A Republic versus A Democracy

Do Americans still share the values of our founders? Do Americans know the difference between a republic and a democracy?

As our nation is in the midst of the Obama transformation we are on the verge of losing control of the government that the founders put in place to protect us from tyranny. Our country is often referred to as a democracy. However this was not the plan of our founding fathers. In fact the founders goal was to create a republic.

What is the difference you might wonder? The fundamental difference is very simple. In a democracy the majority rules. When a majority rules the law is based on the wants and needs of the majority so as a result individuals lose. The government makes the rules according to their needs. The government determines and controls your rights. The founders believed that a democracy could be easily manipulated and ultimately result in a tyrannical form of government that would usurp the rights of its’ citizens. The government becomes the seat of power and the rights of the individual suffer.

Our republic was founded with a Constitution that was designed as a framework for government accountability and protection of individual liberties. In a republic, the individual is the focus of the government. A republican form of government relies on the rule of law. The government’s role is to protect the rights of the individual and to prevent mob rule. In a republic the government recognizes that the rights of its’ citizens come from God and nature. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution reaffirms our rights and liberties are granted by God not the government. It also limits the powers of the federal government. The structure of the federal government as laid out by the founders ensures checks and balances between the branches. Even the structure of Congress (# of House members based on population of a state vs. # of Senators, 2 per state regardless of population) is designed to prevent a dominant majority from abusing the minority. The bottom line is our founders created the framework for a republic not a democracy by design.

As pointed out by noted conservative writer Dr. Walter E. Williams, “The word “democracy” appears nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution… Instead of a democracy, the Constitution’s Article IV, Section 4, guarantees “to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.” … Does our pledge of allegiance to the flag say to “the democracy for which it stands,” or does it say to “the republic for which it stands”? Or do we sing “The Battle Hymn of the Democracy” or “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”?

It is clear what was intended… yet now there are many in office who have turned their backs on the Constitution, instead opting for personal power and control. Barack Obama has promised to “fundamentally transform America” and make no mistake the transformation has begun.

It is time to teach our friends and children our nation’s real history. It is time to return to the founder’s principles and the values that made America a great nation. Time is running out, join the cause to return America to its’ role as a beacon of hope and leader of the free world.

Restore the Republic, Reject the Agenda of the Progressive Left!

“Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” – The Declaration of Independence

“A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins” – Benjamin Franklin

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”- Thomas Jefferson

Equal Justice versus Social Justice

As the Progressive Movement continues marching us toward Socialism it seems an appropriate time to explain where this road ends. Americans are spoiled by their freedom and have lost perspective on where it comes from and why it is so important. 

The single best example of what sets America apart from the rest of the world are the founding principles which are laid out in both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. 

Our system of government begins with a foundation of individual rights and is based on the principle of “equal justice.” Under our system, individuals are in control of their lives. Our liberty begins with the concept that an individual’s rights are inherent to his nature, that man’s rights are unalienable, that each person is independent, and that justice must be dispensed equally. 

From the Declaration of Independence: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” 

Our government and its’ judicial system were designed to protect the independence and “unalienable” rights of every individual citizen.  These rights extend to our private property, our thoughts, our expression or the things that we create. Denial of our property, thoughts and freedom of expression is a denial of liberty. Equal justice supports true diversity and genuine tolerance for individuality. Equal justice also creates a balance between the will of a majority and the rights of an individual. 

Progressives on the other hand want to change our foundation by turning their backs on the founding principles and adopting a banner of “social justice”. Social justice is based on the requirements of justice being applied to the benefits and burdens of a common existence. The concept is supposed to create a socially just world. The problem is that a system of social justice uses government as the mechanism to deliver “justice”. This is accomplished through means such as progressive taxation, property and income redistribution. It subrogates the rights of individuals for those of the community. The intended result is to manufacture equal outcomes and opportunities for all by creating a procedurally just system that artificially compensates for the actual skills or contribution of individuals. 

The Progressives have been pushing this agenda since the turn of the century but got their biggest boost from the 1948 U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The U.N. asked all member nations to publicize their Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.” 

