters how much safer we are, but that is the allusion they want us to perceive. It won't be another attack that will kill us. America's demise will only come if our economy fails. The terrorists know that. With greed in the banking system and Wall Street we might just kill ourselves off on our own. The terrorists are just waiting us out.

We're afraid now.

It did the following financial and geopolitical impacts(from Urbansurvival):

Bolstered the popularity of a sitting president who was not adequately addressing the leftovers of the tech wreck.

Created an 'overnight industry' – "security" which in turn spawned massive federal hiring programs; among these: TSA.

It also provided for a couple of 'instant wars'. I seriously doubt that the US would be involved in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Pakistan to the degree we are now without the driver of 9/11.

It allowed for a brief closure of financial markets and the institution of new controls of how people can move their money about under the guise of 'anti-terror' screening.

But above all, it provided time for 'easy money' policies that led to the Housing Bubble to kick in and that, in its own time, pressed the nation's economy into high gear and beyond.

the terrorists won. our liberties are stripped more by the day and it isn't going to stop. mission accomplished.

Jack lets be real, We are no more prepared for an attack than before 9/11! Look at the rise in illegals coming in from mexico, Any one of them could be a terrorist sent here to sleep and wait to attack!

I think that when I was drafted in 1951 to go to Korea I was placed in the position of dedicating my life to my Country. It has been so ever since. Our leaders have let us down by not doing the necessary things to make our Country safe such as secure the Borders and control illegals from working in our land. They should provide for Veterans that are injured and should improve our financial system with controls and regulations to safeguard 401K's from predatory investment schemes. Much could be done if Congress would take their eyes off their own Bank Accounts and represent their consituancies.

Sun City Center, Florida

Joe

9/11 Made politicians even more stupid than I ever imagined and gave politicians an easy route to the publics worst nightmares and so the public surrender their its liberty and common sense. They gave politicians a free rein to create DHS & TSA one of the two worst governmental agencies ever in our history. Not only are they not the best examples of government efficiency, they don't even come close to the best idea of security. Every time I fly and I go through the ridiculous process of TSA I know in some cave somewhere in the world some idiot is laughing his ass off at the changes he's caused for us forever, because we will never again return to the kiss my ass attitude we were once known throughout the world. I tell my son, nobody lives forever, and if you spend your whole life being afraid, then for sure your never live.

Nothing has changed, Jack. We still treat each other like crap. The tone in Washington has only gotten more out of control and disrespectful. People are more paranoid than ever. Well, there is one thing that's changed... there's probably a lot more terrorists in the world today than in 2001.

You people make my heart ache. You've lost your soul. The best parts of my life have happened in the last few years. Life is a rollercoaster. You go up-then you come back down. It's the way it has been for eternity. Get over your depression. It happened. Thing have changed. That is the way it's supposed to be. Be happy. Be joyful. There are and always will be people that want to break us. If we see happiness around every corner and continue in the defiance this country was born in then those that seek to break us will themselves be broken. Chin up. It's not all that bad. It never is when you look back at it from a mile up the road.

How has America changed, we have lost over 4,000 men in Bush's
unnecessary war...now we are where we should have been after 9/11
I feel so bad for these families...

Jack,

9/11 has changed our country in so many ways. Politically, it provided the War Mongering Neocons the catalyst they needed to invade Iraq – a plan they had in the works since the mid 90’s. Research it people… its truly frightening!

Mike – NJ

9/11 showed beyond all doubt what weak-minded fools americans can be. subject to child-like irrational fear. 9/11 was a low budget,low tech operation executed to near perfection. and thanks to the republicans, the so-called super power will soon be bled dry. and just think what a decent cockpit door might have done.

Just after 9/11, everyone was American and patriotic. Today, it's "all about me". The government is in the toilet, ok it always was, but now its worse. No one accepts responsiblity for their own actions, it's always "someone else's fault". We allow and support more illegals then ever, but can't take care of our own veterans. We have become a sad, angry and pathetic nation of whiners. Sooner then later, something is going to break. I just hope we don't suffer another attack, but that may be what it will take to bring this country back together again.

