My Thermonuclear Coloring Book

When I heard about last week's ostensibly successful test of the missile defense shield, I thought back forty-five years to the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962, when we feared ourselves defenseless from Russian nuclear rockets just a hundred miles offshore.

Then I recalled a much more recent event in May 2003.

The government held a Public Service Recognition Week on the Mall in Washington. A hundred or so Federal agencies put up booths and displays, extolling their work and honoring their employees' contributions to America.