So Why, After Prior Successes, Did Obama's

Our Institutions, If They Do Not Erode Entirely, Can Survive Periods Of Decadence Brought On By Our Material Success, Eras When The Whole Notion Of Civic Militarism Seems Bothersome, And In Which Free Speech Is Used To Focus On Our Own Imperfections Without Concern For The Ghastly Nature Of Our Enemies.

Taking On All At Once Germany, Japan, And Italy - Diverse Enemies All - Did Not Require The Weeding Out Of All The Fascists And Their Supporters In Mexico, Argentina, Eastern Europe, And The Arab World. Instead, Those In Jackboots And Armbands Worldwide Quietly Stowed All Their Emblems Away As Organized Fascism Died On The Vine Once The Roots Were Torn Out In Berlin, Rome, And Tokyo. So Too Will The Terrorists, Once Their Sanctuaries And Capital Shrivel Up - As Is Happening As We Speak.

We May Casually Talk Of All Sorts Of New Programs And 'stimulus,' But The Vast Trillion-dollar Collective National Debt And Rising Annual Deficits Will Insidiously Hamstring Almost Everything We Plan To Do.

California Is Now A Valuable Touchstone To The Country, A Warning Of What Not To Do. Rarely Has A Single Generation Inherited So Much Natural Wealth And Bounty From The Investment And Hard Work Of Those More Noble Now Resting In Our Cemeteries-and Squandered That Gift Within A Generation.

Gas Prices In Many Parts Of The Country Are Nearing $4 A Gallon; It Could Get Even Worse As Unrest Spreads Throughout The Oil-exporting Middle East. Yet The Obama Administration Once Again Seems To See No Crisis. It Has Curtailed New Leases For Offshore Oil Exploration For Seven Years And Exempted Thousands Of Acres In The West From New Drilling. It Will Not Reconsider Opening Up Small Areas Of Alaska With Known Large Oil Reserves.