How are we different, Jack? We are a little less innocent than we were. It is rather analogous to what the attack on Pearl Harbor did to an isolationist U.S. It woke us up to dangers to us and to our country. And that Uncle Sam isn’t EVERYONE’S favorite uncle.

Unfortunately, it also gave the Bush Administration the right atmosphere to inflict serious damage to our Constitutional rights through the Patriot Act, and gave credence to a bunch of far-right wingnuts who continue to plague us.

And it is about time we woke up.

Bush put in measures to keep us safer and Obama has already started to dismantle those changes. Our top five political leaders have a liberal progessive bent never seen in our country. It has already hurt us domestically, our foriegn policy is weak and our national security will eventually be in jeopardy.

That big hole in the ground in lower Manhattan, 8 years later, says it all. We are now the "Can't Do Nation". We just can't seem to do anything quickly or well anymore. It only took 18 months to build the Empire State Building, unthinkable with today's construction skills, yet we're told much of the World Trade site is still not ready to rebuild. Failing schools, crumbling infrastructure, hollow industrial capacity, the list goes on and on. The basics seem to escape us. The next man on the Moon will be Chinese. The first man on Mars will also likely be Chinese, and likely looking back to Earth and a picture of lower Manhattan with the same political hacks arguing over nonsense while standing in that hole in the ground. The world is passing us by.

Yes Jack the world has changed! We really came together there for about two weeks – 8 years ago. However, It wasn't long before the Liberals and the mainstream media decided to unleash a 7.5 year orchestrated terrorist attack on President Bush and anyone who doesn't share there distorted points of view. What goes around comes around Jack!

It's also different Jack because today, our current President can address the nation for 35 minutes and call his opponents LIARS every which way but up yet it's a two word retort by a brave and honest congressman that captures the liberal's and mainstream media’s attention with outrageous demands and typical hypocrisy.

Yes Jack – it certainly is a different world now isn't it? You reap what you sew buddy!

Everytime I'am standing in the security line at the airport I cuss the terrorist who put us in this situitation. On 9-11 eight years ago there were 19 terrorist who hated the US, since then we invaded Iraq and created 10,000 ( if not more ) new terrorist who hate us. I thought the purpose for invading Afghanistan was to go get Osama Bin Ladin. The CIA had an opprotunity to get him several years ago but it failed because of the Afghanistan soilders who were with the CIA turned on the CIA because they worship Bin Laden. I wouldn't trust any Afghanistan army or people there, we should get out like Russia did many years ago. We probably supported the wrong side even then.

we are not the same being that wevulnerable

It was Rousseau (not FDR) who first said the thing about "the only thing we have to fear..." That said, the US has changed completely since 9/11/2001. Who could contest this? The America I grew up in, the ideas – the notions – that formed the bedrock of our sense of ourselves are MIA. Talk around this all you like, but the reality remains. Things are DIFFERENT. Most importantly, whatever was the "American" spirit has been diffused, obfuscated – if not obliterated. I, for one, won't stand for this. It's time to get to get back to the fundamentals, embrace them, and then move forward. The time for whining, sentimentality, fear, loathing and distrust has come and gone. Onward..or forever backward.

The attacks did not change America. It merely revealed the unreasonable attitude of the "right" and "left" and the confirmation of the "center" that they will not participate. The politicians are all involved in the politics of "me/ money" and not solving problems. The solution is voter imposed term limits for all political offices. But ,this would not be good for "my" politician. Oh well, there goes another good idea.

The dreams and ideals of Americans have not been lost. But, the smoke clouds from the WTC are still obstructing our full view of those dreams and ideals. War on terror, war on drugs, war on poverty, war on the middle class. Why does everything have to be a war?

Jack -
The Dow Industrials were 9065.51 after 9/11.
Today, eight years later... they closed up 9065.41....

