Gene Healy on 9/11 and Its Legacy of Fear

Today marks the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. What, if anything, have we learned? In a Saturday statement, President Obama struck an upbeat note: "The legacy of 9/11," he said, is "the ability to say with confidence that no adversary and no act of terrorism can change who we are."

Who's he kidding? For ordinary schlubs who don't own their own planes, a trip to the airport provides less reason for optimism. Travelers shuffle shoeless through the security line, at the end of which government agents will either grope them or look at them naked. And despite his campaign trail promises to "set an example for the world that the law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers," writes Gene Healy, Obama has forged an expanded "Terror Presidency," with dangerous new powers for all future presidents to wield.