Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 3, 2010

Near the end of Shakespeare?s two-part play King Henry IV, the dying monarch offers some advice to his son Prince Hal, the future King Henry V: ?Be it thy course to busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels, that action, hence borne out, may waste the memory of the former days.?

Dismissed by many as a bumbling light-weight, Hal would be wreathed in majesty by leading his country in a contrived war.

This is exactly the same advice given to President Obama by neo-conservative commentator Daniel Pipes. Bombing Iran ? that is, waging an aggressive war against a country that has neither harmed nor threatened us -- would ?salvage his tottering administration? and ?re-set his presidency,? in the same way that ?9-11 caused voters to forget George W. Bush?s meandering early months.?

Oh, by the way: In a twist Shakespeare couldn?t have imagined but George Orwell could appreciate, Pipes was appointed by George W. Bush to the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.