From the bard

In the South Carolina Debate, when asked about the recent encounter
with the Iranian navy, Huck made the statement effectually warning
others to not mess with the "most powerful military the world has ever
known" He then said that if they do engage us, take a long look at the
gunboats because their next view will be of the "gates of hell"
.
It may have curried an applause from an emotionally charged audience,
but there are a few assumptions here that really bothered me.

Firstly, It is assumed that to fight against the U.S. is to sin
against God. So either God is an American or he is on their side
because the Americans are "good"

This is very close to the prevailing sentiment of Roman goodness
( regardless of the rampant licentiousness and greed) that was extant
during those final years leading up to the fall of Rome. There was an
'us' vs 'them' sentiment also between east (asiatic) and west (greco-
roman) that during the decline was used as a force to try to unify
roman citizens because loyalty to Rome seemed to be crumbling as fast
as their morality. Each side felt that the fastest way to unify the
people was to oppose a negative outside force... so they re-created
the other as the devils to be opposed.

I see the same blind force of 'us' vs 'them' (eastern vs western)
being used today and in that statement as an ignorant banner to rally
behind. It is an unsettling comparison to me.

It is also an unsettling assumption to me that after the magnificent
expense of the current conflicts that we will continue to have the
"most powerful military the earth has ever known". I really don't
think we are in the position that we want to be issuing such
inflammatory challenges for the enemies of the U.S. (whoever they are)
to take us up on.

Well, I hope that wasn't too hard to follow...It's finally good to
have it all said!