In Israel, when prospects for peace are discussed, you sometimes hear the following appraisal of reality: “If the Arabs laid down their arms, there would be no more wars. If the Jews laid down their arms, there would be no more Jews.”

By extension, it is not a stretch to say that if the Western world retreated in its war against Islamic terror, the Western world would soon cease to exist.

Canaries in the Coal Mine

Occasionally, you read something so strong, so close to you, so transformative, that it stays with you forever. You find yourself referring back to it time and again as you warm to its truth, passing it along to others with a growing sense of urgency as the years go by.

Thirty odd years ago, while living in northern California, I picked up a San Francisco Chronicle one day and stumbled upon Herb Caen (as in candy cane). Herb Caen wrote a gossipy, but never snarky, daily column (for fifty-eight years!) that was a conglomeration of everything going on, especially in San Francisco but also in the world at large, together with observations, sprinkled liberally throughout, on the passing political and cultural scene. Among Caen’s claims to fame were the introduction of “beatnik” into the lexicon and a Pulitzer Prize. Caen had a goofy sense of humor and you never knew when it might make its presence felt, often by separating completely unrelated items solely by means of three dot ellipses.

. . . a message from Herb Caen . . .