Textbook 'Teaches' Second Amendment

And What the Founders Really Said

> From: "Mel Young" <bg@surfside.net>
> http://surfboard.surfside.net/bg/index/index_nn4.html
>
> Please distribute this far and wide.....especially within CA.
>
> Penny Ferguson just sent out an item about the California State
> Department
> of (mis-)Education's approved textbook for 8th graders who must
> study the
> Constitution before passing on to high school.
>
> The book apparently separates the Bill of Rights into Rights of the
> People
> and Rights of the state. The ONLY article they mention as a right of
> the
> state is the Second Amendment.
>
> The textbook (American Pageant: Building a Nation; Appleby, et al,
> 2000,
> ISBN 0-02-821876-0) states (on p. 242) that the Second Amendment's
> purpose
> is "to guarantee states the right to keep a militia."
>
> The text is published by Glencoe/McGraw Hill, which has the toll
> free
> number: (800) 334-7344
>
> You can check out the information at:
>
> School misrepresents Second Amendment
> http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b106093612b.htm
>
> This is the perfect example of the pubic schools teaching the BIG
> LIE....dumbing down and mis-educating our children.
>
> How many other states use this same textbook or a similar one with
> similar,
> blatantly false information?
>
> I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has access to a copy of this
> book
> and can copy it and send it to me on the net. I'd like to do a story
> about
> this for one of the net publications.
>
> Just for fun, I've included quotes from the Founding Fathers, and
> others,
> concerning the RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS. And...remember, the BILL
> OF
> RIGHTS were and remain "inalienable" rights; "God-given" rights that
> can
> not be taken away by government.
>
> Mel
>
> What the Founding Fathers Said About the Second Amendment and Our
> Right to
> Keep and Bear Arms
>
> "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms.disarm only those who are
> neither
> inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things
> worse for
> the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to
> encourage
> than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with
> greater
> . confidence than an armed man."
> - Thomas Jefferson, quoting Cesare Beccaria in On Crimes and
> punishment
> (1764).
>
> "Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and
> preserve
> order in the world as well as property . . . Horrid mischief would
> ensue
> were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them."
> - Thomas Paine, Thoughts on Defensive War (1775).
>
> "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
> - Thomas Jefferson, Proposed Virginia Constitution (1776).
>
> "The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."
> - Edmund Burke (1784).
>
> "The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the
> sword,
> because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a
> force
> superior to any band of regular troops." Noah Webster, An
> Examination into
> the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution Proposed BV the
> Late
> Convention (1787).
>
> "To suppose arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual
> discretion, except in private self-defense or by partial orders of
> towns...is a dissolution of the government."
> - John Adams, A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the
> United
> States of America (1787-1788).
>
> "Americans need not fear the federal government because they enjoy
> the
> advantage of being armed, which you possess over the people of
> almost every
> other nation."
> - James Madison.
>
> "A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves
> and
> include all men capable of bearing arms .To preserve liberty it is
> essential that the whole body of people always possess arms . . . "
> - Richard Henry Lee, Additional Letters From the Federal Farmer 53
> (1788).
>
> "I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm
> the
> people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
> - George Mason, during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the
> Constitution
> (1788).
>
> ".The said Constitution be never construed .to prevent the people of
> the
> United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own
> arms."
> Samuel Adams, during Massachusetts's Convention to Ratify the
> Constitution
> (1788).
>
> "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone
> who
> approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but
> downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined."
> - Patrick Henry, during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the
> Constitution
> (1788)
>
> "Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess
> over the
> people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate
> governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the
> militia
> officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of
> ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of
> any
> form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in
> the
> several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public
> resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people
> with
> arms."
