Free Republic

George Washington refused to come to the rescue when the pamphleteer who put him on his high horse faced the guillotine... Citizen Thomas Paine, whose pamphlet Common Sense helped ignite the American Revolution, was an enthusiastic early supporter of the French Revolution. He received a hero’s welcome when he arrived in Paris in 1792 and was even granted honorary French citizenship and a seat in the National Convention, the body charged with writing a constitution for the new republic. But Paine angered Maximilien Robespierre and other Jacobin extremists when he urged the Convention to spare the life of the deposed...

Paine’s contribution to American independence 241 years ago during the first American Fourth Turning cannot be overstated. His clarion call for colonial unity against a tyrannical British monarch played a providential role in convincing farmers, shopkeepers, and tradesmen reconciliation with a hereditary monarchy was impossible, and armed separation was the only common sense option. The same common sense Paine used to argue against a tyrannical, oppressive hereditary monarchy applies today when judging our corrupt, authoritarian, co-opted government. His themes of society as a blessing, government as evil, and revolution as inevitable are as applicable today as they were 241 years...

In his masterpiece, Common Sense, Thomas Paine observed: "Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they succeed to the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions." Paine may have been discussing the British monarch circa 1776, but his insight is equally applicable to Obama and Co.,...

The Coffee Party, a liberal Facebook group with nearly a million fans, posted this meme of Thomas Paine, one of America’s founding fathers. While I’m glad to see anyone studying the Founding, it looks like the message was lost on a majority of their left-leaning audience. Below are 11 of the best comments from their readers, with my responses: 1. “That is exactly like trying to reason with a republikkklan” -Ed. You know the KKK was founded by Democrats, right? 2. “Thomas Paine must have anticipated the Tea Party!” -Ed. Yes, he did – the original Tea Party that you’ve...

Thomas Paine famously wrote in The American Crisis, “How easy it is to abuse truth and language, when men, by habitual wickedness, have learned to set justice at defiance”. In condemning the King of England, Paine continued, “amongst the various assumptions of character, which hypocrisy has taught, and men have practiced, there is none that raises a higher relish of disgust, than to see disappointed inveteracy twisting itself, by he most visible falsehoods, into an appearance of piety which it has no pretensions to”. Paine was articulating the stance in which Britain, most notably the King, had claimed to be...

Edmund Burke’s conservative version thought liberty and equality were cultural achievements ‘built up over countless generations of social trial and error.’ Sometimes the deepest differences in politics aren’t about the conclusions people draw but the way they reach them. The British statesman Edmund Burke and the Anglo-American revolutionary Thomas Paine both favored free trade, for example, but for different reasons. The radical Paine believed that free trade would spread rationality and enlightenment and thus help bring war and tyranny to an end. The conservative Burke thought that government interference with trade would likely do more harm than good. The difference...

Sir: I have frequently with pleasure reflected on your services to my native and your adopted country. Your "Common Sense" and your "Crisis" unquestionably awakened the public mind, and led the people loudly to call for a declaration of our national independence. I therefore esteemed you as a warm friend to the liberty and lasting welfare of the human race. But when I heard that you had turned your mind to a defense of infidelity, I felt myself much astonished and more grieved that you had attempted a measure so injurious to the feelings and so repugnant to the true...

Thomas Paine's political writings, I am singular enough to believe, have done more harm than his irreligious ones. He understood neither government nor religion. From a malignant heart he wrote virulent declamations, which the enthusiastic fury of the times intimidated all men, even Mr. Burke, from answering as he ought. His deism, as it appears to me, has promoted rather than retarded the cause of revolution in America, and indeed in Europe. His billingsgate, stolen from Blount's Oracles of Reason, from Bolingbroke., Voltaire, Berenger, &c., will never discredit Christianity, which will hold its ground in some degree as long as...

No man, Mr. President, thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider...

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be...

Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it. Say not that thousands are gone, turn out your tens of thousands; throw not the burden of the day upon Providence, but "show your faith by your works," that God may bless you. It matters not where you live, or what rank of life you hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The far and the...

The purpose of these writings is quite simple. We wanted to provide an easy to use tool in understanding Alinsky’s teachings, the tactics used by his followers, their motives, and the contrast of these to the spirit of America and her forefathers. Alinsky’s goal was revolution, just as our forefathers; but the outcome of each revolution are as different as freedom vs slavery. You can find the archives HERE. Chapter One: The Purpose“WHAT FOLLOWS IS for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be.” Above is the first sentence. Where...

The purpose of these writings is quite simple. We wanted to provide an easy to use tool in understanding Alinsky’s teachings, the tactics used by his followers, their motives, and the contrast of these to the spirit of America and her forefathers. Alinsky’s goal was revolution, just as our forefathers; but the outcome of each revolution are as different as freedom vs slavery. You can find the archives HERE Common Sense by Thomas Paine I spent the last few snowy days confined to a bed due to a stomach bug that my lovely children felt generous enough to give to...

The purpose of these writings is quite simple. We wanted to provide an easy to use tool in understanding Alinsky’s teachings, the tactics used by his followers, their motives, and the contrast of these to the spirit of America and her forefathers. Alinsky’s goal was revolution, just as our forefathers; but the outcome of each revolution are as different as freedom vs slavery. You can find the archives HERE Today we will finish the prologue from Rules for Radicals. Alinsky makes it clear that the goal is to change the world into what he thinks it should be, by working...

Youtube video of Mr. Thamas Paine (Bob Basso) loudly shouting "no" to amnesty on principles, not politics.

Okay. So in yesterday’s Alinsky VS Paine (Part 2) lesson, we were taught the following from Mr. Saul: 1) A young mind is a terrible thing to waste 2) A young mind is very moldable 3) A young mind inherently tends to buck the system while trying to figure out the true meaning of life And what system does Alinsky want the young radical to buck? He wants them to throw aside their responsibilities and to throw aside materialistic desires. He tells them that the only good that comes out of following in the footsteps of the generations before them...

The purpose of these writings is quite simple. We wanted to provide an easy to use tool in understanding Alinsky’s teachings, the tactics used by his followers, their motives, and the contrast of these to the spirit of America and her forefathers. Alinsky’s goal was revolution, just as our forefathers; but the outcome of each revolution are as different as freedom vs slavery. No one can begin the study of Rules for Radicals without noting that Alinsky includes a quote from Thomas Paine and one from himself at the onset.Paine quote:“Lest them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no...

Alinsky VS Paine Two fellow FREEPers have joined together to do a series of threads on Saul Alinsky Rules for Radicals VS Thomas Paine Common Sense. The concept is much like a cyber book club; for those who have read the books, those who might start, or even those who cannot find the time, but want to learn. The tentative start date will be Monday, January 25th, 2010. The template we will start with will be that I will start with the very beginning of Rules for Radicals. I will write a little about the intro, and prologue of the...

Aleksandra's Note: If anyone has ever doubted the power of words and the ability of a writer of them to light fires under men and women, to embolden hearts, to move people to courageous action, and to inspire true change based on noble virtues and principles for the benefit of mankind, they need only learn the story of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense", a mere "pamphlet" that was published anonymously in 1776. It was this little pamphlet that kicked open the door to the American Revolution and the birth of America. To this day, "Common Sense" remains one of the greatest...

On January 9th, 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense, a pamphlet that set the American colonies a fire with a longing for Independence. Paine, born in England met then living in London, Benjamin Franklin, who advised Paine to Go to America. Arriving in America almost dead from a fever, once recovered and with letters of recommendation Paine got a job as a magazine writer. With 'more brains then books' but Paine who could work magic with pen and paper, established himself and in Common sense made bold statements that America should demand freedom, 'The birthday of a new world is...