Twenty-four years ago, President George W Bush stood on a massive pile of rubble once a spire that pierced the clouds and echoed the decisive words, “And those responsible for this are gonna hear from all of us!” And thus, Americans became rapacious concerning their endorsement of revenge; overnight, astonishment morphed into rage; we wanted our proverbial pound of flesh, and then some.
Blinded-by-rage fury took us to Afghanistan. From there, it was off to Iraq, which led to additional initiatives specific to the Middle East Region.
If only we had taken a deep breath or moment to allow a semblance of poise to prevail… Unfortunately, “we” Americans tend not to react but overreact – a prevailing ethos that bends toward infantilism. We see it in ourselves, one another, the media, academia, and government; it has become a ravenous cancer blanketing the landscape from sea to shining sea. Hyperbolic reactions to situations before taking the ten-thousand-foot view for a better perspective has become the crux of 21st-century culture.
Since 9/11, be it in my own little corner of the world or beyond, I’ve trained myself to adopt a position of poise instead of reacting. In the late 60s and early 70s, if one exercise such composure, they were dubbed A Cool Cat. America could use some cool cats.
Michael's Corner 
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