> - James Madison, The Federalist Papers, No. 46
>
> "Suppose that we let a regular army, fully equal to the resources of
> the
> country, be formed; and let it be entirely at the devotion of the
> federal:
> still it would not be going to far to say that the State governments
> with
> the people at their side would be able to repel the danger...half a
> million
> citizens with arms in their hands"
> -- James Madison, The Federalist Papers
>
> "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little
> temporary
> safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."-- Benjamin Franklin
> Historical
> Review of Pennsylvania. [Note: This sentence was often quoted in the
>
> Revolutionary period. It occurs even so early as November, 1755, in
> an
> answer by the Assembly of Pennsylvania to the Governor, and forms
> the motto
> of Franklin's "Historical Review," 1759, appearing also in the body
> of the
> work.
> -- Frothingham: Rise of the Republic of the United States, p. 413. ]
>
> "False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real
> advantages
> for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire
> from men
> because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no
> remedy
> for evils except destruction. The laws that forbid the carrying of
> arms are
> laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither
> inclined nor
> determined to commit crime."--Cesare Beccaria, quoted by Thomas
> Jefferson
>
> "The right of the people to keep and bear arms has been recognized
> by the
> General Government; but the best security of that right after all
> is, the
> military spirit, that taste for martial exercises, which has always
> distinguished the free citizens of these States....Such men form the
> best
> barrier to the liberties of America" -- Gazette of the United
> States,
> October 14, 1789.
>
> "The right of the people to keep and bear...arms shall not be
> infringed. A
> well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained
> to
> arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free
> country..."--James
> Madison, I Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789.
>
> "A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people
> themselves...and
> include all men capable of bearing arms." --Richard Henry Lee,
> Additional
> Letters from the Federal Framer (1788) at p. 169
>
> "What, Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the
> establishment of
> a standing army, the bane of liberty.... Whenever Governments mean
> to
> invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt
> to
> destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their
> ruins."--Rep.
> Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, spoken during floor debate over the
> Second
> Amendment, I Annals of Congress at p. 750, August 17, 1789.
>
> "...to disarm the people - that was the best and most effectual way
> to
> enslave them." -- George Mason, 3 Elliot, Debates at 380.
>
> "Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the
> citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust
> the
> people with arms." --James Madison, The Federalist Papers No. 46 at
> 243-244.
>
> "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as
> they are
> in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America
> cannot
> enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the
> people are
> armed, and constitute a force superior to any bands of regular
> troops that
> can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States"--Noah Webster
> in "An
> Examination into the Leading Principles of the Federal
> Constitution," 1787,
> in Paul Ford, ed., Pamphlets on the Constitution of the United
> States, at
> p. 56 (New York, 1888).
>
> "...but if circumstances should at any time oblige the government to
> form
> an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the
> liberties of the people, while there is a large body of citizens,
> little if
> at all inferior to them in discipline and use of arms, who stand
> ready to
> defend their rights..."
> -- Alexander Hamilton speaking of standing armies in Federalist No.
> 29.
>
> "As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people before them,
> may
> attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be
> occasionally
> raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the
> injury of
> their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in
> their
> right to keep and bear their private arms." --Tench Coxe in `Remarks
> on the
> First Part of the Amendments to the Federal Constitution' under the
> Pseudonym "A Pennsylvanian" in the Philadelphia Federal Gazette,
> June 18,
> 1789 at 2 col. 1.
>
> "Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and
> every
> other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an
> American... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of
> either
> the federal or state government, but, where I trust in God it will
> ever
> remain, in the hands of the people" -
> - Tench Coxe, Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788.
>
> "To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people
> always
> possess arms, and be taught alike especially when young, how to use
> them."
> --Richard Henry Lee, 1788, Initiator of the Declaration of
> Independence,
> and member of the first Senate, which passed the Bill of Rights,
> Walter
> Bennett, ed., Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republican, at
> 21,22,124 (Univ. of Alabama Press,1975.
