For many years after 2001, the New York City skyline was an affront to me. I would return to the city by air and see the Twin Towers missing. (“See.”) My blood would boil once again. Last week, I noticed that I had stopped noticing. Returning to the city, I looked toward Lower Manhattan. I remembered the Towers, sure. But I thought, “Huh. This has become normal to me.” I was a little sorry it had.

(Before continuing, I might mention that I live in the city, and have since the ’90s. I don’t really see the skyline in my daily life. But I see it from an airplane.)

I have been thinking about the War on Terror — does the term seem antique to you, by the way? Many of us thought we might be in for another “long twilight struggle.” Something akin to the Cold War. It would take various forms and last generations.

Is it your impression that Islamofascism, or whatever you want to call it, has gone relatively quiet? (I stress “relatively.”)

I discussed the matter with a couple of experienced national-security types. “Have we been lucky or good?” I wondered. “Is it over? Is the War on Terror a thing of the past, a subject for the history books?” Both of these experts said something like this:

“The Afghan War and the Iraq War did not turn out the way we would have liked, obviously. But the War on Terror, in its multiplicity of aspects, including those wars, put the bad guys on notice: If you hit us, we won’t whine like a weakling. We won’t merely propose stern resolutions at the U.N. We will hit you back, ferociously, killing a whole mess o’ you. This makes our enemies think twice.”

After our withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 — that shameful debacle — many of us were concerned that the Taliban and al-Qaeda would refortify their alliance, never abandoned, and hit us again. This has not come to pass, in the three and a half years since. Are they biding their time? Have they lost interest in the Great Satan?

My questions here are questions for a long, searching article. I am jotting brief notes. Regardless, it sometimes pays to glance back and consider what we have accomplished, or not accomplished. It would be hard to explain to young people how important the War on Terror was to us. It was all-consuming. And then . . .

Many feared that we would have one 9/11 after another. This was not a “one-off.” It was the beginning of a string. Because our enemies pledged to do it over and over, if they could.

Twenty-two years after 9/11, there was October 7 — and Hamas has pledged to do it again and again, if they can. The Israelis are doing their best to ensure that they cannot.

A final note, before leaving this subject. As I said many times after 9/11, I had never liked the Twin Towers, as architecture. I thought they were rather a modernist blight. And when the enemies of civilization — monsters — took them down, the Towers had been, in my mind, just about the most beautiful structures ever.

• One of the great subjects of today, or maybe any day, is identity. What constitutes a person’s identity? His skin color? His feelings? His self-understanding?

Jimmy Lai is on trial in Hong Kong. He is a political prisoner and hero. (For a piece on him, written by me in 2023, go here.) In the course of this trial, Lai insisted that he was a Hong Konger, not Chinese. The judge said, “Is your skin yellow, Mr. Lai?” Lai answered, “Because my skin is yellow, I’m identified as Chinese?” The judge said, “You are Chinese.” Lai answered, “No, I am a Hong Konger.”

(To read about this, go here.)

What a man, Jimmy Lai — an individual if there ever was one.

• You often hear about “real people.” You hear the phrase out of politicians’ mouths, out of demagogues’ mouths. A lot of these blowhards work in the media, not just in electoral politics. I wrote an essay about this in 2022: “ ‘The People,’ They Say.”

Well, as there are “real people,” and “real Americans,” there are “real Kansans,” evidently. A U.S. senator from that state, Roger Marshall, held a townhall. It didn’t go well for him. The people (if you will) were ticked. Later, his chief of staff put out a statement, claiming, “Real Kansans overwhelmingly support President Trump’s DOGE initiative.”

Uh-huh.

When someone says “real people,” “real Americans,” “real Kansans,” or what have you, look out. It was one of the great discoveries of my adult life. (Bill Buckley helped me with this, a lot, as with so many other things.) All people are real, whether we like them or not.

• Pretty much every day, my critics tell me I’m a relic of the past. “Your day is over, old-timer. You’re a zombie Reaganite. There’s a new sheriff in town. It’s a new day and a new way.” It sure is. My idea of an FBI director is Judge Webster. (He later served as CIA director.) The new GOP’s idea of an FBI director — is this:

Webster took a stand against the nomination of Kash Patel. Also against the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence. Yesterday, Webster turned 101. Thank you, Judge, for everything.

• The Haskell Free Library and Opera House is a very interesting place. It straddles the U.S.-Canadian border, between Rock Island, Quebec, and Derby Line, Vermont. The Haskell family built the structure on the border because they wanted Americans and Canadians to have equal access. Throughout the building, there is a thin black line, indicating the border.

Recently, our secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, visited Haskell. Repeatedly, she hopped from one side of the line to the other, saying, “U.S.A. No. 1,” then, “The 51st state.” “U.S.A. No. 1,” “The 51st state.”

To read a news article about this, go here.

For years now, I have said that I have two prayers for the Right, among other prayers: that we recover a proper sense of manliness and that we recover a proper sense of patriotism. Andrew Tate should not be a masculine ideal. And jingoism, idiotic, is not patriotism. It is unworthy of a great country.

• From the world of golf, an unusual, and encouraging, story: “After 5 years in jail, ex-gang member Peake wins New Zealand Open and qualifies for British Open.” Ryan Peake said, “I’ve just changed my life. . . . I just want to be here and play golf.”

• The English language gets corrupted, and then the corruption becomes standard. Here is an article about Jim Harbaugh, the coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. One sentence reads, “But Harbaugh doesn’t intend on leaving his Michigan connections in 2024.”

Is “intend on” now . . . kosher?

• Pardon the cliché, but Roberta Flack is part of “the soundtrack of our lives.” “Killing Me Softly.” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” Etc. She has died at 88. A formidable life, as detailed by Giovanni Russonello in this obit.

• “Hazel N. Dukes, Longtime Civil Rights Stalwart, Dies at 92.” That obit is here. At the end, Ms. Dukes is quoted: “If I can help somebody as I travel along this way, then my living shall have not been in vain. I’m not tired yet.”

You know what she herself was quoting, right (or paraphrasing)? A song, written by Alma Bazel Androzzo, way back. It was recorded by Mahalia Jackson and a slew of others. I heard Bryn Terfel sing it in recital, some years ago. (He is a great bass-baritone, from Wales.) Bryn recorded it, actually: listen to him here.

• It was freezing — really cold — in New York the other day. A woman, all bundled up, was sitting at an outdoor table, having a snack. I said, “I guess you don’t think it’s cold, huh?” She smiled and said, “Well, it’s my first time in New York” — she wanted to be outside, not in. Sweet exchange.

• Throw some music at you? Some concert reviews, and opera reviews? Start with opera: Fidelio and Moby-Dick. (The first was composed by Beethoven, the second by Jack Heggie. Heggie took the idea from some book.)

Now, some concerts: the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Riccardo Muti; Hilary Hahn, playing the Brahms Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic; Santtu-Matias Rouvali, conducting the New York Phil; Juho Pohjonen, playing a piano recital; Yuja Wang and Víkingur Ólafsson, giving a duo-piano recital.

That ought to hold you for now.

• This is a shot of the Willard Hotel, in Washington:

Quick, what opera includes the hotel as a setting? Correct: The Ballad of Baby Doe, by Douglas Moore.

Here is another picture taken in Washington, early, early in the morning:

Thank you for joining me, my friends. Catch you later.

If you would like to receive Impromptus by e-mail — links to new columns — write to jnordlinger@nationalreview.com.