I have had a similar experience to the author, but on the train into Manhattan rather than driving. On days with decent visibility I could see the twin towers as I was commuting into NYC on the train. From there, I would look to the left and see the Empire State Building. I still have a sinking feeling in my stomach when I look for them and don't see them, but it is infinitesimal to the feeling in the days immediately following 9/11 when there was still a huge cloud of smoke around the remaining buildings. Last September I noticed I wasn't the only passenger who couldn't stop staring toward the location of the missing towers (and probably trying to wish them back into existence).
Incorrigible, that is a great picture.
If only that were true. But I see that the Saudi government is still our "friend", and George II has not changed his tune from "Islam is a religion of peace." So no death warrant has been, or will be, issued for fanatical, fundamentalist Islam.
If I were Emperor of the United States, I would have treated the WTC site like an American Masada. Every year, the graduating classes of our military academies would conduct their commencement ceremonies there, likewise the NYPD and FDNY. It would be the site for administering the oath of allegiance to new citizens, basically a shrine of the "civic religion." All of this would continue until the Crusade (yes, Crusade) to wipe out Islamic terrorism was concluded, including "regime change" throughout Arabia.
Then, the towers would be rebuilt, as an exact reproduction of the originals.