Posted on 03/20/2007 8:21:54 AM PDT by areafiftyone
Don't tell that to then President Washington. He sent the army in to rout them out and put down their rebellion. He wasn't amused, nor did he look to the 2d Amendment smiling.
Almost nobody particularly likes having to take up arms, but the Founding Fathers clearly expected citizens to both (1) take up arms against criminals, when the government was legitimately acting against them, and (2) take up arms against rogue government agents, as necessary, when they exceeded their authority.
The Founding Fathers didn't agree on almost any part of the Constitution. Have you ever read the Anti-Federalist Papers? That should give you some idea of the confusion, the concerns and the differences of opinion that prevailed at the time. As for taking up arms against rogue government officials, Mr. Madison characterized it as the duty of the state authorized militia, not a bunch of partly organized gangs. At the time, that was both the filler for our military and the state's national guard.
He put them down, but he also pardoned the participants, did he not?
Sure but Johnson pardoned most of the Confederates, and Clinton pardoned the terrorists from Puerto Rico so his wife could be elected. None of that makes the original offenses any more right.
You compare pardons by the two impeached presidents to those by George Washington, the man considered by many to have been the greatest president ever?
Regardless, I should ask who it was that quashed the rebellion? If I recall, it was not full time soldiers in any U.S. army, but rather armed citizens who answered their country's call.
In other words, the armed citizens who did not favor the rebellion outnumbered those that did, and thus quashed it. You would rather the government have a full time standing army to handle such things?
People here forget to distinguish between Washington the general, and Washington the president. He was truly a great man, but had a relatively peaceful presidency. He was rarely challenged, had a very thin skin, and understood politics. His pardon was completely political and served to help mollify the Western frontier citizens, who weren't all that thrilled with the strong central government the Constitution brought. He had to prove to them that this new government was not toothless, but at the same time could also be compassionate. But his presidency was, as I said relatively crisis free, until Jefferson began his anti-federalist campaign. Washington found that after being the butt of jokes in some Jeffersonian (Republican) newspapers, that he did not have any further interest in the job, and did not run for a third term.
As for greatness, none can equal or even approach Lincoln. But that's a discussion for another thread.
Regardless, I should ask who it was that quashed the rebellion? If I recall, it was not full time soldiers in any U.S. army, but rather armed citizens who answered their country's call.
That's because the army was almost nonexistent. So he called up the state militias which were essentially the national guard of the time. He federalized them, just as has been done in other times, and sent them in to crush the rebellion.
In other words, the armed citizens who did not favor the rebellion outnumbered those that did, and thus quashed it. You would rather the government have a full time standing army to handle such things?
Not at all. I'm perfectly satisfied with the national guard and police forces. Occasionally though, they will be nationalized and have to respond to the authority of the President. But this is not the citizen armies you are contemplating. Those would have been the citizens who actually started the Whiskey Rebellion.
“Lucianne has become pathological in it Rudymania. I would say about 75-80% are pushing for Rudy. As I mentioned earlier I am on the verge of being banned there for “spamming””
FYI: My password was mysteriously changed there.
Well not so mysteriously, as I was hardly towing the Rudy line.
Yeah. I was banned and the mysteriously un-banned. Weird.
They really are petty despots.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.