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Posted on 06/28/2011 6:05:07 PM PDT by glock rocks
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The Fourth of July may be just a holiday for fireworks to some people. But it was a momentous day for the history of this country and the history of the world.Courtesy Patriot Post, Copyright 2011, Creators.com
Not only did July 4, 1776 mark American independence from England, it marked a radically different kind of government from the governments that prevailed around the world at the time -- and the kinds of governments that had prevailed for thousands of years before.
The American Revolution was not simply a rebellion against the King of England, it was a rebellion against being ruled by kings in general. That is why the opening salvo of the American Revolution was called "the shot heard round the world."
Autocratic rulers and their subjects heard that shot -- and things that had not been questioned for millennia were now open to challenge. As the generations went by, more and more autocratic governments around the world proved unable to meet that challenge.
Some clever people today ask whether the United States has really been "exceptional." You couldn't be more exceptional in the 18th century than to create your fundamental document -- the Constitution of the United States -- by opening with the momentous words, "We the people..."
Those three words were a slap in the face to those who thought themselves entitled to rule, and who regarded the people as if they were simply human livestock, destined to be herded and shepherded by their betters. Indeed, to this very day, elites who think that way -- and that includes many among the intelligentsia, as well as political messiahs -- find the Constitution of the United States a real pain because it stands in the way of their imposing their will and their presumptions on the rest of us.
More than a hundred years ago, so-called "Progressives" began a campaign to undermine the Constitution's strict limitations on government, which stood in the way of self-anointed political crusaders imposing their grand schemes on all the rest of us. That effort to discredit the Constitution continues to this day, and the arguments haven't really changed much in a hundred years.
The cover story in the July 4th issue of Time magazine is a classic example of this arrogance. It asks of the Constitution: "Does it still matter?"
A long and rambling essay by Time magazine's managing editor, Richard Stengel, manages to create a toxic blend of the irrelevant and the erroneous.
The irrelevant comes first, pointing out in big letters that those who wrote the Constitution "did not know about" all sorts of things in the world today, including airplanes, television, computers and DNA.
This may seem like a clever new gambit but, like many clever new gambits, it is a rehash of arguments made long ago. Back in 1908, Woodrow Wilson said, "When the Constitution was framed there were no railways, there was no telegraph, there was no telephone."
In Mr. Stengel's rehash of this argument, he declares: "People on the right and left constantly ask what the framers would say about some event that is happening today."
Maybe that kind of talk goes on where he hangs out. But most people have enough common sense to know that a constitution does not exist to micro-manage particular "events" or express opinions about the passing scene.
A constitution exists to create a framework for government -- and the Constitution of the United States tries to keep the government inside that framework.
From the irrelevant to the erroneous is a short step for Mr. Stengel. He says, "If the Constitution was intended to limit the federal government, it certainly doesn't say so."
Apparently Mr. Stengel has not read the Tenth Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
Perhaps Richard Stengel should follow the advice of another Stengel -- Casey Stengel, who said on a number of occasions, "You could look it up."
Does the Constitution matter? If it doesn't, then your Freedom doesn't matter.
To: All, Cool Admin Moderator
If you'd like ON or Off the Nascar at FR racing threads&stuff Ping List, let me know via Private Reply. Thanks!
This is not a High Volume Ping List and is intended primarily to alert folks of the posting of the weekly Nascar qualifying and race threads.
Occasional sports or military or prayers Pings using the list may also be sent as situation or subject dictates.
Profanities, flame wars and belligerence in observing common sense rules and family decency standards on the thread may result in serious sanctions so be nice.
-- NormsRevenge
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Daytona SpeedwayTrack Specs:
Track/Race Length: 2.5 mile oval, 160 laps, 400 miles
Tri-oval with 31-degree banking in the turns
18-degree banking in the tri-oval and 6-degree banking on the straightaways
Date track opened: 1959
Banking in turns 1-4: 31 degrees
Banking in tri-oval: 18 degrees
Banking on backstretch: 3 degrees
Banking on the straightaway: 6 degrees
Length of frontstretch: 3,800 feet
Length of backstretch: 3,400 feet
Grandstand Seating: 168,000.
Pit Road Speed: 55mph
Pit Road Length: 1,600 feet
Pit Road Width: 50 feet
Good a super speedway about time
Info courtesy Jayski's
Oh yah... and on a Saturday night on a holiday weekend!
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Nationwide Series:
Subway Jalapeno 250
from Daytona International Speedway Friday, July 1, 2011 on ESPN at 7pm et
Camping World Truck Series:
No truck race this weekend... they'll be back on the 7th.
Weekend TV/radio race coverage and calendar for all series, all events
While I appreciate your #2 ping I am disappointed that you didn’t phone, email or knock on my door and alert me to your humble activities...
Actually, I was just going to walk in and find the cookies, but the key you gave me didn’t fit in the door. Where’d you put Aircow?
Subway Jalapeno 250 ??? Shirley, you jest...
What's next, The Rubber Duckie 500?
For what it's worth, Gordon needs some points. The fix is in.
While I have you on the phone aGP will you explain why some posters on these threads have been receiving weekly Hershey Care Packages and others have not???
Aircow is spending her final days in Gino’s pasture...
That seems to fit!
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