That is what the Founding Fathers taught, and what America believed, to her benefit, for most of her history. But if the Founding Fathers were to come back to life and to be asked, "Whom does the America of 2006 resemble more, the republic you created or the empire from which you broke away?" is there any doubt how they would have to answer?
America today is more dependent on foreign fuel, foreign goods, foreign loans and foreign allies than she has ever been. Her worldwide commitments have never been greater, nor has her global and national debt.
Yet her leaders still seek to embed America every more deeply in global institutions from the WTO to the United Nations to the North American Union.
This is not the road on which the Founding Fathers set out, but it is a familiar road, one taken before by every empire in history.
Thoughts on Independence Day, 2006.
