Osama bin Laden’s capture in May 2010, 8-1/2 years after he perpetrated the atrocities of 9/11,, united the United States.

If you remember, there were spontaneous celebrations in Washington and other cities. After President Obama announced the special forces team’s success, he went to New York for a solemn wreath laying at the World Trade Center site. Then he visited city firefighters at a station particularly hard hit, sharing lunch with the crew.

It might have been the last time this country was united.

Otherwise, we’ve pretty given bin Laden what he wanted.

He wanted to destroy us. He wanted to knock off our pedestal as the world’s indispensable nation. 

bin Laden saw our diversity as weakness. That’s what he has in common with history’s autocratic scum, like Hitler and Stalin – and now Putin. He wanted a rule based on his warped idea of Islam, just like the warped Christianity of totalitarians. 

There was no place in it for infidels – people who practice other faiths. There was no place in it for Muslims who didn’t share his view; bin Laden supported the deaths of thousands from Afghanistan to Africa to the Twin Towers.

But after a couple of days of celebration and relief, we went back to doing bin Laden’s work of tearing ourselves apart.

The forces that saw diversity, equity and inclusion as weakness gained the upper hand in our politics. They were fueled by oodles of money from people who profited from the old way of doing things.

And they were led by a huckster who would say what it took to appeal to their prejudices as long as he profited from him. Donald Trump would be the most liberal Democrat in America if he thought he’d get more money and power that way.

In the process, he divided us in a way bin Laden could have only dreamed of. Trump is bin Laden’s victory.

But the seeds of thwarting bin Laden are still in the ground.

In New York, while bigots and political opportunists squawk about his attendance at the 9/11 memorial, a Muslim mayor leads an effort to unite his city and restore its greatness. He revels in the diversity and culture of the town.

There are other leaders in other cities and states with similar agendas. They see the mosaic as being stronger than the single sheet of material. They fulfill the promise of this country to form a more perfect union, to govern and not to rule.

bin Laden would have written a flattering letter to Trump and won him over. The rest of us know better. It takes all kinds of people to make America great – and that won’t happen until we run this country again.

On this 25th anniversary, may the loved ones of those killed on 9/11 and those killed because of its aftermath find peace.