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The Nation's Pulse
An American Quiz
Is it all over in America? This is a question that has been asked, I suppose, since its founding. It is reported that when Ben Franklin was asked after the Constitutional Convention in 1787, if America was a republic or a monarchy he replied, "A republic...If you can keep it." So, even at the birth of our nation, there were doubts as to the feasibility of a government whose powers were reserved to "We, the People." Never had a great nation survived without a group or groups of individuals seizing the reins and using governmental power to strip the rights from the people.
Fear of governmental abuse was so great in many of the Founders that in addition to clearly spelling out the duties of the three branches of our government in the Constitution, they added the Bill of Rights to restrain possible depredations by future generations. Yet some were opposed to this addition, arguing that the enumeration of certain rights that were sacrosanct would leave others open to attack. They need not have worried. Their prescient redundancy has not served its purpose; not for a lack of brilliancy on the part of its crafters, but for the sloth of its heirs.
Most of the Founders knew that in order to secure their liberty, future Americans would have to be just as vigilant and zealous in regard to their God-given rights as the were. As Samuel Adams put it: "No people will tamely surrender their liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and virtue is preserved. On the contrary, when people are universally ignorant, and debauched in their manners, they will sink under their own weight without the aid of foreign invaders."
Over the years, the worst fears of Franklin and Adams have been realized. The intentional dumbing-down of American citizens and the ridicule of virtue and the objective truths on which this nation was founded have been afoot for generations. Yet, one can't help feel that there are still some things inherent to most Americans; that the love of freedom still beats in the national breast, though unheard in many quarters amidst the cacophony of media propaganda and populist sloganeering.
What is needed to stem the tide of encroaching cradle-to-grave government control of our lives is a series of hard questions put to the American people, to shake them out of their complacency and ignorance. Simply put and honestly asked, these are but a few suggestions for those who would hope to hold back the wave of Socialism that is well-past licking at our shores.
Should the government be involved in private industry? If people who have spent years in these industries can't make a go of them -- in no small part due to government regulation and interference -- can the government itself? In the past eight years, men like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, an MBA and CEO respectively, were held up to ridicule and abuse, while the present administration is fat with folks who have never earned a paycheck in the private sector in their lives. Yet we are expecting them to save the banking and auto industries. Does this make any sense?
Is the freedom to practice one's religion publicly as well as privately protected explicitly under the First Amendment? One has only to scan his daily newspaper for stories of students unable to pray at graduation, or schools that cannot mention the word Christmas, in order to know the answer to this one. Should this blatant usurpation continue?
Should there be such things as "hate crime" laws which punish thought? Do certain groups of citizens deserve special rights based on their sexual proclivities? Are hate crime laws in actuality designed to silence those who would speak out against the granting of such special rights?
Do you trust strangers to raise your children? Recent rulings against homeschoolers and the mandatory teaching of homosexual "lifestyles" in public school should make the skin of every American parent crawl. Do parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit?
Does anyone who has eyes and a memory believe that appeasement will work with Islamofascists? President Obama has made it a priority to assure the Muslim world that we like them; we really like them. Do you feel that this naive approach will work with those who have sworn death to all non-believers and send their women and children out to commit homicide bombings?
Is healthcare the number one issue in America? If so, should we follow the disastrous examples of Canada and Europe where, for example, the British provide coronary-bypass surgery or angioplasty to heart patients at only one-fourth the U.S. rate? Or might we go to the root of the problem by seeking to bring down costs by limiting frivolous malpractice lawsuits?
Do you believe that Americans must be punished by radically altering their lifestyles for an issue like global warming that is based, at best, on faulty science? Can a movement that blames cow flatulence for changes in the Earth's atmosphere be taken seriously? Should we continue to finance our enemies in the Middle East and elsewhere by buying oil from them that can be easily drilled here at home?
