[finnigan2]

"That war-is-never-the-answer 25 percent are in essence saying that there's nothing about America worth fighting for, and that, ultimately, the continuation of their society is a bet on the kindness of strangers --"

Isn't that last phrase a famous quote from a Tennessee Williams stage play, The Glass Menagerie(or was it: A Streetcar Named Desire?).
All I remember is that some tortured soul in the play remarked in despair that throughout her whole life, "I have always relied on the kindness of strangers."
The allusion here is somewhat obscure but typically Steyn by being particularly apt.

[Tom D.]

That's from "A Streetcar Named Desire".