"But although Gitlin assumes in The Intellectuals and the Flag that it was natural to feel solidarity on that occasion [9/11] on the basis of a common American identity, he could have felt solidarity on any number of bases Рas a New Yorker, as a human being, as a secularist or as an anti-imperialist, to name just a few. Each mode implies a different form of politics, a different way of looking at the problem, and hence a different way of thinking about how to respond. The first, for example, might very well imply solidarity not only vis-à-vis Al Qaeda but vis-à-vis Texas oilmen whose view of compact, energy-efficient cities like New York is not much more benign," РDaniel Lazare, the Nation.
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The Dish 