Kevin Schmiesing reflects on the nature of freedom and our tendency, as frail and flawed people, to sacrifice freedom for fleeting comforts. "The vigilance demanded to protect freedom is watchfulness over the potential abuses of powerful institutions: political, commercial, and even religious," he writes. "But it is first and foremost a conscientious scrutiny of our own motives and actions."

The health care reform debate has focused on expanding coverage to all Americans. But how is the government meeting its obligations to military veterans? Not so good, reports Ray Nothstine. "The government needs to prove it can handle existing obligations before proposing the adoption of any universal government plan," he says.