From the U.N. Declaration: “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

“Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

“Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law….

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms….

Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.”

According to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the purpose of government is to control the individual for the greater good of the global community.

Article 29 states, “In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society; These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.”

So to summarize under a system of “equal justice” you are born with rights and the government exists to protect them; you and the fruits of your labor belong to you. Your independence and freedom are respected.

However in a system based on “social justice” the government grants, restricts or withdraws your rights according to its needs. You and the fruits of your labor belong to the community and can be redistributed as needed. Your independence and freedom take a backseat to the “general welfare or greater good” as defined by the government. In America, charity is something occurs naturally not by the force of government.

Wake up America! The pace of transformation is accelerating. Your liberty and freedom are at stake. 

Restore the Republic! Reject the Agenda of the Progressive Left. 

“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever” – John Adams 

“Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.” – Benjamin Franklin 

A Pledge of Nonviolence

This a great idea by Glenn Beck. It helps frame the conservative movement in the light of non violence that makes a statement to the naysayers in the media who want to paint us as violent extremist instead of principled citizens:

From Glenn’s website:

Below is the Pledge of Nonviolence that Martin Luther King, Jr. asked those who believed in his message to abide by as well as his core principles of nonviolence.

I am going to ask you to make the same commitment to nonviolence and give you the opportunity to make that pledge public by having you these documents below.

-Glenn Beck

Pledge of Nonviolence

1. As you prepare to march meditate on the life and teachings of Jesus

2. Remember the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation – not victory.

3. Walk and talk in the manner of love; for God is love.

4. Pray daily to be used by God that all men and women might be free.

5. Sacrifice personal wishes that all might be free.

6. Observe with friend and foes the ordinary rules of courtesy.

7. Perform regular service for others and the world.

8. Refrain from violence of fist, tongue and heart.

9. Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.

10. Follow the directions of the movement leaders and of the captains on demonstrations.

The Five Principles of Nonviolence

1. Non-violent resistance is not a method for cowards. It does resist. The nonviolent resister is just as strongly opposed to the evil against which he protests, as is the person who uses violence. His method is passive or non-aggressive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent, but his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade the opponent that he is mistaken. This method is passive physically but strongly active spiritually; it is non-aggressive physically but dynamically aggressive spiritually.

2. Nonviolent resistance does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding. The nonviolent resister must often express his protest through non-cooperation but he realizes that non-cooperation is not the ends itself; it is merely means to awaken a sense of moral shame in the opponent.

3. The attack is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who are caught in those forces. It is a struggle between justice and injustice, between the forces of light and the forces of darkness.

4. Nonviolent resistance avoids not only external physical violence, but also internal violence of spirit. At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.

5. Nonviolence is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice. It is the deep faith in the future that allows a nonviolent resister to accept suffering without retaliation. The nonviolent resister knows that in his struggle for justice, he has a cosmic companionship.

Make Your Pledge

Go here to sign

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/39452/

The Double Standard – Liberals vs. The Tea Party

Recently, the mainstream media has ratcheted up their attacks on the Tea Party movement. There have been attempts to link it to every thing from militias to white supremacists. The truth, however is that for the most part the Tea Party is made up of married, educated middle class people that have a strongly rooted conservative political ideology.

The irony is; for a large part of the Bush presidency the far left liberals were equally vocal about all of George W.’s policies with which they disagreed – the difference they were afford media support as opposed to media outrage. O.K., so we all know the media leans left – this is not news. The problem in the case of the Tea Party they have crossed a new line. It is no longer a simple case of bias rather it has taken on a nasty tone full of misrepresentation and in accurate coverage. Here are a few of examples of what is being said in the media and on social media:

From CNN’s website: “Experts: Angry Rhetoric Protected, But Can Be Disturbing — Letting disgruntled citizens vent is important to national security, experts say but some messages emanating from angry Americans in recent weeks have pressed the boundaries of free speech.” The article goes on to loosely analyze the Tea Party and other movements on both sides of the aisle. The problem is that the Tea Party is always compared to the more extreme side of grass root organizations.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/16/protests.protected.speech/index.html

