Abraham Lincoln, 27 January 1838:
"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. "
Wow. Fantastic quote!
Of course military technology has changed since Lincoln's time. We were able to take a drink from the Rhine, other's could do the same, if not sufficiently opposed. Or they could just blow us away as we could blow them away. Right now, and for as long as the Rats control the purse strings, we could not prevent it, even though the technology to do so is now at hand.