So, where have we gotten since 9/11? = Not very far.

Sadly we have become a much harsher society and I'm not talking about torture or foreign wars. We treat our workers like dirt in the name of the almighty dollar. Most people have no idea how much we have fallen behind the rest of the modern world in worker/individual rights.
Our political and economic leaders are sad, self centered individuals who can’t see past their own petty interests. Most of these people are in fact criminals or aspire to be one some day. Even a change in government has in fact changed very little. It’s still early, but can anyone really see any “Hope” or “Change”?

How has it changed? You need to get out more often, Jack! You've given up many of your freedoms in the name of pseudo-security. Have you forgotten the "Patriot Act?" Seriously, I doubt the USA will ever be the lovable, trustable country it once was. Too many jackboots roaming around making sure I'm "safe." If they won't go get the guy that planned all of 9-11, then I doubt we need their "security."

we are vulnerable

The people of this country have become victims of politicians using the horrors of 9/11 to control and manipulate by fear. To push through laws and ideas that bypass our constitutional rights. To legalize and rationalize things as disgusting as torture and make everyone outside of our borders an enemy. We're broke via a war fought on lies and our name in the international community is dirt.

Tyler from Illinois.

America changed and returned to the same mentality as before.
1. Especially the Liberals believe that we do not have any enemies as before 9/11.
2. As before we talk and believe that the far right wing is responsible
for the terrorists attacking us, the economy, etc.
3. I have heard Liberal women weeping for the torture done on detainees (terrorists) as before.
4. Common man is the looser of the game when Republicans says
less govt. and when Democrats say more govt. as before.
5. Though Cineese missilses are directed towards American cities,
we go on with our life as if we do no know about it.
6. Obama came for the "Change," we got the"Change," and the
CEOs and multinationals keep the money.

We've become even more stupid.

No matter how things have changed, I still live in the United States of America and I know we will get through this... whatever happens.

Good Evening Mr. Cafferty,
I'm proud to be an American. I'm grateful to be born in this great country U.S.A. I would serve in our military if there is a draft.

Since the 9/11 attacks I notice that people from diverse backgrounds are friendly to one another. We witness that horrific day. I guess we share something in common.

Davindranauth Shiwratan
Richmond Hill, NY

really people, how have we change. Well for one all of you reading this think back to september 12th 2001. HOW MANY OF YOU CRIED FOR BLOOD THAT DAY. really.

I believe this country has changed (for the worse). The hatred is being applaused and encourgaged by the lawmakers that were voted for. Do the lawmakers realized that some of the blatant racial comments and actions they encouraged are being directed to those that helped them to get elected.

Eight years of lies, lost of jobs, lost of homes, lost of our family members being killed in a LIED war, did not receive this type of hatred.

Think before you speak or act. With this country's multi culture groups how can anyone display hatred. I am sure there is a multi culture person in most of the families in this country.

What has changed? Are you kidding me? What hasn't it changed is the appropriate question. Obviously I don't believe it has gotten better. This country is setting itself up for implosion and not by accident I might add. I am not going to argue the reasons why here because they are too many. My point is why put out these questions intended to gauge the discontent of the population. Isn't it truly your job to reveal the millions of injustices perpetrated on the public daily, and bring to the light the corrupt people and organizations behind it. Oh yeah your channel is controlled by the evil powers that be. Just know that not all of us in the public are dumb, deaf and blind.

More than ever, our leaders have learned that they can enhance their own power through exploiting our fear. It's carried over into the Obama administration, with him and his supporters trying to scare us into accepting a poorly thought out, un-Constitutional healthcare bill. But then again, the Constitution lies in tatters and rags anyway. Not that it wasn't already on its last leg pre-9/11, but that event provided our "leaders" with the fear they needed to finally render that sacred document irrelevant. Democrat or Republican? What's the difference? Bush's last act is to put nearly a trillion into the hands of his business buddies. Obama's first act is to do pretty much the same thing. Rule of Law is dead. Capitalism is dead. We live in an Oligarchical Corporacracy.