>
> "The great object is that every man be armed" and "everyone who is
> able may
> have a gun." --Patrick Henry, in the Virginia Convention on the
> ratification of the Constitution. Debates and other Proceedings of
> the
> Convention of Virginia,...taken in shorthand by David Robertson of
> Petersburg, at 271, 275 2d ed. Richmond, 1805. Also 3 Elliot,
> Debates at 386
>
> "The people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left
> in full
> possession of them." --Zachariah Johnson, 3 Elliot, Debates at 646
>
> "Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing
> degradation, that
> we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense? Where is the
> difference
> between having our arms in possession and under our direction, and
> having
> them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real
> object of
> having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more
> propriety,
> or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?" --Patrick Henry, 3 J.
> Elliot,
> Debates in the Several State Conventions 45, 2d ed. Philadelphia,
> 1836
>
> "The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that
> they be
> properly armed." (Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at
> 184-8)
>
> "That the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize
> Congress
> to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of
> conscience; or
> to prevent the people of The United States who are peaceable
> citizens from
> keeping their own arms..." --Samuel Adams, Debates and Proceedings
> in the
> Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, at 86-87 (Pierce &
> Hale,
> eds., Boston, 1850).
>
> "And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not
> warned
> from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of
> resistance? Let
> them take arms....The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to
> time,
> with the blood of patriots and tyrants" --Thomas Jefferson in a
> letter to
> William S. Smith in 1787. Taken from Jefferson, On Democracy p. 20,
> S.
> Padover ed., 1939
>
> "A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of
> exercises, I
> advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it
> gives
> boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played
> with the
> ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and
> stamp no
> character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant
> companion of
> your walks.
> --Thomas Jefferson, Encyclopedia of T. Jefferson, 318, Foley, Ed.,
> reissued
> 1967.
>
> "The supposed quietude of a good mans allures the ruffian; while on
> the
> other hand, arms like laws discourage and keep the invader and the
> plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as
> property. The
> same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of
> arms, for
> all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay
> them
> aside...Horrid mischief would ensue were one half the world deprived
> of the
> use of them..."
> --Thomas Paine, I Writings of Thomas Paine at 56 (1894).
>
> "...the people are confirmed by the next article in their right to
> keep and
> bear their private arms" --from article in the Philadelphia Federal
> Gazette
> June 18, 1789 at 2, col.2.
>
> "What country can preserve it's liberties if their rulers are not
> warned
> from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of
> resistance. Let
> them take arms."
> --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, Dec. 20, 1787, in Papers of
> Jefferson,
> ed. Boyd et al.)
>
> "[The American Colonies were] all democratic governments, where the
> power
> is in the hands of the people and where there is not the least
> difficulty
> or jealousy about putting arms into the hands of every man in the
> country.
> [European countries should not] be ignorant of the strength and the
> force
> of such a form of government and how strenuously and almost
> wonderfully
> people living under one have sometimes exerted themselves in defence
> of
> their rights and liberties and how fatally it has ended with many a
> man and
> many a state who have entered into quarrels, wars and contests with
> them."
> --George Mason, "Remarks on Annual Elections for the Fairfax
> Independent
> Company" in The Papers of George Mason, 1725-1792, ed Robert A.
> Rutland
> (Chapel Hill, 1970).
>
> "It is not certain that with this aid alone [possession of arms],
> they
> would not be able to shake off their yokes. But were the people to
> posses
> the additional advantages of local governments chosen by themselves,
> who
> could collect the national will, and direct the national force; and
> of
> officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments and
> attached
> both to them and to the militia, it may be affirmed with the
> greatest
> assurance, that the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be
> speedily
> overturned, in spite of the legions which surround it."
> -- James Madison, Federalist No. 46.
>
> What the Courts Have Said About the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
>
> "To prohibit a citizen from wearing or carrying a war arm . . . is
> an
> unwarranted restriction upon the constitutional right to keep and
> bear
> arms. If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men
> with
> army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary
> and
> gallows, and not by a general deprivation of constitutional
> privilege."
