Turn The Clock Back . . .

At the risk of starting the argument of all time, I feel compelled to point out that Americans today are simply not made of the same stern stuff as our ancestors.

You disagree? Please write and tell me honestly what you think your nearest neighbor would do if awakened at midnight by the warning, "The redcoats are coming!" Frankly, my next door neighbor is an active duty Marine, but tucking tail is the first thing that comes to mind. I certainly cannot imagine him handing a rifle to his wife or daughter and telling them to "lock and load."

Not in this lifetime, at any rate. He'd be too worried about his retirement.

Our ancestors had one or two advantages over us. In the first place, most of those who lived on the American continent at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence were no more than one or two generations removed from individuals who had possessed the courage and vision to leave every single thing they had ever owned for unspecified opportunity in a new and savage land. It was one hell of a winnowing, and their descendants were the best of the best that Europe had to offer.

Throughout history, winnowings such as the settlement of our American continent have brought forth the most shining examples of human courage and achievement. Sadly, we have just about run out of Earthly frontiers now, and it cannot happen again until we begin to colonize Antarctica