[goldstategop]

That date marks the end of the Roman world. It had survived for nearly two millenia and after having beaten one invader after another, it proved too weak to survive the Turkish onslaught. But the Eastern Roman Empire served a vital function: for centuries it protected the gateway to Europe and gave the West the time and space it needed to not only withstand but to roll back the Islamic threat. Today that conflict has resumed and the outcome is by no means certain. Hopefully we will be luckier than the Eastern Romans were in prevailing over our current enemies.

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

[Jimmy Valentine]

Lest we forget, Byzantium was fatally weakened by a crusading army led by the Venetians who sacked Constantinople and stole all of its treasures that they could haul away.

Our spendthrift government waste, and huge deficits and national debt will have the same effect.

Except it is not Venetians, but Congress doing the looting.