> [Wilson v. State, 33 Ark. 557, at 560, 34 Am. Rep. 52, at 54 (1878)]
>
> "For, in principle, there is no difference between a law prohibiting
> the
> wearing of concealed arms, and a law forbidding the wearing such as
> are
> exposed; and if the former be unconstitutional, the latter must be
> so
> likewise. But it should not be forgotten, that it is not only a part
> of the
> right that is secured by the constitution; it is the right entire
> and
> complete, as it existed at the adoption of the constitution; and if
> any
> portion of that right be impaired, immaterial how small the part may
> be,
> and immaterial the order of time at which it be done, it is equally
> forbidden by the constitution." [Bliss vs. Commonwealth, 12 Ky. (2
> Litt.)
> 90, at 92, and 93, 13 Am. Dec. 251 (1822)
>
> " `The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be
> infringed.'
> The right of the whole people, old and young, men, women and boys,
> and not
> militia only, to keep and bear arms of every description, and not
> such
> merely as are used by the militia, shall not be infringed,
> curtailed, or
> broken in upon, in the smallest degree; and all this for the
> important end
> to be attained: the rearing up and qualifying a well-regulated
> militia, so
> vitally necessary to the security of a free State. Our opinion is
> that any
> law, State or Federal, is repugnant to the Constitution, and void,
> which
> contravenes this right." [Nunn vs. State, 1 Ga. (1 Kel.) 243, at 251
> (1846)]
>
> "The provision in the Constitution granting the right to all persons
> to
> bear arms is a limitation upon the power of the Legislature to enact
> any
> law to the contrary. The exercise of a right guaranteed by the
> Constitution
> cannot be made subject to the will of the sheriff." [People vs.
> Zerillo,
> 219 Mich. 635, 189 N.W. 927, at 928 (1922)]
>
> "The maintenance of the right to bear arms is a most essential one
> to every
> free people and should not be whittled down by technical
> constructions."
> [State vs. Kerner, 181 N.C. 574, 107 S.E. 222, at 224 (1921)]
>
> "The right of a citizen to bear arms, in lawful defense of himself
> or the
> State, is absolute. He does not derive it from the State government.
> It is
> one of the "high powers" delegated directly to the citizen, and `is
> excepted out of the general powers of government.' A law cannot be
> passed
> to infringe upon or impair it, because it is above the law, and
> independent
> of the lawmaking power." [Cockrum v. State, 24 Tex. 394, at 401-402
> (1859)]
>
> About the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
>
> "On every question of construction (of the Constitution) let us
> carry
> ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted,
> recollect the
> spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning
> may be
> squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the
> probable
> one in which it was passed."
> -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823, The
> Complete
> Jefferson, p. 322
>
> "The whole of the Bill (of Rights) is a declaration of the right of
> the
> people at large or considered as individuals.... It establishes some
> rights
> of the individual as unalienable and which consequently, no majority
> has a
> right to deprive them of."
> --Albert Gallatin of the New York Historical Society, October 7,
> 1789.
>
> "the ultimate authority ... resides in the people alone,"
> -- James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights, in Federalist Paper
> No. 46.
>
> Other Quotes About the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and Freedom
>
> "If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without
> bloodshed;
> if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too
> costly;
> you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all odds
>
> against you and only a precarious chance of survival.--There may be
> even a
> worse fate. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory,
> because
> it is better to perish than to live as slaves."
> -- Winston Churchill
>
> "Certainly, one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any
> government, no
> matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep
> and bear
> arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully
> used
> and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught
> and
> enforced. But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more
> guarantee
> against arbitrary government, and one more safeguard against a
> tyranny
> which now appears remote in America, but which historically has
> proved to
> be always possible."
> --Humphrey, Hubert, "Know Your Lawmakers," Guns, February 1960, p.4.
>
> "Both the oligarch and Tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore
> deprive
> them of arms."
> --Aristotle
>
> "The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws."