From The New York Times: Tea Party Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right

An excerpt – “These people are part of a significant undercurrent within the Tea Party movement that has less in common with the Republican Party than with the Patriot movement, a brand of politics historically associated with libertarians, militia groups, anti-immigration advocates and those who argue for the abolition of the Federal Reserve”. In this article there is an attempt to tie Tea Party members to the militia movement. In the end this just another mainstream media smear job.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/us/politics/16teaparty.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

In an even more biased and unfair smear, Time Magazine took this shot after Joe Stack crashed his plane into an IRS office in Austin Texas. Time Magazine immediately drew comparisons between Stack’s anti-government writing and a “Tea Party mentality”. Even though Stack never mentions the Tea Party in any writings Time was willing to draw the comparison anyway. In a passage from the article, reporter Hilary Hylton writes, “The White House was quick to say the incident was not a plot by overseas terrorists. But was it terrorism nevertheless? In his note, Stack was very clear he was unhappy with the U.S. government. He complained about onerous and merciless taxation of individuals like him as well as corruption and the special treatment the executives of big corporations allegedly received after their companies failed. And he seemed to be as emboldened as any suicide bomber.” Hylton also said Stack’s manifesto “eerily reflected the angry populist sentiments that have swept the country in the past year”. Using this line of reasoning everyone that is upset or angry with the government is a candidate to crash a plane into a building and kill themselves.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1966476,00.html

The Washington Post took a similar path on this story. Jonathan Capehart wrote in the PostPartisan column for Post opinion writers, “Joseph Stack was angry at the Internal Revenue Service, and he took his rage out on it by slamming his single engine plane into the Echelon Building in Austin, Texas. We now know this thanks to the rather clear (as rants go) suicide note Stack left behind. There’s no information yet on whether he was involved in any anti-government groups or whether he was a lone wolf. But after reading his 34-paragraph screed, I am struck by how his alienation is similar to that we’re hearing from the extreme elements of the Tea Party movement.”

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/02/_joseph_stack_was_angry.html 

And of course there is the famous Nancy Pelosi comments about the Tea Party: 

“I think we all have to take responsibility for our actions and our words. We are a free country, and this balance between freedom and safety is one that we carefully balance. I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw — I saw this myself in the late `70s in San Francisco. This kind of rhetoric was very frightening, and it gave — it created a climate in which we — violence took place. And so I — I wish that we would all, again, curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made, understanding that some of the people — the ears that it is falling on are not as balanced as the person making the statement might assume. But again, our country is great because people can say what they think and they believe. But I also think that they have to take responsibility for any incitement that they may cause.”

Speaker Pelosi should be reminded that the people who scared her in the 70’s were from her side of the aisle. This brings me to my main point – why doesn’t the media give the same attention to the left? OK, it’s a rhetorical question. The bottom line is that most of the proceeding is innuendo and speculation. Look all movements attract some fringe element that will occasionally do something to make the main group look bad. However, when the media wants to stain a group they seek out the fringe and present them as the core. They also have a way of overlooking behavior of the left when it is unflattering. Here are some examples:

Do you remember this one?

April 9, 2010 LEFTIST PROTESTERS SUSPECTED IN BRUTAL BEATING OF GOP OFFICIAL & HER BOYFRIEND

A GOP official was savagely attacked after she left the Southern Republican Leadership Dinner last Friday night. Allee Butsch suffered a broken leg from an assault outside Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans. She had her leg which was broken in 5 places was operated on over the weekend. Her recovery will take several months. Her boyfriend Joe Brown suffered a broken nose, a broken jaw, and a concussion. They were attacked after leaving the Southern Republican Leadership Conference dinner at the restaurant.

Or this one?

August 6, 2009 Black Tea Party Activist Kenneth Gladney Beat by SEIU Thugs

During a demonstration Thursday evening outside a forum on aging called by U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, in Mehville, Missouri, a Tea Party supporter was viciously attacked by union thug.

