we watched in horror as the towers came down. four years later, we sat in shock as water poured into the lower ninth ward. the terror of 9/11 was followed by a deep sense of connection, with each other. a sense of solidarity as americans and a recognition of our shared vulnerability. in fact, it made us afraid. and that fear did make us band together, but it also is true that our unified desire to respond to 9/11 helped us to make some disastrous choices. out of fear, we stood and allowed the erosion of america's civil liberties. out of our fear, we followed a misguided president into a war with iraq. fear of terrorism made us afraid to criticize the troubling choices of the bush administration. until, four years later, another crisis reminded us that the politics of fear are not an