I visited Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. It is a beautiful place – solemn, silent and inspiring. Every visit brings an incredible sense of humility, respect and awe for the individuals buried here, and renewed inspiration to honor their gift to us. Every grave is a solemn reminder of our eternal debt to those who gave the last full measure of devotion to preserve our opportunity to be free. Every marker is also a reminder of our duty to preserve that opportunity.

The opportunity to remain free is ours to squander. The Oath taken by our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines contains near-identical language to the Oath taken by every elected official at every level of government:  to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”

America spends tens of billions of dollars each year on a "war on drugs", even as the Obama Administration endorses Afghanistan’s continued production of 90% of the world's opium. Despite the perpetual “war on drugs”, you can find a ready supply of heroin and other drugs in any town, city, school or prison in America.

We borrow billions of dollars from China to fight a war in Afghanistan.

We spend lives and money trying to establish democracy in a place where tribal warlords oppose it and the absence of a middle class cannot sustain it.