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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Snowshoe who wrote (21307)	12/23/2003 8:51:43 PM
From: michael97123	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793800

So as i went to work this morning and a young asian man sneezed on me. Would i get the flu or sars i thought to myself? For lunch i had a burger and wondered when the symptomso of mad cow would appear. Some on this thread are quite sure they already have. At the end of the day i went into grand central station and wondered if i would be blown up. I got on subway and i expected to be gassed. But worse that all the above, when I got back safely to the park and ride where i keep my car it wouldnt start. Now that really sucks. Mike@dream.com

To: Snowshoe who wrote (21307)	12/23/2003 9:34:33 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793800

InstaPundit MICHAEL NOVAK writes that America is "a Spartan Athens:" The United States is self-consciously a child of the ancient civilization of Greece and Rome. During long periods, America looks too pacific to be a threat to the likes of Hitler and Mussolini. Too much like Athens gone soft. But at times such as the present--with wars in Afghanistan and Iraq--the Spartan dimension of our civilization becomes visible to all doubters. The biggest thing that most Europeans don't know about America is its Spartan side. Our founders chose the eagle as the symbol for the nation because the eagle is supreme in war, seeing unblinkingly and at great distances. Once fixed on its prey, the eagle is not easily deterred. Our founders well knew that democracy of itself softens manners, tames--even coddles--the human spirit, and pulls great spirits down to a lower common level. No democracy will long survive, they knew, that does not toughen itself to face adversity, to raise up warriors, and to keep ready a warlike spirit. A democratic army should be small, under civilian control, they insisted, kept safely away from political power, but committed to keeping those who serve in it fearless and invincible. In a word, in order to survive and to prosper, democracies need to infuse a Spartan spirit into their Athenian thinking. To maintain the peace, prepare for war. A democracy too soft will soon perish. I'd be interested in hearing what Victor Davis Hanson, and perhaps Jacques Chirac, would say in reply. Glenn Reynolds