Mr. Rubio called for a reassertion of the traditional, Reagan-era values of limited government at home while Mr. Paul called for a more libertarian approach that would shrink America's role in the world.
"I think we used this week or so not only for a reassertion of executive authority, but as an demonstration that, when presidential power is judiciously applied, you can get a lot done," said Rahm Emanuel, the president's chief of staff, who argued for a more confrontational approach to BP and for General McChrystal's ouster.
For sure, the UK is unlikely to experience the religious extremism and fervent small-town conservatism of America's political hinterland, but we should remain alive to the risk of a reassertion of illiberal values in British politics.
The embassy, the first designs for which were completed in 1996, seemed to attract criticism that reflected the prevailing mood in Germany over the years toward the United States, from a reassertion of sovereignty over its former occupier in the 1990s to a reaction against the post-9/11 bunker mentality.
As part of our week, Reclaiming Our Futures, DPAC is delivering our manifesto, which is a reassertion for rights, for inclusion.
Instead, it seems to have opted for a creeping reassertion of media control, targeting certain journalists, publishers and bloggers to scare others into compliance.
This was closely related to multilateralism: each included a reassertion of respect for the rest of the world and for the institutional arrangements, of which international law was a product, that have promised, since the first World War, to push states toward cooperation rather than conflict.
Not for Montefiore was there a need for Jewish alienation from the world, or a reassertion of tribal clannishness.
His new book, "Terror and Consent," is in many ways a manifesto for a new Atlanticism, not just a reassertion but a reinvention of the dominant role of the trans-Atlantic alliance.
For Mr. Obama, this was a MacArthur moment, a reassertion of civilian control.
Compared to the 81 who voted for that EU referendum, it would represent a reassertion of government control and the remaining rebels could be dismissed as a rump of usual suspects, isolated head-bangers and perpetual malcontents.
