THAT DAMN TIM RUSSERT COLUMN

Well you've probably already read other comments about Russert's "Am I Doing God's Work?" I don't have much to add with regard to the main thrust of the article (except that the answer to the title question is "Are you nuts? Of course not"). But I do want to say something about this:

I don't think the English language has yet found the words to describe the pain and anguish we felt that day [9/11]. And yet we learned much about each other. The bravery of the first responders who went up the stairs of burning buildings. The heroic selfless souls on United flight #93. The patience of tens of thousands of drivers who left the devastated areas in an orderly way.

I have not honked my car horn since September 11 as a gesture of respect to all of them.

Er, I'm confused. Not honking your car horn in response to a terrorist attack on (primarily) New York -- isn't that like not getting a tan in response to a terrorist attack on L.A.? Or not playing shuffleboard in response to a terrorist attack on Boca Raton?

Tim, you should probably honk your horn more if you want to pay tribute to us New Yorkers. Drivers here certainly haven't stopped doing it. In fact, I think a lot of the people we lost that day, if they were alive today, would be pretty quick on the horn if you were in front of them and you sat too long after a light changed -- you know, more than a millionth of a second. That's who we are.

So honk all you want. It would be a gesture of solidarity with us.