Well, the folks who say we are nuts to worry, that anyone who worries about our defense is a fear monger, they maybe ought to be rethinking. At least they ought to apologize to John Bolton who seems to be one of their favorite whipping boys. The Huffington Post even had a piece by Allison Kilkenny about how he is a knuckle dragger who is nuts. She goes on to try and discredit the Wall Street Journal for publishing Op Ed pieces by what she seems to believe are discredited former politicians associated with George Bush.

I am thinking of the piece I watched on Meet the Press or something where Newt Gingrich was being attacked by the moderator who asked him something like "really, you think we should all be afraid? How can you try to rule by fear?" and he replied that he was indeed very fearful.

The person basically was pushing the idea that there were eight years of unnecessary fear. Here is Newt's response:

"I think people should be afraid. I think the lesson of 1993, the first time they bombed the World Trade Center was fear is probably appropriate. I think the lesson of Khobar Towers where American servicemen were killed in Saudi Arabia was fear is probably appropriate. And the lesson of the two embassy bombings in East Africa was fear is probably appropriate. I think the lesson of The Cole being bombed in Yemen was fear is probably appropriate, and I'll tell you, if you aren't a little bit afraid after 9/11 and 3,100 Americans killed inside the United States by an effort, if you aren't worried about the second wave attack that was designed to take out the biggest building in Los Angeles, I think that you're out of touch with reality."

One day later the North Koreans set off a nuclear bomb worthy of notice. Maybe Newt and Bolton are right. Maybe we should be prepared for the worst. Maybe we should be a little afraid after all.