How these questions are answered by the American people will manifest itself in the coming elections. And there is reason for hope. The people of California have rejected higher taxes and the incursions of the gay lobbyists who seek to couch their sexual preferences as a "civil rights" issue. The news from across the pond is also encouraging. Socialists are losing ground in Europe; suffering defeats in Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain and Poland.
We must not only persist in asking these and many more questions; we must demand answers. We must restore the power of critical thinking to the American people and encourage them to use it in the public square in order to preserve our cherished way of life. As Dr. Franklin said, "Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech."
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Rocco| 6.10.09 @ 7:01AM
Lisa, here are two quotes you left out, which say it all:
“When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” -- Benjamin Franklin
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." -- Benjamin Franklin
Cheers!
Bram| 6.10.09 @ 7:50AM
Franklin also said "People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both."
Liberty - both personal and economic if it possible to separate the two - has long been an ignored subject in American politics. Maybe a rejuvenated Republican party will discover it.
Louis Jenkins| 6.10.09 @ 8:24AM
"Friends, says he, and Neighbours, the taxes are indeed very heavy, and if those laid on by the Government were the only Ones we had to pay, we might easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our Idleness, three times as much by our Pride, and four times as much by our Folly, and from these Taxes the Commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an Abatement. However let us hearken to good Advice, and something may be done for us; God helps themthat help themselves, as Poor Richard says, in his Almanack of 1733." B. Franklin 1758
Not just the Republican party should be rejuvenated, all True Americans should be so. Dependency and entitlement are Idleness, Folly, and Pride.
Ned| 6.10.09 @ 9:32AM
I'll know its over when all I get is an error message when I hit the link for American Spectator or NRO on my computer.
The frosting on the cake will be when I sit in my front yard under the shade of my trees to listen to Rush on the radio and old Obama speeches, with introductions by Harry Reid, are being played instead.
Bilwick| 6.10.09 @ 9:45AM
Who cares what those old dead white punks thought about anything! They were both racist slaveholders!
Oh, wait a minute . . .
TC Rider| 6.10.09 @ 11:25AM
President Comacho will save us!
Bud| 6.10.09 @ 12:15PM
Bilwick -
Our new overlords in Washington D.C. have no particular problem with slavery. Their debate is limited to who runs the plantation.
Roger McKinney| 6.10.09 @ 1:31PM
Adams: "...when people are universally ignorant, and debauched in their manners, they will sink under their own weight without the aid of foreign invaders."
Asking a few questions won't be sufficient. As Adams noted, the character of people must change. In particular, we need to re-learn the character traits of self-reliance and reliance on God. Without those, Americans will continue to worship the state as a god and supplier of all their needs and wishes.
Siegfried X| 6.10.09 @ 1:40PM
"How these questions are answered by the American people will manifest itself in the coming elections. And there is reason for hope. "
The problem is that we don't have any choices, and it is the Republican Party's fault. The Democrats believe in liberalism, while Republican politicians believe in nothing besides getting re-elected.
Elections solve nothing if both parties are the same.
Siegfried X| 6.10.09 @ 1:50PM
Here's an example of the two parties being the same. REPUBLICAN senator Martinez said that he SUPPORTS Sototmayor's wise Latina remarks and he expects her to be confirmed "with pretty good numbers".
Pingback| 6.10.09 @ 2:00PM
HIGH TAX OF IGNORANCE: the need for a renaissance of real “thinkers” on American idea links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Sue| 6.10.09 @ 7:34PM
It truly is a sad day in America where a citizen cannot even find one thing or one person to appreciate for this Nation. I don't believe Ben Franklin was a slaveholder; I know that John Adams wasn't. Why can't you at least recognize that by your ancestors coming here, you reside in a much better place. Your ancestors paid the price for your freedom, along with a lot of Union soldiers. Also, I can't understand what you would replace our system with, unless it would be one of tyranny/dictatorship by the minority. Yea, that's worked in the past, hasn't it?
Alan Brooks| 6.10.09 @ 8:24PM
Bram,
a 'rejuvenated' (WE WISH) Repuglican party will not find it, they are too compromised now.
what sort of hack do you think will win the GOP presidential nomination in 2012?
