Very well written, WDonway, and much appreciated. The contrast of the American revolution gone right and the French revolution gone wrong so quickly is stark. I'm wondering if in these times the American revolution is going wrong in slow motion.

Thanks for clearing something up for me, personally. For some reason I always thought the phrase, "Millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute" was a Jefferson quote regarding the Barbary pirates. I looked it up and now I know the quote predates that time and was said by Robert Goodloe Harper regarding the French ambassador's demands for bribes.