The Broadway play Come from Away takes place in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada starting on September 11, 2001. It is based on real-life events when 38 planes, carrying close to 7,000 passengers, were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport. The characters in the musical are based on actual Gander residents and the stranded travelers they housed and fed in their small town.
The show is brilliant, funny, and moving. But one thing that it does particularly well is capture the enormous outpouring of goodwill the United States and the people of the United States received in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Our friends and allies rallied to our aid to support and, in some cases, sustain us.
And what have we done with that goodwill? Well, honestly, we certainly didn't build on it. In fact, in the past 21 months, the current administration has actively set about destroying it. Don't believe me? Ask our (possibly now former) friends and allies.
And here we are 25 years later — a cranky old barfly full of regrets but tragically incapable of recognizing how those regrets came to be. What was marketed as America First is in reality America Only.
Editor's note: John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Public, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.
