"The U.S. has already suffered a devastating attack on September 11, 2001, and may again become a target"
About this Quote
A sentence like this is built to do more than warn; it’s designed to keep the reader’s nervous system slightly on edge. By anchoring itself to September 11, 2001, Chavez invokes an event that functions less like a date than a national reflex. The phrase “devastating attack” doesn’t need elaboration because the audience supplies the images, the grief, the anger. That’s rhetorical efficiency: she borrows the emotional archive of 9/11 to power a claim about the present.
The real work happens in the pivot: “and may again become a target.” “May” sounds cautious, even responsible, but the sentence leans into permanence. The subtext is that the post-9/11 condition is not a chapter that ended; it’s a standing weather report. “Become a target” also treats targeting as something that happens to the U.S., not as a dynamic shaped by policy choices, alliances, military presence, or domestic vulnerabilities. That passive framing quietly narrows the range of acceptable debate from “What creates risk?” to “How hard should we clamp down?”
Context matters here. Chavez, a conservative commentator and policy-world figure, often writes in the register of public order: immigration, national identity, security. In that ecosystem, invoking 9/11 is a moral credential and a political accelerant. The intent is to legitimize vigilance and pre-empt complacency, while smuggling in a broader permission structure for tougher measures: surveillance, border enforcement, and an elevated sense of threat that makes extraordinary policy feel like common sense.
The real work happens in the pivot: “and may again become a target.” “May” sounds cautious, even responsible, but the sentence leans into permanence. The subtext is that the post-9/11 condition is not a chapter that ended; it’s a standing weather report. “Become a target” also treats targeting as something that happens to the U.S., not as a dynamic shaped by policy choices, alliances, military presence, or domestic vulnerabilities. That passive framing quietly narrows the range of acceptable debate from “What creates risk?” to “How hard should we clamp down?”
Context matters here. Chavez, a conservative commentator and policy-world figure, often writes in the register of public order: immigration, national identity, security. In that ecosystem, invoking 9/11 is a moral credential and a political accelerant. The intent is to legitimize vigilance and pre-empt complacency, while smuggling in a broader permission structure for tougher measures: surveillance, border enforcement, and an elevated sense of threat that makes extraordinary policy feel like common sense.
Quote Details
| Topic | War |
|---|
More Quotes by Linda
Add to List
