As we approach the eighth anniversary of the horrible 9-11 terror attacks, America still faces the lurking threat of terrorists who seek to destroy our country.

But perhaps more sinister than the threat of outside terrorists filtering into our borders and doing us harm is the threat that Americans will destroy ourselves from the inside.

That may sound silly, but consider how outlandishly violent and mean-spirited some of our nation’s recent policy debates have become of late.

From the venom-spitting at various town hall meetings in which citizens showed incredible disrespect to elected members of Congress and their own neighbors to the latest flak over the president’s address to school children, our nation is a bit “keyed up” to say the least.

Being passionate about an issue is one thing, unfortunately for many Americans, being passionate translates into being rude and disrespectful.

Tuesday’s speech to America’s school children was hyped by political foes of the president as “brainwashing.” Comparisons were made to Nazi Germany and other fascist regimes.

In the end, Obama’s speech seemed fairly on point to us with the simple, common sense messages including: stay in school, hard work pays off, respect your parents, etc.

Far from being Nazi-like, those are pretty fundamental core principles of America’s success. The fervor in advance of the speech illustrates just how divisive our country has become of late.

In the hours and days immediately following the 9-11 attacks in 2001, America achieved a temporary sense of oneness.

We were not labeled as Democrats or Republicans, not black or white, nor rich or poor.

We were Americans, Americans who certainly will disagree with one another but who will do so with great respect and with a great unity of purpose.

As the anniversary passes, we’d be wise to move in that unified direction again.