Today as I drove to work, I took note of the fact that many people drove with their headlights on. It is not cloudy out, so I can only assume that this is some sort of homage made in remembrance of the men and women who died on September 11.

Or, rather, an homage to the men and woman who died in the World Trade Center disaster on September 11. The other folks who shuffled off this mortal coil on that day -- the victims of cancer, automobile accidents, murder, old age, heart failure and various and sundry other ailments -- have no place in the American consciousness.

Or perhaps I am not being cynical enough. Perhaps the headlights were actually an homage to the media, for its selfless, unending work in bringing the tragedy to light... and beyond light, to the very realms of myth and legend.

In any event... headlights.

How typically American. We show our support, sympathy and solidarity in the most trivial, easiest, least intrusive way possible. We push a button.

Click.

I have a dream, my friends. I have a dream of a single button. When we push that button, it will sign our names to an electronic petition for the ending of bad stuff. At the same time, it will send a form letter over e-mail to our local congressman, urging him or her to support good stuff. And it will turn on a little light over our front door that symbolizes how deeply we've been affected by sad stuff.

Imagine... our entire collective social conscience salved and soothed at the push of a button. If that isn't still the American dream, then the terrorists really have won.

By the way, I know that I've mentioned before how much I despise the practice of quoting song lyrics. However, in acknowledgment of the spirit of the day (that spirit being hypocrisy), here are some relevant songs: Click here. Or, if you are in the mood for something more tasteless, try this. These are both circa '93.