"Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty."

I posted the following on Dave White's blog. Dave wrote a P.I. story called "Closure," honestly dealing with the aftermath of 9/11, which we published at Thrilling Detective:

Now and then I find myself wishing we could turn back the clock to before 9/11 and somehow prevent the taking of the planes and the loss of life.

I guess the truth is none of us at that time could have predicted an attack of this specific nature. We have a tendency to look back and think times were better, happier. I guess they were, in part. But overall, knowing is better than not knowing. We can do more with information than we can without it.

No one can prevent all atrocities. The best we can hope is to be on guard.

As Wendell Phillips said, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

And Dave, as one of the people who helped publish your 9/11 story, I know you didn't write it for personal gain. My hunch is everyone who values personal freedom was dumbstruck by 9/11. To engage in our freedoms again, we had to come to terms with the day, find a healthy way to express our anger, our grief, our fear, our hope for the future. "Closure" was your way of speaking up, and I'm sure you helped others do the same.