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In addition, the French intellectuals believed that a government which is good, led by morally superior, disinterested men sincerely devoted to the improvement of its citizens, needs no foolish "checks and balances" because such a government would be benevolent, certainly not a danger. Citizens would accept this leadership and the ordering of their daily lives for their own, ultimate, good, and hopefully would do so voluntarily. When liberal Democrats (the heirs of the French intellectuals) use words such as fidelity, sincerity, freedom, equality, justice, even power -- they mean very different things than when they are used by conservative Republicans (heirs of the American Federalists). When liberals talk about knowledge, they are referring to what an elite of highly intelligent people have studied and grasped and rationally, cleverly articulated.. For conservatives, knowledge is the vast accumulated wisdom that has been handed down through the centuries, usually not articulated, or even thought about consciously, but just "known", tested and retested against reality by vast numbers of generations.

The rats and the frogs we should have known!!!!! ;-)

Looks like a must read.