Sam Gibbons: “there are few issues which separate liberals and conservatives in dramatic fashion. Taxes, of course, is one; and crime…”

“there are few issues which separate liberals and conservatives in dramatic fashion. Taxes, of course, is one; and crime is another. But defense and national security issues also illustrate two sharply different visions, different world views, which distinguished conservatives from liberals. Liberals just love arms control agreements. They put almost boundless faith in a piece of paper between America and countries which are hostile to everything we hold dear, and they take great comfort in the ability that these agreements are going to keep America safe. Conservatives, on the other hand, look at all of human history and are skeptical of such agreements, instead placing stronger and greater faith in a strong and secure defense. Given these two world views it is time to reexamine our current vulnerability to ballistic missile attack. There is a piece of paper that exists to assure us that America is safe from a ballistic missile attack, but this is deliberate policy of vulnerability to ballistic missile attack and it is both foolish and dangerous. It is time that conservatives act with prudence and demand that Americans be protected by building a strong national missile defense system.”