Welcome to 201k.com - A Commonwealth Perspective.

There's no doubt that history will record September 11, 2001 as the decisive event of our era. But 201k thinks the importance of the seven anthrax-laden letters sent to two Democratic Senators and several members of the so-called liberal media (SCLM) in the weeks following the 9/11 attacks should not be overlooked.

Coming as soon as they did after the devastating attacks of 9/11, the anthrax letters effectively silenced any opposition to or meaningful criticism of the Republican Party's post 9/11 agenda.

While it's not always useful to work backwards from an effect to look for a cause, we do wonder who would find it helpful to send anthrax to Tom Daschle, Patrick Leahy, and three network TV anchors. Al Qaeda? The ACLU?

Who would have US weapons-grade anthrax all ready to be dropped into a mailbox in New Jersey a week after 9/11 anyway? The Sierra Club?

Even putting aside theories of cause, the effect has been miraculous. We could not have a more docile opposition party, nor a more compliant press.

Historians should remember this when they look back at the origins of the end of the rule of law in America.