It's not enough to claim as Rush did today that this is the kind of government against which the Founding Fathers rebelled. That kind of blanket assumption betrays his own kind of croney capitalism. Remember that Rush Limbaugh makes TONS of money because you believe what he says.
Always look to first sources. Remember that at the time of the Revolution the world was a markedly different place. George II was a German by birth, and he took little interest in his grandson who was not supposed to inherit the throne. George III didn't know or care much about America. Those people were not people he knew or "his people" in the sense of predecessors. The soldiers at Lexington were mostly Irish conscripts, freed from debtors prison in exchange for military service. The Founding Fathers themselves spent much of their time arguing, and some of them never lent their signatures to the documents of the Founding.
The kind of government in America today has never been seen on the planet before. I am unconvinced that the Founding Fathers would have been as "quick" to rise up against our government as they were against the Crown because to a degree we still do have life, liberty and property, even if it's less today than in 2008 or 2004 or 1972. Sedition and rebellion are unbecoming those such protected. The line is even less clearly demarcated than in 1776, but the board is set and the pieces are in motion. Limbaugh uses "regime" as an inflammatory term, the same way irreligious people use the word "sect"; in truth, these words are used to mean "anything which which they happen to disagree". Even then, the Founding Fathers grudgingly chose armed rebellion once all other lights went out.
In the end, you have to look out for yourself. Rush isn't looking out for you any more than he's looking out for himself. He has told us many times that he knows where he will flee when the going gets rough. Contrary to what Rush says, O'Reilly is not looking out for you; he's looking out for his show. Obama isn't looking out for you. How could he? He doesn't even know you. Reid doesn't even like you. He thinks you're stinky and smelly and that you make Congress less by your patronage in the observation balcony. Wal-mart isn't out to get you, Big Oil isn't out to get you, the Administration and the CIA aren't out to get you, and the Taliban aren't really out to get you. They are looking out for themselves. If you are part of one of those organizations, then they are "looking out for you", but only as long as you are a member, a patron, an employee, a stockholder, etc. Otherwise, you are not part of the GOBNet, and so you are irrelevant and expendable. Sure, if you hold things true that are contrary to the CIA or Taliban, then they may try to kill you; if you rob Wal-Mart or seize a tanker, those corporations may go after you, but otherwise, it's not personal. It's a question of "slave team 1 is better than slave team 2". The politicians in Washington are not looking out for you, and few if any of the aspirants that will appear on the ballot in November will be either. Oh, they will claim they are, but they will get paychecks and perks and power, and unless they agree before they win to some kind of self-imposed term limit and then stick to it, I bet you dollars to donuts that they are there to advance their own interests.
I am not happy with what Arizona did. Sure, something must be done, but John Ensign (R-NV) was DEAD WRONG when he told me that he voted for Stimulus I because "to do the wrong thing was better than to do nothing at all"? What in thunder?!?! The truth is simply this: the government isn't doing it's job, and so Arizonans decided to do what was right for them. Nevermind that it will adversely impact Nevada, California, and New Mexico. They did what was right by them. They stuck to the pirate code of politics. Yet, they are right in a way. To allow illegal aliens unrequited access to American amenities is to surrender their right to look out for their own rights. The illegals are looking out for themselves at the expense of every man, woman and child in this country who obeys the law.
In the end, it all comes down to the law. What is the law? I believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law. Don't worry about cops pulling you over for whatever special reason in AZ. I was pulled over this weekend for no infraction whatsoever other than the fact that other people drive around with illegal temporary license plates and they wanted to make sure I wasn't among them. Cops can already pull you over for almost any reason. We do not need more taxes. We need those who get tax money to be better stewards of the common treasure. We do not need more laws. We need better enforcement of the laws we already have. We do not need more citizens. We need more of our citizens to obey, honor and sustain the laws. We do not need more regulation. We need to regulate our government. The government that governs best governs least, and so I am not interested in "reform". I endorse a "restoration". All I ask is that other people follow the laws just like I do when I go to the DMV, buy a home, travel to Europe, show up for work, pay my dentist, ad infinitum. Like DeTocqueville said, in America, the law is king.
