‘It’s Time to Get On With the Job at Hand’

Enough, enough, enough. We are saddened and we mourn. But let us be done with all this moaning and whining and sniveling, and with the jingoism and the flag-waving fervor. It’s time now to get on with the job at hand.

We’ve got a host of problems out there that need to be taken care of. Finding the people who concocted or were otherwise responsible for the Sept. 11 horror and setting that right is only one job. Admittedly that will be a monstrously big one, one so vitally important to us all. But, rightly, that ought to be just a start. There are so many things that need changing or fixing in our world, in our country, even in your or my neighborhoods. Most, if not all of these, will require a fresh sheet of paper, thinking outside of the box, some damn hard work.

America the beautiful. It could be. Why not work to make it so?

It’s a wonderful, wonderful world. Oh, sure. But it could be. If.

Keith Darwin Walther

Santa Monica

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About 60 years ago, science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov wrote “Nightfall,” a short story about a planet and civilization that, due to its position in the galaxy, enjoyed constant daylight, except for a short period of darkness every 2,050 years.

The people on the planet were so unused to the darkness that they went mad and destroyed their civilization by setting fire to their cities in a futile attempt to have light. From the ashes, the survivors would rebuild their civilization, which would advance and progress until the next period of darkness came. Then the cycle of madness, self-destruction and rebuilding would begin again.

From Pearl Harbor to Sept. 11, 2001, we Americans lived in the constant daylight, so to speak, of never having a major act of war happen on our own territory. Now night has fallen.

How will we react? Will our country--and world--come out of this a stronger, better place than before? Or will we, like the people in “Nightfall,” turn on each other and eventually harm our country in a futile attempt to find easy answers?

Charles P. Hobbs

West Hills

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As a psychologist, I am always amazed by the resilience of individuals. As an American, I am struck by the resilience of this nation. The courage, perseverance and will that have been demonstrated by this country since the events on Sept. 11 are inspiring.

Thomas DeAntonio

Canoga Park