Before 9/11 I would get up give the kids breakfast, give them a hug, send them off to school. I always knew that there were a host of threats out there that could be realized at any time and also knew that we have to take reasonable precautions without letting fear unduly govern our lives or our values. An overblown fear can paralyze us or force us into doing things that are against our very core beliefs. The ultimate goal of terrorism is to do just that. I still do the same things I used to do everyday and certainly am happy that we are taking reasonable precautions in terms of security and that our society has not become paralyzed . But the terrorists may have won one battle - it seems that our core beliefs in the rule of law, and the value of insuring that we follow our laws seems to have been shaken. And we don't seem yet to have realized how dangerous that is.

Jack:
I guess it is a matter of perspective, or your own definition of normal. I really do not see any difference, with the exception of the media, one meaningful war and one meaningless war and the over usage of the words terroists and heroes. I do not hear anyone ever talk about 9-11, Al Quida or OBL in public or private places, and it has not changed my life in any appreciable manner. Therefore, I can only assume I must live a very simple, private and boring life, huh?
Gary,
Lexington,KY

Well, Jack, under Bush, we were like communists, spreading our political idealogy of Democracy around the Middle East. Now, we have a president who has tried to extend the olive branch to the opposing party only to be spat on by the conservative movement. I think Joe Wilson's blatant act of disrespect on Tuesday, combined with his youtube video where he still insists we're going to cover illegal immigrants is evidence of this shift toward incompetence among the right. Personally though, I like being lied to about on a daily basis. It keeps me guessing what crazy things the right will say next to rally support among the illogical.

‘Truth, Lies and the Press’ and ‘Orwell Rolls in His Grave’ are excellent documentaries about this subject. Under Bush and Cheney truth was sold as being lies while lies were being touted as the truth. This is still going on – look at the healthcare debate. President Obama states a fact while the Republicans call it lies. Those same Republicans call lies truth. That dishonesty and lack of ethics perpetuates the US’ poor standing in the world since 9/11. That’s putting it mildly. Republicans are still making the US the laughing-stock of the world.

America is considerably worse off today than it was eight years ago. George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld turned us against each other with their constant fear mongering and for what? Did they catch bin Laden? Not even close.

I guess the best way to turn your country into a third world nation is to start with a first class, first world nation and turn it over to a band of incompetent republicans.

could the comments get any more pessimistic? Last time I checked my civil liberties haven't been violated and the constitution still ran the land. I haven't a micro chip in my arm and if I did I really wouldn't mind. I am not afraid of technology I embrace it. The day i am prosecuted unfairly I will agree we have made a wrong turn but I haven't seen that. Ive seen a black man elected president and a push for national health care. Ive seen an effort for alternative energies. We are on the right track, it just took GWB getting out of office to get on it.

We are even more fearful now. We are more hateful of the Arab world, which is how the resentment that inspired 9-11 happened to begin with. We are more gullible. We are generally not improved in the least.

The U.S. will never be as safe as it once was. Our arrogance caused us to get a big slap in the face

A better Question would be how has America changed in fighting TERRORISTS, OH THATS RIGHT, WE CAN'T US THAT WORD since the Obamanations rule started. What really sets me off is that OUR LAWS, "FOR AMERICANS" are being used by "NON-AMERICANS" to set them free in order for them to attack US again. what a country. In the words of Forrest Gumps mom, "STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES".

Security on airlines has increased, but walking across the boarder is just as easy as ever...in order for that to change though, a terrorist attack must happen by those entering the country illegally before they will start making changes there. The airline industry was long over due for security changes but it took 911 to do it.

Our freedoms have been trampled, with acts like the Patriot act. Our country is spending money so fast that before long the only way out will be bankrupcy. Both Bush and Obama's don't understand the concept of a balanced budget. Republicans spend like crazy and Democrats feel the need to top that.

Before long the federal goverment will be issuing IOU's to it's employees, armed forced, and such.

