George Pataki warns that polarization is a victory for terrorists
By Caroline Ashford · Reporting from Richmond, Virginia ·
George Pataki argues that a lack of leadership presence and rising polarization have eroded the shared duty of Americans.
Young Americans are now more than twice as likely as seniors to believe U.S. foreign policy caused the 9/11 attacks. This statistic, highlighted on The Free Press podcast, suggests a growing segment of the population believes the country simply "had it coming."
For former New York Governor George Pataki, this shift represents a loss of shared duty. Pataki recalled the chaos of that Tuesday—the sudden silence of the city, the panic in the streets, and his own refusal to hide in a secure underground bunker in Albany. He believed a leader cannot flee his people during a crisis. He stayed above ground, coordinating a hundred executive orders to keep the state's power grids, hospitals, and transport lines running while the city burned. To Pataki, the move from the unity of 2001 to today’s polarization means the terrorists won a second, social victory by killing the possibility of a common conversation.
Why the Bunker Mattered
Pataki’s refusal of the bunker offers a lesson in presence. In an era where officials lead via press releases and curated Instagram feeds, the public has forgotten that an institution only survives if a person is willing to stay at the desk. Pataki’s instinct—that the governorship required him to stand among the wreckage—defined his stewardship.
He said on the podcast that this courage has vanished from public debate. Pataki pointed to Mayor Mamani, arguing that any official who refuses to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada" should not attend 9/11 commemorations. This is not a matter of religious exclusion, but a requirement that a civic leader reject street violence. When the public accepts "tactical" apologies from leaders who diminish tragedy for votes, they trade away the community's trust.
The Progressive Label
The conversation turned to the vocabulary of the modern Left. Pataki and his guest argued that "progressive" now serves as a mask for retrograde, theocratic beliefs. They said that American universities and The New York Times have stopped teaching or reporting and have instead become pamphlets for ideological causes.
The most polished version of this shift claims the West must "decenter" its own history to make room for the oppressed. In this framework, the slaughter of civilians on 9/11 or October 7th is not senseless terror, but an "anti-colonial" response to global power. This argument appeals to a student's desire for justice and a professor's love for academic complexity.
Pataki called this a distortion of the facts. Framing the murder of civilians as a geopolitical "response" replaces the evidence of a massacre with a story of grievance. When a classroom teaches that a terror attack was a deserved consequence of a trade deal or a military base, it is not teaching critical thinking. It is training a generation to view their own civilization not as a home to be repaired, but as a crime to be avenged.
How to Break the Silos?
Pataki described the failure to stop 9/11 as a wall between the CIA and FBI. He solved that specific gap by building a counterterrorism center in Albany where agents from different agencies sat at the same tables. However, a more dangerous wall now divides the American public. People no longer eat dinner or attend town halls with those across the party line; they no longer agree on a single set of facts.
The pattern is predictable. When a society values ideology over evidence, it enters an era where conspiracy replaces reason. This manifests as a tolerance for "inside job" theories and the scrubbing of terror from news memos to avoid offending extremists.
If schools and newspapers remain tools for indoctrination rather than anchors of truth, the unity of 2001 will look like a fluke—the last gasp of a confident culture. America is currently building a house with a rotting frame, and no amount of political "progress" can support a roof that has no foundation in the truth.