From the June 28, 2009 CSI Walworth County Sunday "The Way we see it" column:

As Americans celebrate Independence Day next weekend, a pause for reflection on the current threat to freedom is warranted.

History teaches that Islamist fascists are not the first terrorists we’ve been forced to fight. Barbary pirates attacked U.S. vessels in the 18th and 19th centuries, and virtually alone among nations — sound familiar? — the fledgling United States fought back and prevailed. A century ago, terrorists from Mexico, masquerading as revolutionaries, crossed our border to kill Americans. U.S. forces stopped the attacks.

Our current foe, dispersed worldwide and intent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction, is more formidable to be sure. But there is every reason to expect that they will meet the same fate as the murderous pirates, provided Americans retain the defiant spirit that motivated the Founders to issue as radical a document as the Declaration of Independence.

Islamist terrorists, while uniquely savage, are no match for the power of a free people moved by the revolutionary idea that all men are created equal.

Anchored in liberty and justice — the recent bowing and scraping of our current president notwithstanding — we will prevail in this dangerous clash of cultures. And in so doing, we will remind the rest of the world that the ideals set forth so eloquently on the first Independence Day are indeed worth fighting for.

Read the opinion pages in the CSI's Walworth County Sunday e-edition on page 8A.