> --Tacitus (A.D. 55?-130?)
>
> "If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop
> was
> landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms-- never
> --never--never!"
> - William Pitt (1777)
>
> "Those, who have the command of the arms in a country are masters of
> the
> state, and have it in their power to make what revolutions they
> please.
> [Thus,] there is no end to observations on the difference between
> the
> measures likely to be pursued by a minister backed by a standing
> army, and
> those of a court awed by the fear of an armed people."
> -- Aristotle, as quoted by John Trenchard and Water Moyle, An
> Argument
> Shewing, That a Standing Army Is Inconsistent with a Free
> Government, and
> Absolutely Destructive to the Constitution of the English Monarchy
> [London,
> 1697].
>
> "No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people. The
> possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave.
> He,
> who has nothing, and who himself belongs to another, must be
> defended by
> him, whose property he is, and needs no arms. But he, who thinks he
> is his
> own master, and has what he can call his own, ought to have arms to
> defend
> himself, and what he possesses; else he lives precariously, and at
> discretion."
> -- James Burgh, Political Disquisitions: Or, an Enquiry into Public
> Errors,
> Defects, and Abuses [London, 1774-1775].
>
> "Men that are above all Fear, soon grow above all Shame."
> - (John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, Cato's Letters: Or, Essays on
> Liberty,
> Civil and Religious, and Other Important Subjects [London, 1755])
>
> "The prohibition is general. No clause in the Constitution could by
> any
> rule of construction be conceived to give to Congress a power to
> disarm the
> people. Such a flagitious attempt could only be made under some
> general
> pretense by a state legislature. But if in any blind pursuit of
> inordinate
> power, either should attempt it, this amendment may be appealed to
> as a
> restraint on both."
> --William Rawle, A View of the Constitution 125-6 (2nd ed. 1829)
>
> "Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people
> to keep
> and bear arms is, under any colour or pretext whatsoever,
> prohibited,
> liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of
> destruction."
> - St. George Tucker, in his edition of 'Blackstone's Commentaries,'
> 1:300
> (1803).
>
> "No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's
> consent."
> - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
>
> "The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been
> considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since
> it
> offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary
> power of
> rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the
> first
> instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them."
> --Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United
> States; With
> a Preliminary Review of the Constitutional History of the Colonies
> and
> States before the Adoption of the Constitution [Boston, 1833].
>
> "If the Constitution is to be construed to mean what the majority at
> any
> given period in history wish the Constitution to mean, why a written
>
> Constitution?"
> -- Frank J. Hogan, President, American Bar Assn. (1939)
>
> "If we advert to the nature of republican government, we shall find
> that
> the censorial power is in the people over the government, and not in
> the
> government over the people." -
> - James Madison
>
> " 'Necessity' is the plea for every infringement of human liberty;
> it is
> the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
> - William Pitt
>
> "One man with courage is a majority."
> --Thomas Jefferson
>
> "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."
> -- Mao Tse-tung
>
> "To trust arms in the hands of the people at large has, in Europe,
> been
> believed...to be an experiment fraught only with danger. Here by a
> long
> trial it has been proved to be perfectly harmless...If the
> government be
> equitable; if it be reasonable in its exactions; if proper attention
> be
> paid to the education of children in knowledge and religion, few men
> will
> be disposed to use arms, unless for their amusement, and for the
> defence of
> themselves and their country." -
> -- Timothy Dwight, Travels in New England and New York [London 1823]
>
> "The whole of the Bill of Rights is a declaration of the right of
> the
> people at large or considered as individuals.It establishes some
> rights of
> the individual as unalienable and which consequently, no majority
> has a
> right to deprive them of."
> - Albert Gallatin of the New York Historical Society, October 7,
> 1789.
>
> "Gentlemen may cry, 'peace, peace'--but there is no peace. The war
> is
> actually begun! Is life so precious, or peace so dear, as to be
> purchased
> at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know
> not
> what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give
> me
> death!"
