“Come, take them”

With these words, the outnumbered Greeks at Thermopylae answered the invading Persians' demand that they give up their weapons. Facing overwhelming odds, the Greeks gave their lives to defend their way of life. For inspiration and bravado, their response sure beats “bring it on” and even the succinct but practically illiterate “nuts”.

Two and a half millennia later, the East and West are still struggling. Now, though the odds are reversed, when Islamic extremists demand we give up our freedoms the Bush administration says “Here, have them”.