Ralph Windle

How do you know when freedom is in trouble?
When would we take democracy for dead?
Would there be hordes of Commies at the double
Storming the sacred bastions of the Fed?
With Milton Friedman rampant in the rubble,
Shouting that every Keynesian’s a Red?

Or is there something which more deeply matters,
Some more insidious enemy to dread,
Leaving the flag of tolerance in tatters,
Our conscience atrophied, our doubts unsaid?

When ‘ radical’ means ‘communist’ or ‘traitor’,
And ‘liberal’ is synonymous with ‘wet’,
When ‘successful’ is the sole denominator –

Dear Liberty, are you triumphant yet?

( from ‘The Making of a President’ )