If you don't like the president, protestation is fine. Eventually, it just makes you annoying. So you vote? Great. So you protested at a Tea Party rally? Do you want a medal? I flew to Boston, brewed tea in my hotel room in Birmingham, drove into the city, parked, walked two miles to the Congress Street Bridge, and threw a cup full of tea into the harbor. I share more in spirit with them than most of the Tea Party Protesters. Moreover, I have read their words instead of relying on Rush or anyone else to tell me what they said.
Before you tell me Jefferson said/did such and such, be ready to cite your source, in textual context, in historical context, with grammatical context, with political footnotes, exemplars, testaments to the legitimacy of your source, ad infinitum. When I was in school I hated questions that asked me what the author meant by a passage because I felt that if you wanted to know that then you should ask the author. Instead, the questions made inference as to original intend and declared one theme right at the exclusion of all others. That's the best we can do in their absence- guess. In the end, it's just a guess. Nobody writes down everything he thinks, says, and feels. Rarely do people record their dreams, their secret desires, and their honest errors. Much of what is quoted is either mis-attributed or taken out of context.
When someone tells you something, consider their motivation. In that sense, Limbaugh is no different than Obama or Cheney or Buffet- there is money to be made if the political winds swing his way. Consider mine. What do I have to gain from this? What do you have for which I could possibly wish? What do you know of my goals, hopes and dreams? How far can you trust me? Trust in God more than man. God, like Polaris, will lead in a straight and narrow course to happiness and peace. Man, no matter how well intentioned he may appear can only lead us there if he is built upon the rock of our redeemer, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
People forget the Founding Fathers were men. They were men who did what was right when it needed to be done whether they wanted to or not and without regard for who received credit. Before you Deify them, remember that they recognized a Providence beyond them. I know some people who aspire to be like me. I tell them that I am trying to be like Jesus, and they will do far better to be like him as much as they can. Then if they end up like Jefferson, Washington, or me, then they'll do just fine.
Always look to first sources. Remember that at the time of the Revolution the world was a markedly different place. George II was a German by birth, and he took little interest in his grandson who was not supposed to inherit the throne. George III didn't know or care much about America. Those people were not people he knew or "his people" in the sense of predecessors. The soldiers at Lexington were mostly Irish conscripts, freed from debtors prison in exchange for military service. The Founding Fathers themselves spent much of their time arguing, and some of them never lent their signatures to the documents of the Founding.
The kind of government in America today has never been seen on the planet before. I am unconvinced that the Founding Fathers would have been as "quick" to rise up against our government as they were against the Crown because to a degree we still do have life, liberty and property, even if it's less today than in 2008 or 2004 or 1972. Sedition and rebellion are unbecoming those such protected. The line is even less clearly demarcated than in 1776, but the board is set and the pieces are in motion. Limbaugh uses "regime" as an inflammatory term, the same way irreligious people use the word "sect"; in truth, these words are used to mean "anything which which they happen to disagree". Even then, the Founding Fathers grudgingly chose armed rebellion once all other lights went out.
In the end, you have to look out for yourself. Rush isn't looking out for you any more than he's looking out for himself. He has told us many times that he knows where he will flee when the going gets rough. Contrary to what Rush says, O'Reilly is not looking out for you; he's looking out for his show. Obama isn't looking out for you. How could he? He doesn't even know you. Reid doesn't even like you. He thinks you're stinky and smelly and that you make Congress less by your patronage in the observation balcony. Wal-mart isn't out to get you, Big Oil isn't out to get you, the Administration and the CIA aren't out to get you, and the Taliban aren't really out to get you. They are looking out for themselves. If you are part of one of those organizations, then they are "looking out for you", but only as long as you are a member, a patron, an employee, a stockholder, etc. Otherwise, you are not part of the GOBNet, and so you are irrelevant and expendable. Sure, if you hold things true that are contrary to the CIA or Taliban, then they may try to kill you; if you rob Wal-Mart or seize a tanker, those corporations may go after you, but otherwise, it's not personal. It's a question of "slave team 1 is better than slave team 2". The politicians in Washington are not looking out for you, and few if any of the aspirants that will appear on the ballot in November will be either. Oh, they will claim they are, but they will get paychecks and perks and power, and unless they agree before they win to some kind of self-imposed term limit and then stick to it, I bet you dollars to donuts that they are there to advance their own interests.