Marcell| 6.10.09 @ 9:11PM
Fear of governmental abuse was so great in many of the Founders that in addition to clearly spelling out the duties of the three branches of our government in the Constitution, they added the Bill of Rights to restrain possible depredations by future generations. Yet some were opposed to this addition, arguing that the enumeration of certain rights that were sacrosanct would leave others open to attack.
*********************
Think The Dick Cheney
Is it all over for Conservatives in America?
Marcell| 6.10.09 @ 9:44PM
The Conservative thinkers didn't care about the abuse of powers by our government when their favorite leaders were in charge; now, they expect us to think that they really care when they are, & were, the major supporters of the politicians & regulators who created this mess.
They, the conservatives, can even more care less if the Bu$h Crime Family broke & rewrote all kinds of laws to defend their propaganda.
Now their world is turned upside-down. Don't forget that their ilk has done more damage than any in the recent past, yet they are promoting fear... BEWARE said the repug..."What a joke."
The great thing of it all is that they no longer have the power to misinform the masses anymore. The false information from their twisted media outlets can now be challenged enough that they could never spin their way back to the top, so their only hope is if Obama fails.
Their only agenda is to misinform, obfuscate, & maybe they can win by default.
Q: Is it all over in America?
A: No, but it is in wrong-wing America..."Yeasss!!"
Marcell| 6.10.09 @ 10:08PM
Booom!!
Bachmann hypocrisy continues
June 10: Rep. Michele Bachmann , R-Minn., criticized a fellow Senator for working to keep a car dealership open when she has done the same. Watch in Worst Persons in the World.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/31214757#31214757
Jim| 6.10.09 @ 10:19PM
Marcell is a perfect example of the ignorance Franklin spoke of.
Marcell| 6.10.09 @ 10:32PM
Define conservative: All spin; all the time.
Republican Held Out Both Hands For Stimulus Money He Voted Against.
by BarbinMD
Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 05:40:06 PM PDT
A new chapter in the continuing story of Republican hypocrisy when it comes to spending the stimulus money that they voted against ... check that ... that they crowed about voting against at every opportunity:
Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett voted against the $787 billion economic stimulus package in February, declaring the day it passed that "the only thing this bill will stimulate is the national debt."
Two days earlier, however, Bennett had written to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Agriculture Department seeking stimulus money for Utah, according to copies of the letters released under the Freedom of Information Act. Using 16 identical cover letters, Bennett passed along stimulus funding requests from 14 Utah cities and counties totaling $182.5 million.
"I recognize the extensive demands being placed on these funds and, therefore, greatly appreciate any funding considerations you give to the projects of Utah," the letters said.
Oh, and adding insult to injury hypocrisy:
Five of the 17 local governments whose requests Bennett sent to the agencies have hired American Capitol Group, a lobbying firm where former Bennett staffer Tim Stewart is a top executive, Senate lobbying reports show.
Apparently Bennett decided to stimulate something besides the national debt.
Dorothy| 6.10.09 @ 11:20PM
If you are the one paying for the pizza, it is okay to have a slice.
Nick| 6.10.09 @ 11:56PM
Marcell,
Michele Bachmann is a U.S. Representative, not a Senator, brainiac.
You are a perfect example of the lack of intelligence of the typical Olbermann-child and Wesley Crusher...er...I mean Rachel Madcow viewer.
Marcell| 6.11.09 @ 3:36AM
Nick
Even if Olbermann messed up Bachmann's title, & he didn't, it wouldn't have mattered. The point was to show how conservatives spin spin spin, because they have no core values.
But, you Nick, or should I say Nick pick are just looking for something to ignore the obvious hypocrisy.
Who are the real dumb people within the equation? The average Joe & Joe Ann who don't buy the repug bologna, or the conservative base that typically try to sell the misinformation?
Nick & Dorthy answered the question & that is why they keep ending up with politicians they claim who change after they get to Washington.
