Shebab?the wicked Ruskis in Ukraine?those Yemeni Houthis?Iran?Sudan?Islamists in Libya and Mali?Boko Haram in Nigeria? the Red Chinese in Asia. Oh yes, and defend Latvia and fight the Lord's Army in Uganda.

That's the view in Washington where international police fever and growing hysteria over ISIS, the latest Mideast bogeyman, have gripped the nation, as elections near and politicians talk more nonsense than usual.

Listen to Republican windbags and you'd believe the hordes of ISIS are about to put Cleveland to the sword.

My question is: which "we" is going to stop all these malefactors? To quote Frederick the Great, "he who defends everything,  defends nothing." To which we may add, he who spends on wars everywhere, ends up broke. And he who ignores domestic needs for the sake of imperial glory abroad is cruising for a bruising.