Honoring Labor, Remembering 9/11 • Best 60ish Seconds

Charlie opens Labor Day weekend with a lighthearted take on the changing seasons — he'd happily trade for 360 days of summer — before turning to the acronym-laden left-wing organizations he's been watching, chief among them the SPLC, the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Charlie then celebrates Labor Day and the American working men and women who built the greatest nation in history. He traces the holiday's origins to the industrial revolution and its signing into law in 1894 by President Grover Cleveland — the only other president to serve two non-consecutive terms. He notes the delightful historical wrinkle that two labor leaders, Peter McGuire and Matthew Maguire, both claim credit as the holiday's father. Charlie observes that today's labor movement is shifting, with the men and women who make and deliver things increasingly voting Republican, even as public sector unions and union leadership remain firmly in the Democrat camp.

Charlie closes with a solemn reflection on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks — the deadliest attack ever on American soil. He remembers the Twin Towers, the strike on the Pentagon where his friend General Chris Burne was that day, and the heroes of Flight 93 who brought the plane down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. He recalls the beautiful blue sky that morning, the unity that followed, and members of Congress singing "God Bless America" on the Capitol steps. Those barbarians are still at our gates, Charlie warns, and eternal vigilance remains the price we all must pay.