Of all people in the world, I think Ronald Reagan said something once that illuminates what happened on September 11th, and why it engendered such a sympathetic response from the world. He wasn't talking about 9/11, of course, but was speculating about what would happen if the Earth were ever invaded by aliens (can you believe this guy was actually President?)

"But I've often wondered, what if all of us in the world discovered that we were threatened by an outer -- a power from outer space, from another planet.

"Wouldn't we all of a sudden find that we didn't have any differences between us at all, we were all human beings, citizens of the world, and wouldn't we come together to fight that particular threat?"

For a lot of people in the world, 9/11 was just that - an alien invasion moment - and for probably the first time in modern American history even our enemies were falling over themselves to offer their condolences. It was a truly bizarre thing to witness, I have to tell you.

In my opinion, that moment COULD (no, SHOULD) have been something more than it's turned out to be. How we've squandered such universal goodwill on pursuing our own stupid national agenda sickens me almost as much as the terrorist attacks themselves. This could have been a turning point in the world community, when we finally gave the United Nations the backing it needed to confront the issues that threaten the entire world's stability - disease, poverty, hopelessness, ethnic hatred - and generate madmen like bin Laden with axes to grind and nothing to lose.

But no, here we are, a year later, with our President drumming up another oil war, hoping that no one is paying attention to the fact that most of Al Qaeda is still at large and none of the larger problems that breed suicidal-homicidal tendencies have even been acknowledged, let alone addressed. 365 days and counting, America. There's some goodwill out there yet - if only we had the courage to take it and make the world a better place for all, instead of just a better place for the U.S. of A...

...or would that have to take an actual alien invasion? I wonder.