One year ago today, America suffered its worst day since Dec. 7, 1941. Reeling from an attack by an unknown and unseen enemy, we were suddenly feeling at risk in ways we didn't expect or understand. With airliners smacking into towers and bodies falling a hundred stories to the ground, everything seemed to have fallen apart. But one thing was clear: America was at war. Pessimists quickly assumed that this was it for America. The prosperity, independence and dominance it had known in the world since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 were over. And, now, everything would be worse.