"9/11 Changed everything" we were told, so many times it just had to be false.
But in one respect it almost seemed true. Under St. Ronnie, there were good terrorists and bad terrorists. It was the heyday of moral relativism when it came to blowing up or blowing away innocent civilians. Rape and murder some Maryknoll nuns? Assasinate El Salvador's Arhcbishop Oscar Romero? It's all good! "One man's terrorists is another man's freedom fighter!" was the Reaganite battle cry. First Terrorist George Washington was not amused.
But after 9/11, suddenly all terrorists were evil. In fact, they were "evildoers." That was their defining characteristic. It's what made them tick. They did evil because they were evildoers. End of story, end of explanation, end of discussion, when do we start bombing? Of course, it wasn't really that simple. When Cuban security agents came looking for anti-Castro terrorists in Florida, they were promptly arrested and jailed as if they themselves were terrorists. But this wasn't for public consumption outside of South Florida. It was an embarrassing contradiction, and not to be spoken of in polite company.
Now, however, the exceptional has abruptly shifted from margin to center: Bill Ayers, terrorist? You betcha! Abortion clinic bombers? Not so much, says Palin, as McCain looks on in zombie sleep:
STATE BLOGS
