Reviewers and ordinary people who have seen the movie United 93 have described it admiringly as thankfully devoid of Hollywood sensationalism, straightforward and factual in its recreation of events and conversations based on the knowable, and apolitical. If by “political” we mean cynically advancing a position for personal gain, or presenting only one side of a complex story, then I’ll agree that the movie isn’t political. However, the movie echoes a concern that has been raised since 9/11 about the ability of our government to protect us from attack. In her book, Who Defended the Country? Elaine Scarry reviews in harrowing detail the events of that morning and asks us to examine some of our assumptions about the speed with which our government can respond to modern threats. She concludes convincingly that, unlike the Pentagon which was unable to defend the Pentagon, only the citizens on United Flight 93, using a kind of expedited town meeting approach, were able to respond to the hijacking of their plane and thwart an additional attack on Washington. This book is part of a larger body of work and thought by Elaine Scarry on the consent of the governed. To listen to a radio broadcast from 2003 in which she explains and answers questions about her line of reasoning, go here . In the interest of full disclosure, and not because it confers any honor on me, I should say that Elaine is my sister.