SECOND QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 6:18 P.M. ET:  This one from Cal Thomas, again reflecting the murders at Fort Hood, and what self-deception is costing us:

It’s one thing to be suckered by others. It’s quite another to sucker yourself.

How much longer will we tolerate fighting this war as if it were a minor crime wave? Our enemies are fighting to win and they are fighting everywhere, including within our borders. People trained to appear nonthreatening, until the threat becomes obvious and it is too late to do anything about it, are infiltrating our government and society at every level.

It is irrelevant that some have put the number of radicalized Muslims worldwide at 10 percent. Even if that figure is accurate, one hundred million jihadists can cause a lot of damage, as they plot the destruction of Western democracies. Other wars have been won with far fewer soldiers and far fewer dupes.

COMMENT:  One of my mentors, the late Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois - the oldest man (at 50) ever to go through Marine basic training at Parris Island - loved the familiar quote, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."'

Shame on us for allowing political correctness to paralyze so many of our institutions.

November 10, 2009