“Kenneth was attacked on the evening of August 6, 2009 at Rep. Russ Carnahan’s town hall meeting in South St. Louis County,” writes Gladney’s attorney, David B. Brown, in an email sent to Infowars. “Kenneth was approached by an SEIU representative as Kenneth was handing out ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flags to other conservatives. The SEIU representative demanded to know why a black man was handing out these flags. The SEIU member used a racial slur against Kenneth, then punched him in the face. Kenneth fell to the ground. Another SEIU member yelled racial epithets at Kenneth as he kicked him in the head and back. Kenneth was also brutally attacked by one other male SEIU member and an unidentified woman. The three men were clearly SEIU members, as they were wearing T-shirts with the SEIU logo.”

So here are the facts – when liberals protest, (think: Cindy Sheehan, Code Pink, World Can’t Wait or Earth Liberation Front) the media more often sympathizes than criticizes. If you are not familiar with these groups I’d recommend you Google them and learn for yourself the kind of hate and disobedience they encourage. However, when conservatives exercise their rights to free speech and expression of their opinions the media is quick to characterize them as dangerous, racists or anti-government extremists. The mainstream media is so totally blinded by their left-wing bias that they all but condone what the left has been doing ever since Vietnam.

From the violent demonstrations outside the 1968 Chicago Democrat National Convention to violent left-wing agitators, such as Bill Ayers, who blew up the Pentagon, and the other Vietnam War era riots to recent riots against the meetings of the G5, the G8, the IMF, the WTO, it’s left-wing activists that have shown the most propensity for violence.

After Healthcare Reform passed we heard; politicians, such as Bart Stupak  have reported slurs as well as threatening letters and phone calls. Yet before the vote it was the left that was threatening Bart Stupak and his family with threatening letters and phone calls because angry pro-choicers thought he was going to change his vote. These were not Republicans or Tea Party people, they were from the left. It is the left that trains for and plans demonstrations and unruly protests. This type of behavior is inappropriate no matter which side delivers it but the left has a much richer tradition in this area.

So I ask you – where are the examples of violent demonstrations or rioting that was planned or organized by the Tea Party or other mainstream conservatives? Show me some real examples of ruckus and unruly protests planned by the Tea Party. Show me the people or organizations that train Tea Party members and conservatives how to riot? They simply doesn’t exist!

In possibly the most honest report that I have seen on the Tea Party, The Washington Post’s Robert McCartney writes, “I went to the “tea party” rally at the Washington Monument on Thursday to check out just how reactionary and potentially violent the movement truly was. Answer: Not very. Based on what I saw and heard, tea party members are not seething, ready-to-explode racists, as some liberal commentators have caricatured them.”

McCartney went on to say that he disagrees with 95% of their positions and there maybe some who are extreme or bigoted. (Note: It is worth mentioning that most of us who support the Tea Party also recognize this and we work to neutralize these individuals as they do not represent the core values of the movement. However it is impossible with a grassroots movement to entirely control the fringe that every large movement unwillingly attracts.) He went on to say, “Nevertheless, on the whole, they struck me as passionate conservatives dedicated to working within the system rather than dangerous militia types or a revival of the Ku Klux Klan. Although shrinking government is their primary goal, many conceded that the country should keep Medicare and even Social Security. None was clamoring for civil disobedience, much less armed revolt.”

See article at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/17/AR2010041702652.html

I’ll leave you with these final thoughts. To continue to gain legitimacy with our fellow citizen’s regardless of their point of view, Tea Parties and conservatives must work to maintain a positive image. We must not allow our conservative movement to be legitimately characterized as extreme by rising to the race baiting, name calling and smear campaigns which will be launched against us. As John Adams said, “facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” If the facts continue to show that the core of this movement is based in civility and intelligent disagreement we can win. However, if we allow ourselves to be pulled down a path that frustrates us and brings out the worst in our character we will lose. We can not depend on fair media coverage – so be smart. We must work within the system to create the change we want. Be vigilant to ensure that the members of your groups behave with civility. Monitor your events and challenge those who bring inappropriate signs or behave in an inappropriate manner. They are a reflection on all of us.

