Posted on 09/06/2002 8:17:16 AM PDT by BADJOE
History teaches some very good lessons. They are hard to learn but our forefathers did a great job.
From the beginning of time man has overthrown one form of centralized government only to re-establish another one in its place. Our forefathers understood this far better than anyone ever had. They said governments are the eternal enemy of free men. They said that in order for man to remain free it would take a bloody revolution every other generation, unless you bound down (bastard) government with the chains of the constitution.
On another site this week a poster asked if anyone else hated government as much as he did. I replied to him
"Hell !! I thought you were not a good American if you didn't love our country and hate our government.
At least that is how I have always felt about it"
I think our forefathers had the same attitude that I have now. And I think it is inherent in the average Americans attitude to distrust and have disdain for any government, including ours. One of the hardest conclusions I had to arrive at as a young man, after having been a product of the public school system, was that our government was not on our side. As James Forrestahl, former secretary of the Navy, who suffered a mysterious death, once said about our State Department's foreign policy, " Stupidity is never a mark of consistancy. If they were merely stupid, they would occasionally make a mistake in our favor".
Newt Gringrich put it in a humourous manner when talking about the attitude of Europeans. He related the following story. If you go to Europe and drive on the Autobahn, you feel pretty good cruising down the highway at 100 mph when some some German passes you doing 140 mph. Now he said if the Bundestag passed the 55mph speed limit law, every German would dutifully obey that law, untill the next election. They would vote the 55 mph crowd out of office and the no speed limit crowd in. In America Newt said "A speed limit sign is a benchmark of opportunity.
It is obvious that Yankees and Euros have entirely different attitudes about government's edicts. There are darn few Americans who do not break the speed limit laws everyday.
Now we come to the Free Republic. Once a free wheeling, joyful site for news and discussion of politics, economics, philosophy, ethics and morals. I could not understand the transformation that has taken place in the last six months. Camaraderie, the sense of family, and cooperation seems to have disappeared. Are the Freepers exhibiting the same disdain for the new FR as Americans have for our government?
It was ugly the first time and uglier the second.
Whatever your passion or agenda, you should strive to be a gentleman. You have failed miserably.
Watch your back my friend. Watch your back.
Is there any hope in the deep recesses of yer mind that Dubyuh is playin' 'possum on the real good, basic Conservative Legislation until he gits 3-4 more Senators this November?! Wouldn't that be something if Dubyuh and another 20-30 GOPers in the House made Partial Birth Abortion a memory in March of 2003, then came back and sunsetted the funds to the Dept. of Education to zero by 2008 while instituting a framework fer real School Choice instituted at the State and Local level, then by July of 2003, we're indexing capital gains fer inflation, and setting a National Goal to Decrease Federal Spending as a Percentage of Gross Domestic Product to 12% By 2010?!!
Wouldn't that be kewl if we could help make that happen?!
I think it would...MUD
No, WE're gonna have a winner...
"Should we consult to make sure that we have distinct winners?"
Nawww, I'll end up agreeing with you, but I'll have my say in the meantime...MUD
We have determined that BADJOE's sole website-of-concern is FreeRepublic.com.
"Sorry if someone else has already made the same points. Some of us had to work today."
No apologies necessary, but you might wanna check this thread a little closer...BJ may open some festering wounds but there's a tendency for said wounds to become cleansed under closer scrutiny.
FReepers ROCK...MUD
10. No one has yet mentioned how vey series this is.
9. I can't get enough of Blues Duke's wacky pack pictures.
8. I've never seen Ash post and would hate to miss it if he shows up.
7. I can't leave until there is bloodshed.
6.Maybe someone REALLY clever will contribute to your contest.
5. Perhaps Jim Rob will show up and kick us all out of his house and I couldn't bear to miss the end of FR.
4. I exist only on the fringes here and am dying to be a part of the "big stuff".
3. I'm hoping that BADJOE will come back and change his name to GOODJOE.
2. Doug from Upland hasn't memorialized this in song yet.
And the number one reason I'm still posting here is....I still haven't found out what happened to the brown dog with the girlfriend in the car of the guy with all the guns.
No, my FRiend, there is but one contest of which YOU are the Final Judge and I was jist addin' to the kitty.
Mellow...MUD
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