A day robbed of its rightful meaning

It's impossible to appropriately comment on a day like today.

One wants to think about this day differently, somehow, despite the fact that its impact and effects confront us endlessly. One wants to be able to think about this date, this anniversary, without partisan overtones and instead with recognition of the shared experience. The collective response to an appalling attack had such potential, such meaning for who we are as individuals and as a nation.

Today it's an arrow in political quivers.

Pain and suffering can beget pain and suffering, even when so many of us work to make it otherwise.

So we work harder, and do more, and maintain the notion that this is a day for all Americans. One to be remembered simply for loss, even in the midst of all other factors. Just loss.