We are making progress and waking the country up to our conservative message. Let’s give America an alternative to the path it is currently on. Let’s return to the values that were the foundation on which America was built. The time for choosing is here.

Restore the Republic, Reject the Agenda of the Progressive Left!

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” – John Adams

The Left Attacks the Tea Party

Where is the media outrage over the hate speak being used by the left as they continue their attacks on the Tea Party movement? The mainstream media has shown that they are willing to run with almost any story about “bad behavior” by Tea Party supporters yet when the Left is out of line it doesn’t seem news worthy. 

Here are some current examples… 

From ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis:  While addressing a group of “young socialists”, she said, the times people are living in now will “dwarf” all those stains on America’s history. She then referred to the Tea Party movement as the “bowel movement” and an example of the coming persecution. 

“They are coming. And they are coming after you,” the embattled head of ACORN said during a talk last month to the Young Democratic Socialists, the youth branch of the Democratic Socialists, the U.S. branch of the Socialist International. 

Lewis went on to praise the group for calling themselves socialists and warned there were forces that are at work plotting their doom. 

“Any group that says, ‘I’m young, I’m Democratic, and I’m a socialist,’ is all right with me. You know that’s no light thing to do — to actually say, I’m a socialist — because you guys know right now we are living in a time which is going to dwarf the McCarthy era. It is going to dwarf the internment during World War II. We are right now in a time that is going to dwarf the era of Jim Crow and segregation,” Lewis said.  

“This is not rhetoric or hyperbole — this is real,” Lewis said. “This rise of this Tea Party so-called movement — bowel movement in my estimation — and this blatant uncovering and ripping off the mask of racism.”  

Fortunately, this is all caught on tape – watch it below:

Then there is DC Douglas. He is the voice behind the rhetorical questions in Geico ads. He decided to leave an anti-Tea Party phone message on FreedomWorks’ voicemail system taking sots at the Tea Parties members. Douglas wanted to know what the percentage of “mentally retarded” Tea Party activists was. Then he asked how FreedomWorks would “spin it when one of your members actually kills somebody.” FreedomWorks traced the call to Douglas — who had left his number, identifying himself as “Lance Baxter.”  FreedomWorks’ Matt Kibbe posted Douglas’ cell number on BigGovernment.com, which resulted in Douglas receiving a ton of phone calls. This generated a serious backlash for Geico but not very much media coverage. Ultimately, Douglas was fired by Geico for his poor judgement and distasteful behavior. See a video report below which features Douglas’ message.

And ultra-liberal Bill Maher:  He opened his April 16th show with a monologue focused on… that’s right, The Tax Day Tea Party protests! 

The host of Real Time with Bill Maher chose to imply that those involved with the Tea Party are racists. He then went on to equate the Tea Party protest to a Klan rally.   

Maher has become a world class hate monger using a non stop barrage of nasty one-liners to hurl insults at the Tea Party and everyone else on the right. His comments include referring to the Tea Party as a “cult”, saying they are “not bright enough to understand the issues” and going as low as taking cheap shots at Sarah Palin’s disabled child, Trig. 

Here is an example of a recent diatribe…

The teabaggers, they’re not a movement. They’re a cult, and I’m going to prove it. You know someone has fallen into a cult if you see these signs:

One. Cults have their own vocabulary. Now, I don’t speak sh**kicker, but I know that in their world, freedom means guns, diplomacy means weakness, elitist means reader, and socialist means black.

Two. Cults tend to populate from within encouraging members to have huge broods of children and to give them strange names, like Moonbeam, and Trig.

And three, cult members always attribute all of their problems to one simple explanation: [picture of Obama with Hitler moustache]. – Bill Maher 

Here are links to some of Maher’s disgusting comments…

http://www.mediaite.com/online/bill-maher-on-tea-party-why-let-the-truth-spoil-a-perfectly-good-klan-rally/

It seems that Mr. Maher is playing the race card every chance he gets while working overtime to discredit and belittle the right. 

