Sep 12, 2026 · 34 min
9/11’s political legacy exposes America’s crisis of confidence
His Act Is Getting Old
The panel connects post-9/11 politics to today’s ideological conflict and asks whether American institutions can learn to anticipate the next crisis.
- 1Trump’s midterm strategy tests how long Republican candidates can remain tied to his presidency without absorbing its political risks.
- 2Democratic electoral victories coexist with rising socialist organizing and economic discontent that challenge the party’s conventional coalition.
- 3The failures surrounding 9/11, the Great Recession and COVID have deepened doubts about leaders’ ability to foresee and manage crises.
Don't miss
The panel turns the 9/11 Commission’s phrase “failure of imagination” into a broader indictment of leaders who ignore warnings before crises arrive.
The brief
Robert Siegel, E.J. Dionne Jr. and Carlos Lozada open with Trump’s midterm strategy, weighing the risks of celebrating his presidency while remaining closely tied to him.
The panel moves from the Iran conflict and New England Senate primaries to a Democratic Party split between conventional victories, socialist organizing and economic discontent.
Their larger argument links 9/11, the Great Recession and COVID to a sustained collapse in confidence that public institutions can protect or prepare the country.
The conversation returns to the 9/11 Commission’s warning about a failure of imagination, asking whether leaders now listen to warnings or merely react after catastrophe.
The episode closes on a quieter register, with reflections on Notre Dame football, a historical book, family and friends, and the ordinary sources of joy.