Not to mention the economy is in the tank.

the usa has been very spoiled because it has not had an attack on its own soil since Pearl Harbor, we totally freaked and have not yet really coped with the losses of 9/11, and yet the USA feels justified over and over to engage in war on others' soil, to be arrogant in thinking that we are somehow different than those terrorists. perhaps we missed an opportunity with 9/11, an opportunity to really understand the meaning of war, the meaning of death and attacks by others. so in the end, while i think the usa has become more fearful, sadly it has not really changed.

How have we changed? We've become a nation of cowards preferring to put innocent women and children directly in harm's way so that we may feel more comfortable. "Better there than here" is what I hear out of people's mouths, but they don't seem to care about what's happening to innocent people "there". It is a sad state when the greatest and most powerful nation on the planet displays such cowardice disguised as patriotism and defense of the weak. Pathetic.

I like to think of it in terms of the towers. When the two towers fell, a massive hole was left in both the city of Manhattan and in America's pride. In 8 long years, we have yet to build the "Freedom" Tower, which no longer even holds that name. In under five years, the United Arab Emirates has built the tallest building the world has ever seen, the Burj Dubai. If anything, 9/11 was a wake-up call. A reminder to us that the days of the Cold War era are long gone, and the rest of the world is catching up to us. The matter of the fact is that we WILL get surpassed...we just have to try and keep up instead of fighting each other because we fell behind.

Jack. I read the comments posted to your question and fence-sitter moderate that I am, I have come to the following conclusions:

- We're a nation of groups of people that don't trust the groups next to us.
- We fight and bicker about everything, because everyone has a different opinion, but nobody is willing to rationally discuss the issues and come to a solution.
- We blame either the current president and his constituents, or the previous president and his constituents... based solely on what party *we* (our group) follow. Few stop to say that maybe both are wrong in their methods.
- We fear what we don't know and chastise those who don't conform to our fears.
- We're quick to make judgement, but slow to offer resolution.
- We're cynical, short-minded, and self-serving.
- We're quick to blame the government (either the last, or the current regime) for the loss of jobs, breakdown of the financial markets, and the overall mistrust of this country by others around the world, but too busy to offer possible solutions to these issues.
- We're spending money that nobody has been able to explain from where it is going to come.

In a nutshell... we're headed downhill, the brakes are broken, and we'd rather complain than figure out a way to stop the vehicle.

Jack:
I really seen very little changes. Its as though it happen once now it won't again. Where is the security? since it was a while ago, people really ignore what really happened. Have we caught the prepretator? Of course not. And now the people want us out of Afg.

It has created idiots like Hsu who blwme everything on left-wing calling them socialists and ignoring the danmage done to our country by the right-wing in the last 8 years by Bush/Cheney regime

Since 9/11, we've finally managed to render the Constitution completely irrelevant. Not that it wasn't already on its last leg, but 9/11 just gave the ruling class another fear to exploit in implementing the oligarchical corporacracy we've been drifting toward for decades. And we play along by never questioning what our own side of the aisle does in the name of "the children" or "security" or "change you can believe in." We choose sides and then let ourselved be blinded by the fact that BOTH parties have been equally complicit in destroying the Rule of Law. We need to throw out both of these parties and start from scratch.

Remember the days when he arrogantly paraded around thinking we would never be attacked on our home turf? Or how much we were loved and envied by other countries? That surely changed as we soon became a hated nation. It opened people's eyes to the damage our skewed foreign policy causes. Fast forward to today.. We are finally getting over the damage Bush caused... Love is in the air, I can smell it. Even Osama Bin Laden who has been living freely since their attack hasnt released any hate messages. Koombaya is upon us, God willing..

Jack:

Even as a dual citizen of two of the US's best friends (Canada and Britain) I still now need a passport to cross the border. Even up to last year, I could cross just with a valid driver's license.

