Great piece, IcebergSlim. I need to listen to NPR more.
Amazingly, I was just reading "September 11, 2001" in Kingdom of Fear last night, and marvelling at how accurately Thompson had predicted the years to come (this prescience is mentioned in the NPR piece):
The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other country. Make no mistake about it: We are At War now -- with somebody -- and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives.
Thompson wrote that the day after the attack.