You make it easy for them to change in D.C. because you really have no core values yourselves.
P.S. I wish Rush Limbaugh would stop stealing my stuff. First it was conservatism is a cult & now it is state run media. When he steals those terms it makes me realize that I have already whipped him in a debate.
Marcell| 6.11.09 @ 4:48AM
Senate Republican Hypocrisy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN3TJ7CIf3c
Marcell| 6.11.09 @ 5:33AM
It is as if the conservative base are their complete idiots... ROTFLMAO.
Limbaugh pushes ‘birther’ conspiracy theory held by shooter
http://www.dailykostv.com/w/001835/
This just might be Sean Hannity’s looniest attack ever
Posted Jun 4, 2009, 12:30 AM PT by Jed Lewison • First broadcast: Jun 3, 2009
Sean Hannity once again proves that he’s the guy who put the ‘a’ in moron, this time by pushing the bizarre myth that earlier this week President Obama called the U.S. "a Muslim nation."
http://www.dailykostv.com/w/001818/
Marcell| 6.11.09 @ 5:42AM
Marcell: The Thing is for me to have fun while I am beating your best up.
***************************
More delusional paranoia from Bachmann
by Jed Lewison
Wed Jun 10, 2009 at 03:20:08 PM PDT
Michele Bachmann (via The Minnesota Independent) thinks the Obama administration is using GM to pursue a partisan political agenda:
One story that came out today, there is a dealership that I know of that applied to their Democrat Senator to appeal for help so that they could stay open.
...So this Democrat Senator who was applied to for help was able to secure a meeting with General Motors and a car dealership, and they were able to get their dealership back.
...Now we've moved into the realm of gangster government. We have gangster government when the Federal Government has set up a new cartel and private businesses now have to go begging with their hand out to their local--hopefully well politically connected--Congressman or their Senator so they can buy a peace offering for that local business.
...We now have an imperial presidency where the President has appointed various czars reporting directly to him. And now he is reaching into the confines of private businesses and overnight rendering them virtually worthless--unless, unless they have a special tug, a political tie to a local Democrat Congressman. Is that what we've come to?
The example to which Bachmann refers is that of Bloomington Pontiac GMC, owned by Paul Walser. GM initially slated Walser's dealership for closure, but after Walser appealed GM's decision, the company granted him a reprieve.
Walser credited Sen. Amy Klobuchar with helping keep his dealership's doors open, and Bachmann seized on that fact to make her case that only businesspeople with ties to Democrats will be able to thrive now that Barack Obama has been elected president.
:::
There's a problem with Bachmann's conspiracy theory, however. Paul Walser isn't a Democrat. According to FEC records, he's never donated a dime to a Democrat. In fact, he's not only donated heavily to conservative Republicans, he's actually contributed thousands to Bachmann.
According to FEC records, over the past decade Walser has contributed a total of $115,100 to Republicans and conservative PACs. Some highlights:
$6,700 to Michele Bachmann
$43,000 to the Minnesota Republican Party
$5,100 to Norm Coleman
$7,350 to Bush and McCain combined
$0 for Democrats
To sum it up: Michele Bachmann is pushing a conspiracy theory that the Obama administration is using the GM situation to reward its political supporters.
Her primary piece of evidence is a dealership in her own state owned and operated by a Republican who hasn't contributed to a Democrat on the federal level in at least 10 years. Moreover, he's contributed more than $100,000 to Republicans and conservatives, including $6,700 to Bachmann herself.
That leaves us with two possibilities: either the Obama administration are the least competent conspirators ever, or Michele Bachmann is a paranoid and delusional freak.
Marcell| 6.11.09 @ 5:48AM
Now let me go back to my original point for the Old Texican.
*************
Not flip-flop... more like "Spin."
On one page there is a conservative crowd, so they tell them what they want to here.
Now, flip-flop to the next page. This time it is a moderate crowd. That is where you can here your favorate conservative telling them what they want to here as well.