The average Mexican drug cartel member can easily cross the border without documentation, get health care, an education for their kids, a job (despite so called SIN verification checks for employers), a place to live, a drivers license (coming soon to a state near you!) and a free, US taxpayer funded visit from their parents while they are getting a free visit to a US hospital when they get sick while being in the USA illegally (this REALLY happened !).

I'm glad I live in Canada. The US hasn't changed for the better, it's gotten a lot more paranoid and has a lot more of the "what's in it for us" attitude since 9/11.

Martin Smith
British Columbia,
Canada.

Here’s my question to you: How has the U.S. changed in the 8 years since the 9/11 attacks?

There is a day of the year that I will never forget and I feel is the end of the American Empire for what was done and has followed, which is the the bankrupting of this country, the exporting of American jobs everywhere, and the economy's bubble bursting landing us in the worst depression of this generation. Yesterday was the end of civility in this country with failure Wilson disrespecting the office of President and $200,000 worth of Americans agreeing he was correct. How far has this country slid from being the respected world powerhouse and example to the world of Democracy and with human rights and freedoms.

When you don't have a job, it's hard to worry about anything else.

The attack on Pearl Harbor turned us into a player on the world stage and a superpower, not only did we bounce back but we became stronger. The September 11th attacks and our response to them by fighting two failing wars are sending us into decline. Eight years after the attack we are worse off
Dan
St. Louis, MO

Jack, it sanddens me to think about how 17 terrorists have changed America (or at least revealed us for what we really are). We have become fearful of outsiders, particularly those from muslim countries seeing in them the object of our fears. We have become the advocates of the pre-emptive strike, colateral damage, occupation, and torture. What's more, we have not been humbled as we should have been, but instead we have thought about how we can improve the world or spread democracy when many people are perfectly happy without it. We have been so worried about what's going on halfway around the world that we have neglected what's going on in our own country, a nation that is no longer unified but sick and fragmented.

Jack
Oh we've changed, but for the way worse. We've now all angrier, constantly outraged by any little thing, more litigious and without a doubt unhappier. I'm not even sure if a 9/11 happened in 2009 if anyone would raise flags, and help out their neighbor. We dont care about anyone else except ourselves, there's no national pride, there's us vs. them and we should all be disgraced.... but we wont be, someone instead will be SO OUTRAGED over my absolutely dead on comment. So outrage-away America.

Beverly Hills, CA

Hi Jack,

One thing that changed is the number of patrols and increased training the Coast Guard does. These folks work around the clock burning themselves and the equipment out. The news reporters who broke this story without all the facts should be taken aside. First of all they called the wrong office to confirm the facts, the Operational Unit would have answered any questions immediatly. Public Affairs does not monitor Operation Unit radio traffic.
The reporter who asked what would the Coast Guard have done if the event was actually real? Well they would of handled it very quickly since they were already on-scene. Fact is the news folks rushed to put out hear-say once again without verifying any facts. Get it together folks!

Jack,

We have gone from being outraged to complacent.... We dare not call those who attacked us terrorist and God forbid we not give them their day in court...... We need to recalibatrate ourselves to reality because it is not a question of if but when we will be attacked again.....

Jack ,

How has America changed since 9/11?

It has gone back to it's pre 9/11 antics and disposition of being a selfish, impatient, arrogant, self righteous, ignorant, divided, and I can go on and on, but you get my point.

See, hurricanes are considered an East Coast issue, earthquakes, mud slides, and fires are considered a West Coast issue, while floods and tornados are considered an issue that only the Heart Land faces.

How has America changed since 9/11?

America is more divisive and self centered.

Live from Virginia

I believe the attacks killed a part of the country and officially ended the carefree atmosphere of the 90s, and regardless of where you were in the country on September 11th, you think twice about planes flying low overhead.

There will always be change... for better or for worse.
What happened, happened. Suck it up and carry on. We still have it better than most people around the world.
And the terrorists did NOT win you dummies... only by us agreeing to the fact that they have won do they get a W.
My only concern today is that the people who lost loved ones can find peace. Both on 9/11 and in the following wars.
Stand strong America!!

