What I remember most about September 11, 2001, was the patriotism, the camaraderie and the brief period when churches were packed and newscasters unashamedly made references to God.  But what could have been a national revival ended all too quickly.

Much of what we experienced seems to have been a momentary blip. Instead of revival, we have suffered the loss of commonsense at the highest levels of government.  Instead of getting serious about visa overstayers and tighter border security, we have turned much of our surveillance on our own citizens. By its failure to enforce immigration laws, the government sends the message that we are not serious about protecting our citizens.  Grandmothers, pregnant women, and the handicapped are  inconvenienced at airports and subjected to the voyeurism of the naked scanners.

 I regret that the terrorists have won.  The 9/11 terrorists have won because they set into motion a set of conditions that have radically eroded our civil rights and civil liberties. The rule of law has lost its meaning.  Terrorists have used their knowledge of our national ignorance for tactical advantage. The next generation of terrorists may come from native-born Muslims and from the ranks of disaffected black Americans recruited in prison.

What I remember most about 9/11 was originally published in the September 8, 2011, National Review Online.

 Carol M. Swain is Professor of Political Science and of Law at Vanderbilt University. She is the author of the newly released Be the People: A Call to Reclaim America’s Faith and Promise (Thomas Nelson Press, 2011).