Flip flop to the next page & tell them what they want to here too.
As you flip through channels on your TV, you might just find your favorite conservative advocating socialized medicine.
Then you can flip to another channel & see another one of your favorate conservative helping Fox news paint a false picture of all Democrats just to make those who get their news there feel good; that person is explaining how all Democrats are socilist.
Then you flip over to your favorate conservative blog & read another Newt types spinning another angle as if they come to a belief that you only get your news from one type of source.
Yes indeed you will see & hear all these webs being spun from our next conservative candidate.
Don't leave out Rush, because he will inspire most of his supporters to buy & market the spin.
The spin & the flip flops are just another example of a politician having no core value; they just want to win, so they can go to Washington & advocate their ideals & most of it don't have anything to do with liberal or conservative.
It is exacly how we end up with a President Bu$h.
Marcell| 6.11.09 @ 6:11AM
The correct term is HEAR.
Bye Bye!!
=)
Bram| 6.11.09 @ 8:30AM
Did Dave M. find a new name?
We were talking about the Founding Fathers and the Constitution until this idiot starts posting stories he heard on MSDNC and spewing insults. I recommend reading some fact-based history and turning off the propaganda.
I was not pleased with many of the actions of the last administration. Compassionate conservatism and Neo-conservatism were both poor substitutes for actual conservatives who believe in small government and liberty. The new administration and Congress are moving in exactly the wrong direction from that already unsatisfactory state we were in.
Bilwick1| 6.11.09 @ 8:41AM
You're being unfair to Dave M., Bran. Marcell makes Dave M. look like Thomas Aquinas. Although Marcell at least has a vocabulary that extends beyond the words "racism" and "racist." Actually I know Marcell. He's a neighbor of mind. He stands on the streetcorner muttering to himself and passing out pamphlets "proving" that CIA agents acting under orders from the Moon Men were behind the Dick York/Dick Sargent "Darrin" switcheroo on BEWITCHED. I stand in awe of his genius.
Marcell| 6.11.09 @ 2:18PM
We were talking about the Founding Fathers and the Constitution until this idiot starts posting stories he heard on MSDNC and spewing insults. I recommend reading some fact-based history and turning off the propaganda.
I was not pleased with many of the actions of the last administration. Compassionate conservatism and Neo-conservatism were both poor substitutes for actual conservatives who believe in small government and liberty. The new administration and Congress are moving in exactly the wrong direction from that already unsatisfactory state we were in.
********************
One thing I know we are not going to get is the truth from todays conservatives, so why should we care about what you think about the constitution; you repubs can't be honest about the simple things. It is seriously sad because you don't demand honesty from your leaders either.
Most of you voted & campaigned for Bu$h in both elections, but sense his admininstration is considered a failure by even the most conservative thinkers , who are now switching Parties to become independents, you make the false claim on how much you disagree or disagreed with the Bu$h administration.
We have just got finish living through all the things you claim to fear about Obama with Bu$h & most, if not all, of you promoted, defended, contributed money to them & voted for them twice. You are really not fooling anyone but yourselves. I am starting to believe that the typical voter is for more intelegent than many of the core supporters in the Republican Party.
So, when I read these articles on my favorite conservative website, I can't help to point out what kind of people we are dealing with.
I also enjoy pointing out the proof with news stories within the last 24 hrs to make my point, & I can do it every day, because dishonesty runs rampid within the conservative media, for those who care.
You should care, because then you might get conservatives who are not just talking conservative, but you blindly allow them to tell you anything, Rush included.
P.S. I am listening to Rush talking about how he is executing what he do flawlessly... "What he does is misinform."
Richard Baker| 6.11.09 @ 7:12PM
Well, for all of you Liberals who think that what the Founding Fathers began was so much merde, where will you go to be free if we throw it all away? Ever thought of that?
Gert| 6.11.09 @ 9:17PM
Nobody listened when Ron Paul tried to tell them all this would happen.
Pingback| 6.16.09 @ 10:16PM
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