> -- Patrick Henry to the Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775.
>
> "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone
> who
> approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but
> downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably
> ruined"
> -- Patrick Henry, 3 J. Elliot, Debates in the Several State
> Conventions 45,
> 2d ed. Philadelphia, 1836)
>
> "War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and
>
> degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that
> nothing is
> worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is
> willing to
> fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety,
> is a
> miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and
> kept so
> by the exertions of better men than himself."
> - John Stuart Mill
>
> "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 it now, deserves the love and thanks of
> men and
> women." -
> - Thomas Paine, The Crisis, Intro. (Dec. 1776).
>
> "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its
> worst
> state, an intolerable one. Government, like dress, is the badge of
> lost
> innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the
> bowers of
> paradise."-
> - Thomas Paine, Common Sense, (1776), Chap. 1.
>
> "When my country, into which I had just set my foot, was set on fire
> about
> my ears, it was time to stir. It was time for every man to stir."
> - Thomas Paine, 1788.
>
> "The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority,
> or
> rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by
> force or
> fraud, in carrying elections."
> - Lord Acton, English historian, 1907
>
> "It is the American vice, the democratic disease which expresses its
>
> tyranny by reducing everything unique to the level of the herd."
> - Henry Miller, American author, 1947
>
> "You can never have a revolution to establish a democracy. You must
> have a
> democracy in order to have a revolution."
> - G.K. Chesterton, English journalist and author, 1955
>
> "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can
> only
> exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves
> largesse from
> the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes
> for the
> candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with
> the
> result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy,
> always
> followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest
> civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed
> through
> this sequence: "From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual
> faith to
> great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance;
> From
> abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to
>
> dependence; From dependence back into bondage."
> -- Alexander Fraser Tytler (later Lord Alexander Fraser
> Woodhouslee), in
> "The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic," published 1776.
>
> "You are bound to meet misfortune if you are unarmed because, among
> other
> reasons, people despise you....There is simply no comparison between
> a man
> who is armed and one who is not. It is unreasonable to expect that
> an armed
> man should obey one who is unarmed, or that an unarmed man should
> remain
> safe and secure when his servants are armed. In the latter case,
> there will
> be suspicion on the one hand and contempt on the other, making
> cooperation
> impossible."
> --Niccolo Machiavelli in "The Prince."
>
> "You must understand, therefore, that there are two ways of
> fighting: by
> law or by force. The first way is natural to men, and the second to
> beasts.
> But as the first way often proves inadequate one must needs have
> recourse
> to the second."
> --Niccolo Machiavelli in "The Prince."
>
> "Giving money and power to Government is like giving whiskey and car
> keys
> to teenage boys."
> -- P.J. O'Rourke
>
>
> Views expressed in this forum not necessarily endorsed by The
> Watchmen On the Wall, LLC. The Watchmen On the Wall, LLC, bears no
> liability for the content of posted messages. Any unauthorized use
> or misuse of the name Watchmen On the Wall or W.O.W. will result in
> prosecution.
>
> By subscribing to this email list, you agree to indemnify the owners
> of the list. You agree to never use information received from this
> list to the detriment of anyone associated with this list. If you do
> not agree with this policy, Unsubscribe NOW! by sending a blank
> message to
>
> mailto:watchmen_on_the_wall-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
> To Post message: watchmen_on_the_wall@yahoogroups.com
> Subscribe: watchmen_on_the_wall-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
> Unsubscribe: watchmen_on_the_wall-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> List owner: watchmen_on_the_wall-owner@yahoogroups.com
> URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/watchmen_on_the_wall
>
>
> Incense
> Every able bodied man is a member of the militia by constitutional
> law. Join Today!
> http://www.icvmmilitia.homestead.com/links.html
>
>
>
>

* * * Back to the Home Page of John "Birdman" Bryant, the World's Most Controversial Author * * *