Once seen as crucibles of leftist radicalism, American colleges have spent the last decade or so turning out record numbers of computer programmers, business administrators and NBA stars, but the ranks of matriculated activists, idealists and peaceniks have fallen dramatically. Outside the Beltway, city parks are sit-in free.
Dormitories remain politically dormant.
Not all Muslims are extremists. Killing civilians would bring us down to the terrorists' level. Others, including representatives from the Southern Christian Leadership Coalition and the Quakers, made heartfelt pleas for pacifism, but it's doubtful that even those messages would have gained much traction outside the friendly confines of the auditorium. Obviously it's still very early in what is shaping up to be a prolonged period of national turmoil and introspection. It's not realistic to expect that a coherent, effective anti-war message would have taken shape less than three weeks after the attack and before most people knew what our government's response would be.