This benchmark time period, from the football season of "ought-3" (sex-for-high school-recruits scandals) through the Spanish bombings and election, to the Iraqi P.O.W. abuse scandal of "ought-4, " both of which could have long-term consequences. Our two oceans no longer can protect us, and as the Boys Scouts say, it's best to "Be prepared." The American Revolution, the Great Experiment that was the DREAM (unlike the French Revolution that was based more on philosophy and man-made laws, ) spoke more of Truth, "self-evident Truths, " and it was focused on Natural Law, "the laws of nature and of nature's God." Once upon a time this was "common knowledge, " and in his farewell address to the United Nations, President Reagan spoke of DREAMS, and "vision, " and a "Higher Law." In mountaineering, there's a commonly heard truth: "Gravity isn't just a 'good idea, it's the Law!