Jackson Jambalaya

While reflecting on the events of September 11, 2001 and immediately following, many of us have relived our thoughts, emotions, and not a few resolutions. Those events spurred a large number of young people to go into civil or military service. Each of them took an oath of office that began, “I … do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same….”

Americans and the world soon learned the planners, supporters, and perpetrators of the attacks were Islamic terrorists. As Muslims, they had an extreme religious zeal to act according to their religious beliefs. As terrorists they suffered no hesitation nor contrition about murdering thousands of innocent people of all faiths in order to stake their claim of righteous judgement against the great satan. 

Twenty-one years ago authorities quickly identified the men who flew the planes, and learned how they had used our nation’s freedoms to enter the country and to prepare for their mission right under our noses. Nineteen Islamic terrorists left many dots but no one connected them before 911. 

In those days we all knew the bad guys as surely as if they had worn black hats. The attacks had a unifying effect for Americans across political, cultural, and even religious divides that lasted for a few years. Foreign enemies are common enemies against all citizens, whereas domestic enemies are much more difficult to define. Today the political establishment calls MAGA supporters and parents of children in public schools “extreme,” “radical,” and “terrorists.”

Meanwhile, this year border patrol agents have arrested more than 50 “immigrants” on the terror watch list at our southern border. How many more have crossed undetected along with an estimated one million “gotaways” since President Biden opened the border in January 2021? That number is in addition to more than 2 million illegal immigrants border patrol has counted crossing the southern border since January 2021.

Considering the damage nineteen terrorists inflicted on our nation and the world twenty-one years ago, how much damage could hundreds or even thousands of foreign terrorists do to America? What if these terrorists coordinated 911-like attacks across America simultaneously? 

Crime and violence have skyrocketed across American cities since the summer of 2020. The past two years have been particularly brutal, not by so-called white supremacist terrorists as by street gangs. Local law enforcement has been overwhelmed with what appears to be random attacks against vulnerable people or groups. 

America’s founders set up three equal branches of government and a series of checks and balances to maintain stable law and order. States and local governments have more or less followed that same pattern. The Constitution is the law of the land regarding the powers held by these three branches. As a written document, the Constitution is the most stable power governing the three branches. Perhaps this is why oaths for civil and military authorities call for members to protect and defend the Constitution. 

America’s domestic terrorists today are more likely those inside government who have abandoned their Constitutional duties for political gain. Are terrorists already at work inside America destabilizing us one social issue or group identity at a time?