The modern liberal taste for garment-rending, as displayed in a letter to the hawkish New Republic, October 1, 2001:

I was saddened to read your interpretation of the lessons to be learned from this week's tragedy ("It Happened Here," September 24). As you see it, the hatred directed against the United States comes from the hatred of freedom, privacy, prosperity, democracy, modernity—in short, only our virtues inspire hatred, so we need not change anything about ourselves while we hunt down our enemies. You fail to grasp that the very meaning of America is being grappled with, and, I believe, transformed. Many of us look around and see that for all the talk of liberty, equality, and the pursuit of happiness, the actions are weighted toward environmental destruction, corporate arrogance, mindless materialism, and decaying democracy. America must stand for something quite different. In the courage to change lies the hope for an America that will earn the respect and affection of people everywhere.

—Keshini Ladduwahetty
Washington, D.C.

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