“War is not merely a material struggle, but more often a referendum on the spirit.” The brilliant military historian, Victor Davis Hanson, goes on, “ No nation has ever survived once its citizenry ceased to believe its culture was worth saving.” On this year’s July Fourth we are not only celebrating our country’s independence, but we also are contemplating the form and magnitude of the next Muslim attack. And as we watch the government lurch haltingly toward a war footing, and wonder if it can protect us from something much larger than last September, my hope is that the country can summon in us the exceptional devotion to duty shown by a fallen hero, Jean Witter.

When any country is attacked, to overcome its attackers, one of the casualties must be the embrace of outside cultures in favor of unifying the nation. For some of us, it may be arresting to consider that shortly after Pearl Harbor, FDR ordered Japanese-American families, living near the west coast of the U.S, to be sent to inland detention camps. Were he alive today, would FDR condemn his decision? More »