Long have I held Michelle Malkin in high esteem. She's a young mother and wife who has a gift for cutting to the heart of most issues and comes down on my side of the fence most of the time. Today's very incisive column is no exception. Malkin takes on the flying nun who has a habit (sorry) of gushing out emotional flotsam in the process of accepting awards. No, Sally, we do not "really like you" when you do that.

Michelle's very astute observations about the maternal instinct reminds me of a discussion recently. A friend of mine told me that she hoped no one would ever break into her house, not because of what the intruder might do, but because of what she might do to the intruder. She felt that her ability to restrain herself from doing serious harm wouldn't stop her from removing that threat to her children.

The night of September 11, 2001, I couldn't sleep. Really, I don't think too many people slept soundly that night. I remember looking out of our townhouse looking at the streetlights and wondering how I was supposed to protect my children (then 5 and 2 years old) from such madness, such reckless destruction. The answers were hard to come by that night and for many nights after. I still don't have most of them, but I know that our military forces have done much to keep us safe. They are the ones who deserve the awards and accolades from our society, not actresses with an ax to grind.

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