Editor,

This might be a good time to recall the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. They were written by a Portuguese Sephardic Jew whose family came to the US. They contrast the statue in New York Harbor with the Colossus of Rhodes from 2,400 years ago or so. Veterans have fought for values such as these. At one point this was a central part of our identity. Time to stand up and reaffirm it.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Tom Walker

Clinton