In the face of all this hate, those of us on the right must not allow ourselves to sink to the levels of the race baiters and hate mongers. Our problem is not the people on the left – it is with their policies and the damage they are doing to our country. We must stay focused on the issues and ignore their attempts to piss us off! Otherwise they win by discrediting our motives and our intentions. 

Restore the Republic, Reject the Agenda of the Progressive Left!

“A little rebellion now and then is a good thing and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical” – Thomas Jefferson

Kelsey Grammer: Some things are just Not Right!

Actor Kelsey Grammer is one of the names behind The RightNetwork, a new operation that is being targeted at “Americans who are looking for content that reflects and reinforces their perspective and world-view.” The network’s promotional materials say it will focus on entertainment with “pro-America,” “pro-business, pro-military sensibilities” that will ultimately invite  conversation and  influence “the national conversation.”

A little humor about things that aren’t quite RIGHT.

Quotes on America by the Founders and other real Americans (Part 2)

Below is part 2 of a compilation of inspiring quotes about our nation, liberty and our national values. They put the challenges and rewards of a free Republic into perspective. It is fascinating how many of these could have been written in the last year… 

“If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” – Samuel Adams  

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” – Abraham Lincoln 

“If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.” – Noah Webster 

“Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.” – Daniel Webster  

On God and Country … 

“We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.” – Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation  

“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” – Patrick Henry 

“Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants.” – Benjamin Franklin  

“Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure (and) which insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.” – Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence 

“Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” –  John Adams 

“Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, that these liberties are a gift from God?  Thomas Jefferson 

On War and Freedom … 

“If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War” –  George Washington

“Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety.”- Benjamin Franklin 

“There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy” – George Washington 

“Posterity, you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that ever I took half the pains to preserve it.”-  John Adams 

“The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing.” – John Adams 

“Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.” – Benjamin Franklin  

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpation.” – President James Madison 

“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever” – John Adams 

On Banks … 

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” Thomas Jefferson 

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.  Already they have raised up a moneyed aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”    Thomas Jefferson 

On Free Speech… 

“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter” – George Washington 

“Without Freedom of thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such thing as public Liberty, without Freedom of speech” – Benjamin Franklin 

“In those wretched countries where a man cannot call his tongue his own, he can scarce call anything his own. Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech” – Benjamin Franklin  

On the Right to 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 

“Americans [have] the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust their people with arms” – James Madison 

“The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms . . .” – Samuel Adams 

“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in 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 band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power, and jealousy will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive.” – Noah Webster 

On Patriotism …

“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does NOT mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country.” – Theodore Roosevelt 

“It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government.” – Thomas Paine  

“We the People are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts–not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” –
Abraham Lincoln  

On Foreign Policy … 

“It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world” – George Washington 

“We do not need to import any foreign economic ideas or any foreign government. We had better stick to the American brand of government, the American brand of equality, and the American brand of wages. America had better stay American” – Calvin Coolidge 

Wake up, America! It is time to return to our national values and reclaim our birthright. It is time to take back the unalienable rights granted us in the Declaration of Independence; Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. As we are taught by history through the words of our founders – we are a nation built on the Constitution and the principles of Christianity and we must regain our moral compass to restore our country.  

In the words of Washington, “Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” 

And Jefferson, “Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.”  

Restore the Republic, Reject the Agenda of the Progressive Left!

Quotes on America by the Founders and other real Americans (Part 1)

In the past I have given you quote compliations from the left on everything from the environment to America. Below is a compilation of inspiring quotes from the founders and other patriots about our nation, liberty and our national values. They put the challenges and rewards of a free Republic into perspective. It is fascinating how many of these could have been written in the last year… 

“The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves” – George Washington  

“If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen”- Samuel Adams 

“A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins” – Benjamin Franklin 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”- Thomas Jefferson

 

On the role of government… 

“Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” – The Declaration of Independence 

