>>Leadership matters.
>>We had an incompetent dimwit in office when 9/11 struck and we are still paying the price of his incompetence.
>>Strong leadership shines at times like these, and vice versa.
The US is cursed with celebrities and politicians willing- even eager- to distract with "fix the blame" memes rather than "fix the problem" even on the eve of massive death rates per modeling. Then they act as if it's noble to hurl their meal trays at the captain while s/he's trying to save the crashing plane.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1