I'm not afraid of another attack. What I am afraid of is my own country. It';s not the same place where I grew up. We've lost our rights in the name of safety, but we're not safe. I'm not really happy anymore. I look around and I see people suffering financially, and I see my country falling further into debt due to wars we can't win. I remember a time when I was proud of my country, but I no longer feel that way. I just wish it would all go back to the way it used to be when we had hope in the American Dream. The Dream is over.

The terrorists are still winning; their aim is to terrorize the US and they have succeeded. We have allowed the gov't to erode the very foundations of our country. Far from 'living brave' we have 'lived scared', and played right into the bad guys hands. Lost international stature, spent a trillion $ and 5000 lives on fruitless wars and compromised our own constitution. We have allowed the politics of fear to govern our elections, and thrown our moral authority into question around the world. These are just what the bad guys want us to do.

We have been exposed politically, culturally and economically. And I don't think anyone likes what we see. Unfortunately people are worried about poltics more than the state of this country and its people in it. Hatred, distrust and disrespect is spewing venom all over the place and it is poisoning us daily. Wrong is rewarded and right is shoved aside for greed and personal gain. Simple compassion and concern for others is labled as socialism and a small demented segment of irrational voices threaten to drown out a mass of people with common sense. However, there is a tiny part of me (perhaps the size of a mustard seed) that believes things will and can get better. That is my daily prayer.

How have we changed? Too many ways to mention

I used to take my shoes off going into a Jpanaese restaurant with tatami mats. I now take my shoes off whenever I fly.

I used to fight in Vietnam and when I returned I watched the carnage on television. I now watch a dual feature – Iraq and Afghanistan.

I used to worry about Russia and their nuclear might. I now worry about North Korea and Iran, and their nuclear ambitions.

While traveling, I used to get bumped from time to time and put on the standby list. Now more people are going on the no fly list.

I used to love old movies and watching Richard the Lion Heart and El Cid fight the muslims in the Mid East. Now I watch the nightly news and watch Sargent Richard, my neighbor, fight muslims in Iraq and Ellen fight Taliban in Afghanistan.

We simply must never forget, become complacent or think we're just too good for bad things to happen on our own soil.

If we had this attitude in the 1940's we would be speaking German or Japanese. The percentage of people that say they are tired of the War's, What do they have to be tired of? Listening to it on the news? My fellow Soldiers and I are the ones that are tired of 3rd and 4th combat tours, years away from our family, what we have left of them, and the only way American's have been involved is to buy a magnate that sticks to the bumper of their car. God Help the USA.

Jack, my 401k looked great before 9/11; since then it has been a downward ride. Speaking of change, Jack, now my 401K itself looks like change. If the terrorists of Pakistan and Afghanistan intended disruption in big part of America with 9/11, I think it is hard to argue they failed in their goal, specially when you see how we were misled into Iraq war and how the national treasury was drained into the Arabian sands.

If Obama,s administration continue to frighten CIA operatives with law suits- you can be sure that 9/11 will repeat pretty soon.

How have we changed? I am sure whether Hindu, Sikh, or Muslim, you are quite nervous in America. I am sure resumes with the name Mohammed are probably routinely thrown out at most corporations. The immigration issue became a major issue since 9/11. There is less trust. And yes, flying domestically sucks, even on the decent airlines. And we are now sidetracked with a plethora of reality TV shows. My perception of change since 9/11.

Are you kidding? Don't blame the failures of our country on one administration. I love this country but our experience with torture did not begin with the Bush administration just ask the American Indian. Our financial breakdown was helped along by banks who were forced to give loans to people who could not afford to pay them back (thank you barney frank and friends). The sad reality is that each administration has attempted to do the best they could to make our country a better place. I do not believe that any man we have ever put in the White House of any party could be confused with the Evils of Hitler. We ask our government to juggle national security with international freedom which is a task that no leader can fully accomplish.