I am not happy with what Arizona did. Sure, something must be done, but John Ensign (R-NV) was DEAD WRONG when he told me that he voted for Stimulus I because "to do the wrong thing was better than to do nothing at all"? What in thunder?!?! The truth is simply this: the government isn't doing it's job, and so Arizonans decided to do what was right for them. Nevermind that it will adversely impact Nevada, California, and New Mexico. They did what was right by them. They stuck to the pirate code of politics. Yet, they are right in a way. To allow illegal aliens unrequited access to American amenities is to surrender their right to look out for their own rights. The illegals are looking out for themselves at the expense of every man, woman and child in this country who obeys the law.
In the end, it all comes down to the law. What is the law? I believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law. Don't worry about cops pulling you over for whatever special reason in AZ. I was pulled over this weekend for no infraction whatsoever other than the fact that other people drive around with illegal temporary license plates and they wanted to make sure I wasn't among them. Cops can already pull you over for almost any reason. We do not need more taxes. We need those who get tax money to be better stewards of the common treasure. We do not need more laws. We need better enforcement of the laws we already have. We do not need more citizens. We need more of our citizens to obey, honor and sustain the laws. We do not need more regulation. We need to regulate our government. The government that governs best governs least, and so I am not interested in "reform". I endorse a "restoration". All I ask is that other people follow the laws just like I do when I go to the DMV, buy a home, travel to Europe, show up for work, pay my dentist, ad infinitum. Like DeTocqueville said, in America, the law is king.
If you don't like the president, protestation is fine. Eventually, it just makes you annoying. So you vote? Great. So you protested at a Tea Party rally? Do you want a medal? I flew to Boston, brewed tea in my hotel room in Birmingham, drove into the city, parked, walked two miles to the Congress Street Bridge, and threw a cup full of tea into the harbor. I share more in spirit with them than most of the Tea Party Protesters. Moreover, I have read their words instead of relying on Rush or anyone else to tell me what they said.
Before you tell me Jefferson said/did such and such, be ready to cite your source, in textual context, in historical context, with grammatical context, with political footnotes, exemplars, testaments to the legitimacy of your source, ad infinitum. When I was in school I hated questions that asked me what the author meant by a passage because I felt that if you wanted to know that then you should ask the author. Instead, the questions made inference as to original intend and declared one theme right at the exclusion of all others. That's the best we can do in their absence- guess. In the end, it's just a guess. Nobody writes down everything he thinks, says, and feels. Rarely do people record their dreams, their secret desires, and their honest errors. Much of what is quoted is either mis-attributed or taken out of context.
When someone tells you something, consider their motivation. In that sense, Limbaugh is no different than Obama or Cheney or Buffet- there is money to be made if the political winds swing his way. Consider mine. What do I have to gain from this? What do you have for which I could possibly wish? What do you know of my goals, hopes and dreams? How far can you trust me? Trust in God more than man. God, like Polaris, will lead in a straight and narrow course to happiness and peace. Man, no matter how well intentioned he may appear can only lead us there if he is built upon the rock of our redeemer, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
People forget the Founding Fathers were men. They were men who did what was right when it needed to be done whether they wanted to or not and without regard for who received credit. Before you Deify them, remember that they recognized a Providence beyond them. I know some people who aspire to be like me. I tell them that I am trying to be like Jesus, and they will do far better to be like him as much as they can. Then if they end up like Jefferson, Washington, or me, then they'll do just fine.
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