My father in law was similarly honored at Arlington, and the formality, the gravitas of it all was enough to make you turn Republican. It was a very sobering and reflective afternoon, walking behind the caisson and observing the punctilious propriety of the well-drilled procedures. All the honor was well-deserved.

But on reflection I would prefer to see a similar decorum afforded to those who had defended freedom by exercising it in other ways, less familiar to nationalist concerns.

A