It is also a sad reality that neither Bush could nor Obama can do anything that will make you morons happy. Both Bush and Obama are extraordinary men doing the best they can to make our country a better place. How are things different? We have become buttheads!

Having lost 61 friends on 9/11, I thought the only positive about the tragedy was the unity shown by the American people. How have we changed? We have become bitter, belligerent and totally lacking in civility and compassion. We elected the first black president which half of our citizens, shamefully including our elected officials, continue to demonize. We now have the zanies dictating policy. We have loud mouth ideological talking empty heads posturing as real journalists and real journalists letting them have the stage. Debate has turned into shouting insults and bodily threats. We have citizens including government officials calling for secession and uprisings. How have we changed? The inmates are now running the institution and I for one fear for the survival of our United States.

Well, I'm going to buck the trend of miserable people out there. Yes, the country is more fearful. We should be. There is an entire global organization out there that wants to kill us. We weren't exactly cheerful when we faced the axis powers after having our navy blown mostly to bits in Pearl Harbor. Time passes, nothing is new under the sun. We are still a country that gives generously to others, cares for and will stand by their fellow Americans in a time of crises, and remain ever ready to crush those who tread on liberty. At least, I still feel this way. 9/11 may have ended the "fairy tale", but it has NOT ended the story of the United States of America. We are innovators. We are leaders. We question and ridicule our leadership the same we way they did since post George Washington. (act of sedition anyone?) Don't let 9/11 define us and who we are. We are Americans, and if there is one thing we are good at, that is standing together in the face of adversity, dreaming of better days, and making them real.

America faced a great test. The world turn to us to see how this great nation would rise to the occasion. We failed the test miserably, disappointing the world and shaming ourselves. We turned out to be a nation of frightened and angery pre-adolescents.

Let us count the ways, Jack:
We've eleceted a socialist as president
The president has disavowed the phrase war on terror
POTUS protects Muslim women by defending the hijab!!!
He bowed to Saudi royalty
Why bother to check for for anything, the terrorists will file suit for discrimination and Obama will back them up!

Political discourse has become much more coarse and disrespectful, particularly from conservatives. Unfortunately, too many have used 9/11 as the prism by which to judge the "American-ness" of citizens with different ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds. Unfortunately, the most important lesson of 9/11, that American unity of shared ideas and values is ultimately what makes this country uniquely strong and vibrant among the community of nations, is almost completely lost on most conservatives.

September 11th illuminated the very darkest part of humanity. As long as we fight, 'Under God,' the enemies who fight us- the infidels, also under God- there will be many more 9-11s to come. In that respect, I don't think very much has changed. Evolution is a very SLOW process. Perhaps, when there is no God to fight under we can begin to realize peace. Now that would be a freedom worth fighting for.

Half the country is still in fear over propaganda.We didnt spend billions going after dumb white rednecks after Tim bombed the federal building,but we ruined america chasing a lie and people are still in fear from the lie.Next time intelligence tells you terroists are going to crash planes into tall buildings you might want to listen to your intelligence.And when your intelligence tells you there are no WMD's in a country that didnt attack us you just might want to listen to your intelligence.So we dont spend billions of dollars and kill thousands of innocent women and children and US soldiers.

Bush helped the terrorists to win! I am reminded of that when ever I fly!

Jack,
their are people in this country that think we should be more like our enemy, and for awhile we were heading that direction..I say let them hate us for who we are, let not me like them......

We have become a country or sheep, following whoever happens to be screaming the loudest on any particular day, instead of getting the facts and making up our own minds. We have become a country of self-centered people (especially our so-called leaders) who only care about their own well being, and damn everyone else. We have become a country where it is ok to pick and choose which laws we actually follow, and which ones we igonore (of course everyone else has to follow the laws that we ignore). We have become a country of hypocrites that can do whatever we want, like torture, and it is ok, but when other countries do it, they are committing crimes against humanity. The good news is that we can change all that, if we really want to.