Its not just the deaths of 3,000 people. It was the fact that it was an act of war, that it resulted in the destruction of a national landmark and major damage to our national defence HQ, that it struck at the heart of our dominance as a nation, that it resulted in a huge economic blow to the country, that it signalled that our country is no longer safe within our borders, that there are people out there who will stop at nothing to annihilate us. Now, if you want to sit back comfortably, yawn, look at 9/11 and shrug your shoulders, that's up to you. As for me, I'm tired of hearing armchair "experts" who claim that 9/11 was an isolated event, that there is no real terrorist presence in the U.S., that we don't face any real threat, that terrorists can't possibly acquire WMD. If and when we get hit again, what will your reaction be?Third, my point was that the US, public and government is grossly overreacting (and usually not in a productive fashion) to the situation given what happened, and how to prevent another attack.
If the much-maligned Clintons were proposing half of what is in the Patriot Act you all would be talking about the need for armed revolt.