Failing to learn from history

J. R. Dunn "On Going Roman." Rome was known for its brutal, efficient legions and the will to use them. We have legions of our own and single weapons that can do more damage in an instance than they could in weeks.

But our nuclear deterrent is worthless. We wouldn't use it, even if Al Qaeda detonated a nuke in the East River, because we'd be killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people who don't support Al Qaeda.

I would have sworn after 9/11 that partisanship and mewling pacificism was dead. I no longer believe that we have the will to fight for our own survival. Look how quickly we've gone from republic to decline, and unless we wake up, to timorous, feckless weenies.

Membership in the Roman legions was the ancient way for poor people to rise in the world. Eventually, they were composed of the peoples Rome had conquered, and when Rome no longer perceived any threats, it succumbed to the barbarians, even as they sought to become more like the Romans.