There were more than 14,000 Fray postings yesterday, ranging from a man in the Pentagon's announcement that he was safe to calls  for a truce from the Fray's usual political infighting because of the terrorist attack. Most posters agreed to the cease-fire, but Firecat made himself very unpopular by arguing: "[T]his attack is directly related to political decisions made in this country. … [D]on't try to hide behind this tragedy and claim that political discussion is taboo."

Readers wanted to express their feelings, be with friends, and find out what was going on, and the Fray was their venue of choice. The same themes kept turning up. The Rev. James Elliot claimed to speak  for the American people: "We … want to know, where is our military? … Why are there not mushroom clouds over Kabul, Damascus, and Baghdad?" But for others, the Voice of Reason was more to the point: "Reading all the messages posted I feel sad, not just because of the tragedy of this day, but because it gives a voice to people's racism, religious ignorance, and intolerance. …There are those who are willing to punish the 'guilty' before we even know who they are."

Singha asked, "How do you ensure such things will not happen in [the] future when people have no value for life, including their own? Maybe we should explore what drives them to it." And a eulogy for the World Trade Center building came from John Broderick, who described it here as "our Eiffel Tower." More of the best below.

Subject: Carrying On

Re: "The Breakfast Table: John Lahr and August Wilson"

From: Neill Hamilton

Date: Tue Sep 11  8:48 a.m. PT

Fear is only your daily bread if you choose to eat it. No one should make any silly judgments for a good 48 hours. … Americans don't, or shouldn't, commit foul deeds to trade for foul deeds. Bury and mourn the dead, take a close look at who rejoices and who joins us in mourning, rebuild and repair. Only then after a steady and thoughtful hunt for the guilty and weighing of evidence should anyone begin to decide what to do. Tomorrow the sun rises for most of us, and the Post Office will be open, coffee will need to be brewed, etc.

[Find this post here.]

Subject: Looking at the Future

Re: "This Just In: Dispatch From New York—The World Trade Center Falls"

From: Zeitguy

Date: Tue Sep 11  10:24 a.m. PT

I talk to my wife, and am choked up. The kids are safe in school, I am at risk in a government building, my wife is in the chapel in the retirement home where she works praying for the thousands dead. This is the war that has been celebrated and mythologized so ardently for the past few years. This is the war. When Oppenheimer saw the flash of the Trinity explosion, he quoted the Vedas: "I am become the destroyer of worlds." Our world really did end today. Who destroyed it? We don't even know. Yukon said [in the Fray] we are on the threshold of a new kind of war, and this is a stunning, staggering demonstration of the reality behind that concept.

[Find this post here.]

Subject: View From Abroad

Re: "This Just In: Dispatch From New York—The World Trade Center Falls"

From: Ray Tripp

Date: Tue Sep 11  11:40 a.m. PT