The Lighthouse

The writings here are not limited to foreign policy issues and are more personal than Pundita essays.

I'm an American who's lived inside the Beltway for 20+ years and who was profoundly affected by 9/11. I have recovered from the shock of the attack, as much as I'll recover, but I have not recovered from the fact that the attackers easily got past the defenses of the world's oldest and most powerful democracy. I took that as a terrible lesson. Democracy is not something you achieve then leave to others to manage for you. The price of liberty is that everyone must be actively engaged to protect it.

The humor in the Pundita essays is an attempt to leaven the grimness of my outlook. I've taken my cue from President Bush, who has been even-toned (in public, at least) about the factions at home and abroad that don't want to confront that America is at war and don't want Americans to think we're at war.

The Lighthouse is a place where I can express my feelings outside the constraints I've imposed on Pundita's essays. I probably won't add to this blog very often, so I suppose it's more for my benefit than the reader's. It helps me remember who I was before the day thousands of my fellow citizens were murdered in cold blood.