With a whimper?

I wondered how our Republic would end, if end it must. As a young man in elementary school we did the duck and cover drills in the classroom where we faced away from the windows because a the over-pressure from a nuclear weapon's blast - even a distant one - would blow the glass in on us. That's what the teacher explained. We built bombers that remained at FAIL/SAFE somewhere near the border of the Soviet Union. Air Force officers manned Minuteman Missile silos in North Dakota ready to receive the launch code. Stealthy submarines patrolled the far reaches of Neptune's domain carrying a hefty punch such that even if half of them were destroyed before they launched, they'd still send Soviet Russia back to the stone age.

So I presumed if we went out, we'd do it with a big bang. 

But it doesn't seem that's how it will all end, if end it must. Judge Stephen Breyer said, "I'm not prepared to conclude that in the Internet age -- the First Amendment condones Koran burning."  (LINK) It's good to know that our fundamental freedoms are dependent on the good behavior of Muslims worldwide. The Ummah went nearly insane after a few cartoons were sketched. An example of the Danish cartoons that caused Muslims worldwide to call for the murder of the artist is displayed below for your review:

The freedom of Americans, it seems, is at the mercy of an irrational, violent religion which has no tolerance what-so-ever for those who disagree with it. Our leaders are willing to roll over to threats of blackmail and they bow to the notion of intolerance that only goes one-way when Islam is involved.