The Daily Dose/September 11, 2026
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes From Around Our Human Experience
USA! USA!: Today is the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The details are well known and really don’t need to be reviewed, except to note the voicemails left by passengers who realized they were dying soon remain one of the most poignant episodes in our collective American experience.
Dry, Technical Matter: Like you probably did, we read the report of the 9/11 Commission, and while we hardly recall every detail, we do remember this conclusion:
American intelligence and accumulated enough information to know the attack would happen, but not all of this information had made its way to one centralized location: we didn’t know what we knew.
Fly In The Ointment: America’s long history of butting in in the Middle East didn’t help, either. Back then, we had been at war continuously since December 1989 – something that is still true today – and it is not unreasonable to believe that had America been a peaceful nation instead of a warmongering nation, the Twin Towers would still be standing today.
More Fly In The Ointment: American civil liberties have declined considerably after 9/11, too, as our government now has, among other things, broad powers to conduct surveillance and act without warrants. Suspects in the attacks have been held for 20 years without a trial, and America has long engaged in torture. America is no longer a bastion liberty, but merely one of the bad guys now.
Gaylon For Congress…Vote Early, Vote Often: The time has come for America to give other nations the benefit of conducting their affairs without US interference, and for the planet to see the world produced by an America at peace.
The Bottom Line: This was all preventable: the attacks, the deaths, the surveillance state we now live in, a 20-year, inconclusive war in Afghanistan, all of it, because there was no reason for anybody to attack an America at peace on September 11, 2001. But we are not a peaceful nation and, frankly, we never have been. Of our 250 years of independence, we have, by our count, been in some kind of war somewhere for 206 of them, including six right now.
Editor’s Note: Gaylon is the Libertarian Party’s nominee for Congress from Colorado’s 2nd District. Visit his campaign site here.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow reports on a firing at the hospital. Today’s Diary.
Alisha had some of the details on the firing but, maddeningly, not all of them…
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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1792 – The Hope Diamond – then in the possession of France and known as the French Bleu – is stolen along with some other crown jewels in Paris. The diamond promptly disappeared for 20 years and was recut before reappearing in London in 1812. It was purchased by the Hope family and was sold several times after that before being donated to the Smithsonian Institute in 1958. It is worth an estimated $250 to $350 million.
In 1960 – The Summer Olympics in Rome come to a close, with the Soviet Union winning the most overall medals (103) and gold medals (43). The Games saw South Africa compete for the last time until 1992, a Finnish shooter drop off the medal stand after hitting a bullseye on the wrong target, and Iraq won its only Olympic medal, a bronze in weightlifting. Rome had originally been awarded the 1908 Games, but declined them after Mount Vesuvius exploded, and they remain the only Summer Games Italy has hosted.
In 2010 – Eminem featuring Rihanna is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the seventh and final consecutive week with Love the Way You Lie. It was the fourth of five #1 songs for Eminem and the seventh of 14 #1s for Rhianna. The song went to #1 in 27 other countries, including Israel and Norway, peaked at #2 in Great Britain, at #7 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart, and was Billboard’s 7th-biggest song of the year.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Lincoln appealed to reason, historical fact, and the sense of justice that he believed a constituent of human nature. The power of persuasive language, he hoped, could motivate America to become the agent of its own liberation.
Fred Kaplan
Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Billboard’s #1 song of 1977 was You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone, which spent ten weeks at #1.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Which country has appeared in the most combined Olympics without winning a medal? – Answer next time!