“The way to have safe government is not to trust it all to the one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to everyone exactly the functions in which he is competent….To let the National Government be entrusted with the defense of the nation, and its foreign and federal relations….. The State Governments with the Civil Rights, Laws, Police and administration of what concerns the State generally. The Counties with the local concerns, and each ward direct the interests within itself. It is by dividing and subdividing these Republics from the great national one down through all its subordinations until it ends in the administration of everyman’s farm by himself, by placing under everyone what his own eye may superintend, that all will be done for the best.” – Thomas Jefferson 

“Our best protection against bigger government in Washington is better government in the states”  –  Dwight David Eisenhower  

“The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed and that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property, and freedom of press.” – Thomas Jefferson 

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government — lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”  – Patrick Henry  

And warnings about government… 

“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground” – Thomas Jefferson  

“Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness” – George Washington

 

“With respect to the words general welfare, I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators” – James Madison 

“Every step we take towards making the State our Caretaker of our lives, by that much we move toward making the State our Master”- Dwight D. Eisenhower 

On taxes… 

“For example. If the system be established on basis of Income, and his just proportion on that scale has been already drawn from every one, to step into the field of Consumption, and tax special articles in that, as broadcloth or homespun, wine or whiskey, a coach or a wagon, is doubly taxing the same article. For that portion of Income with which these articles are purchased, having already paid its tax as Income, to pay another tax on the thing it purchased, is paying twice for the same thing; it is an aggrievance on the citizens who use these articles in exoneration of those who do not, contrary to the most sacred of the duties of a government, to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens” – Thomas Jefferson 

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not” – Thomas Jefferson 

“I hope a tax will be preferred [to a loan which threatens to saddle us with a perpetual debt], because it will awaken the attention of the people and make reformation and economy the principle of the next election. The frequent recurrence of this chastening operation can alone restrain the propensity of governments to enlarge expense beyond income” -Thomas Jefferson 

“In a general sense, all contributions imposed by the government upon individuals for the service of the state, are called taxes, by whatever name they may be known, whether by the name of tribute, tythe, tallage, impost, duty, gabel, custom, subsidy, aid, supply, excise, or other name” – Joseph Story

“An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation” -John Marshall

“Considering the general tendency to multiply offices and dependencies and to increase expense to the ultimate term of burden which the citizen can bear, it behooves us to avail ourselves of every occasion which presents itself for taking off the surcharge; that it may never be seen here that, after leaving to labor the smallest portion of its earnings on which it can subsist, government shall itself consume the residue of what it was instituted to guard.” –Thomas Jefferson 

On public debt… 

“I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy” – Thomas Jefferson 

“The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale” -Thomas Jefferson 

“But with respect to future debt; would it not be wise and just for that nation to declare in the constitution they are forming that neither the legislature, nor the nation itself can validly contract more debt, than they may pay within their own age, or within the term of 19 years” -Thomas Jefferson

“The same prudence which in private life would forbid our paying our money for unexplained projects forbids it in the disposition of the public moneys.” –Thomas Jefferson 

On Redistribution of Wealth…. 

“To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father’s has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association–the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it” -Thomas Jefferson 

“Whoever claims the right to redistribute the wealth produced by others is claiming the right to treat human beings as chattel” – Ayn Rand 

“We need true tax reform that will at least make a start toward restoring for our children the American Dream that wealth is denied to no one, that each individual has the right to fly as high as his strength and ability will take him. . . . But we cannot have such reform while our tax policy is engineered by people who view the tax as a means of achieving changes in our social structure” – Ronald Reagan 

More warnings… 

“When a government controls both the economic power of individuals and the coercive power of the state … this violates a fundamental rule of happy living: Never let the people with all the money and the people with all the guns be the same people” – P.J. O’Rourke 

“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 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 strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated” – Thomas Paine 

Take Heart America, the words of patriots past should inspire us to regain the promise of our great nation. We must… Restore the American Dream. We must return to our national values and reclaim our birthright. It is time to take back the unalienable rights granted us in the Declaration of Independence; Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

Restore the Republic, Reject the Agenda of the Progressive Left!