I suppose it must have been strange to have a December 7th birthday through most of the 40s and 50s. My grandmother's birthday is today (she's been buried awhile, so she missed 2001), my friend's mother's birthday is today, and they aren't the only ones (see this post's title for a few living famous folks' birthdays).
My friend said to me that when folks saw his mother's ID and noticed the birthdate, they would pause, and sort of just say, 'ohhh'. That probably happens less now, seven years on.
Seven years, Al Qaeda is in shambles, if Osama Bin Laden is still alive (unlikely at this point), he hasn't enjoyed an easy night's sleep since that date (not due to anything like remorse, but fear of capture or death from cruise missle, and like most 'leaders' of his ilk, I'm sure he prefers that other people do the glorious martyr thing for him).
Sunni Islam, in general, is more moderate than it was in 2001 (though, ironically, more radical in Europe), and despite still being able to run around in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, the Taliban is never again going to ruin an entire country (just a few villages and provinces).
There are those here who would like to forget, and chalk up seven years without a spectacular attack in the United States to dumb luck, or that Al Qaeda was never any real threat. I think at some point in history, the Bush administration will be given some credit for what they accomplished, but not anytime soon.
Instead, you'll have stuff like this at Wonkette (both the post, and the comments).
But rather than dwell on that, I'd prefer to reflect upon what Donald Rumsfeld said at the dedication of the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial
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